DISCLAIMER: This text is not a verbatim transcript. Communication Access Real Time Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication credibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our podcast "Anchor Point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the App Store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. we are glad you're here. >> Shane: Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome to First Colony Church of Christ. Welcome to everyone watching online. Hey, everybody, Merry Christmas. Unto us a savior is born, he is Emmanuel, he is with us, the king of kings, amen. Let's stand and sing praise to his name as we start our worship service. >> Richard: Joy to the world, the Lord has come, amen. ♫ "Joy To The World" ♫ >> Richard: Yes, we just wanted to sing some Christmas carols as a church this morning. So they're not fancy. Let's all sing as a family this morning. ♫ "Angels We Have Heard On High" ♫ >> Richard: Yes. [Applause] ♫ "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" ♫ ♫ "Away In A Manger" ♫ >> Richard: Thank you, church. You may be seated. >> This morning We relight the candles of Hope, Peace and Joy, because Jesus is the hope of the nations, the peace of God and the joy of salvation. This fourth candle of love reminds us of the reason Jesus came, because God loved us so much that he sent his only son. >> For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. >> For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. >> Shane: Well, that was fantastic, guys. Thank you for that reading. Let's show them some appreciation for doing our Christmas reading. [Applause. >> Shane: We're going to have our time of communion now. If you're at home or in the building and you haven't gathered your communion supplies, go ahead and do that now. The Freedes will lead us in communion. Let's orient our heart around our savior who is with us. >> Good morning, church. I want to introduce my associates, max, Levi, Nora, Zoe, Sayna, and my other assistant Vicky. Lord, thank you so much for this time of the year when we think about Jesus and the world looks to Him and His birth. We know that time is measured two ways, before Jesus came and since he had come. This morning at this particular time we want to focus not only Jesus' birth when he came to be our savior, but on his death when He became that savior. From that time forward we were under the grace of God. We had a savior who came for us and suffered for our sins and who suffered for us as a group. As we take communion, we'll have an internal communion in heaven one day because of the sacrifice of Jesus. We don't want to forget that. We want to remember that the scriptures were fulfilled and we want to remember that our salvation was assured because Jesus came. We thank you for your sacrifice and that you sacrificed your son for us. We go into this time as we remember the communion elements that make us remember that he suffered for all of us and as a group we are communing in that remembrance. We pray in your son's same, amen. Now as Vicky reads, let's partake. >> I will be reading from Mark 12:28-31 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,”answered Jesus,“is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.” [♫♫♫] [Applause] >> Shane: Fantastic. How wonderful was that? So good. What a blessing. Well, before we take our offering prayer and say that today, I want to let you know what you did this last week and Sunday, our care and share toy and food drive was a fantastic success. We collected enough food to feed 150 families and the toys filled up 40 huge boxes. These toys and food were given out yesterday at this building at Santa's exchange which is the largest toy distribution in our county. Over 4,500 kids were blessed through that just yesterday right here and over 140 of you volunteered this week to help out with that. So thank you so much for giving and serving in that way, yes. [Applause]. >> Shane: And we want to also ask that you please consider giving a year-end contribution or offering this year. Several key things fuel our ministry, one is that volunteer spirit of working together to serve. Also our prayer is our fuel for ministry. And also our tithes and our offerings fuel the ministry here. So we want to ask that you consider giving a year-end gift and we thank you for your generosity and our partnership. You can give online or text to give and there are giving boxes at the back of the auditorium if you're here. Would you pray over the offering with me. Our 40 in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity to give for all the ways we could partner together with you to make an impact for Jesus in this world. Use these offerings and us according to your will and we pray in Jesus' name. >> Joel: Amen. Good morning, everyone. It's so good to see you today. My goal in today's kid's spot is that we would use an ornament to point us to Jesus and beyond what he does. So the verse I want to touch on today is coming from Isaiah 4:5-6. For us a son and born and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, prince of peace. This is an ornament. Boys and girls, don't try this at home with your ornament? What color is this? Not a trick question. It's white. This one has a light inside. I'm going to push the light on the bottom. White represents baby Jesus. Now we have a blinking purple-ish color. Thank you. By the way, purple is my favorite color. So I'm going to say this represents wonderful counselor and we know in scripture God in his word gives us counsel and points us in the right direction and through Jesus the word became flesh. Through the mighty God and prince of peace, you have to see it in action to spot those colors. I have a string. Let's hope I don't hit Shane. He's backing up. Tell me when you see the other colors appear. What colors do you see now? Red, green, and blue. Isn't that fascinating. When we're seeing it in action and then it goes back to purple, wonderful counselor. And you notice it says, "and He will be called." We need to call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you very much. >> Shane: Amen. Thank you, Joel. Well, we would love to connect with you, especially if you're newer here and you want to know more about our church or we can pray for you or find a group or a ministry. You can use your phone and scan that Q.R. code. If you're new, we have the new here start here in the lobby. We're so glad you're here and we would love to connect with you. If you're watching online, we hope you say hi in the chat and we will get to know you better. If you're a kid from grade 1 to 5, Ms. Danel is in the back for Main Street Live. Kids, if you haven't checked in your kids, there is a kiosk and you can check them in there. That would be great. Everyone else, let's stand and greet each other and enjoy a time of fellowship. [Indistinct chatter]. ♫ "My Soul Magnifies The Lord" ♫ >> Richard: Thank you, church, for your worship. You may be seated. >> Ronnie: Oh, thank you so very much, team, for leading us today. Let's express our appreciation to these musicians, to these singers for their worship leading today. Fantastic. [Applause]. >> Ronnie: Hello, everyone. Good morning. Great seeing you. To those of you in the room, welcome. To those worshiping online, we welcome you as well. To everyone, Merry Christmas from Martha and me and our entire family to you. We wish you all God's best. As Shane mentioned earlier, thank you to your response to our care and share drive. I know yesterday Scott Finley was front and center leading that thing. Thank you for all of that. Congratulations also to one of our student ministers Jenna Davis and her husband. One week ago they welcomed little Wesley Lane Davis. Congratulations to Jenna and family. Would you please take a look at our screen to our upcoming schedule. Let me fast-forward to two weeks from today. We will be back to regular schedule 8:30 and 11:00. And the adults will be in the gym the 9:45. I'll tell you more about our guest speaker next week. Two weeks from today, back to the regular schedule. Here's what we need to focus on for the next few days. One week from today next Sunday, December 26, we will have one worship service at 10:00 a.m. Next Sunday, the day after Christmas, December 26, how many worship services? One? . What time? 10:00 a.m. That's all that's happening. No child care, no nursery. One 10:00 a.m. worship service. This coming Friday, Christmas Eve, we will have two Christmas Eve services at 3:00 and 5:00. I would encourage you to stand by our Christmas tree and have some photos made and hold up one of our Christmas Eve signs made and have a photo made and through all your contacts send out that photo as an invitation to be with us on Christmas Eve. I hope you have a happy and a Merry Christmas season. A lot can be going on, but for all of us who are believers, we can reach down in our soul and magnify the Lord. Yesterday my wife shared a video maybe you've seen it of a Christmas program that was going on and one of the little angels had a lot of joy going on. Let's take a look at. [♫♫♫] >> Ronnie: There you go. That's pretty good. By the way, we're going to have one more song before we finish today, and you feel free to celebrate and maybe have some of your own worship moves going on there. Okay. Well, this morning's message is called Christmas credentials from Hebrews 1:3 You know, we celebrate Christmas, advent, and at advent, the word means appearing or coming, we look back to the first coming of Jesus and we look forward to his second coming. And we acknowledge that in between and that's where we are now and it is a mixture of joy and sorrow. We give thanks for what God has done, what he will do, and we give thanks for where he is with us right now, and, my friends, God is up to something good. He is working his plan. And in Christ you have a fantastic future ahead of you. You have a never-ending happy ending on the way. Let me read to you the scripture that's our foundation for the morning. Hebrews 1:3 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Times past God spoke, he's speaking, he communicates. Communication can be a challenge. When you get married, you have to learn -- you speak the same language, but you have to learn how to communicate and in communication there are things like timing, tone, appropriateness. I mean, should I have said this publicly or should I have just said it you and me one on one, accuracy, reception. Michael Hyatt is a business consultant and whenever he goes to company they will be sitting around the boardroom. And he writes two phrases. Show up and speak up. In other words, show up and be engaged and speak up. If you have something to say, let us hear you. I was reading an article earlier this year how in communication, personal communication, it needs to flow like a trapeze. We're going back and forth with the trapeze. I don't want to hold onto it too long because you're going to jump and there is nothing to hold on to. They made the point that in most interpersonal conversations it is important to treat it like that. It's a personal conversation, not a deposition or an audit. In other words, if I were going to say to you, hey, something wonderful happened to me last week, I've got to tell you about it. You won't believe what I saw and experienced while I was downtown. Let me tell you about. Let's see, was it Tuesday or Wednesday I was down there? It might have been Tuesday. No, I think it was Wednesday. When I was downtown you won't believe what happened. I think I was on Smith Street or was I on Smith or the one over. What is the name of it? You're going, just get to the point. Is this relevant? This is not relevant. You have to keep the trapeze flowing here back and forth. Just communication is a challenge. And in times past, God spoke and He's still speaking and His final word is through Jesus. I have to tell you, I'm so thankful that God has spoken and is still speaking through Jesus, through the scriptures. In no other way could we know him, though the universe declares God and bears witness to His power. History tells us of the sovereignty of God, but it could never explain exactly what Christ was doing on the cross. Our conscience let's us know that there is right and wrong, but it can never teach us how to live and love rightly. Unless God speaks, we would never know His love for us, but He has and is. The unapproachable has become accessible. Jesus perfectly represents God to us and scripture perfectly represents Jesus to us. And because God has spoken, there is a solution to our problem. There is hope for our future. There is forgiveness for our sins. There is salvation for your soul. Now, when I was a kid, I would sometimes verbally spar with my parents until they settled it with four words: Because I said so. Even as I got older, my mom got older, I would sometimes remind her of a phrase she would regularly use with me when we would verbally spar and she would say, young man, are you disputing my word? That's a question and you better answer it correctly. In times past, God spoke to the prophets. He now speaks through Jesus. This is His final word. I want you to notice these credentials of Jesus. The credentials of Christmas, if you will. Some have called these the seven wonders of Christ. He's heir of all things. That's not unusual for a father to bequeath an inheritance to his son. He's heir of all things and that makes you co-heir because you're join heirs with Christ the Bible says. You can walk outside and say, that's my sunset, my universe, my sunrise too. It's all in the lap of Jesus and you are a co-heir with Christ. He made the universe, He made it all, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. How big is Jesus? He is so big, he created it with the power of his word, no strain or effort. I love the story of the little boy in Sunday school who said to his teachers, in all of those billions and billions and billions of stars and planets out in space, why the world did God go to all the trouble to make that? The Sunday school teacher said, what trouble? It was no trouble. He just says, let there be light and there's light. He is heir of all things. He made the universe. He's the radiance of God's glory. All that God is, that's who Jesus is. And by the way, sometimes I know we'll say we need to give God glory and I understand that, we all use that phrase, but there is a way that -- we don't give God glory. We acknowledge his glory and majesty is wonder. I don't make water wet. I recognize it's wet. I don't give God glory. He has glory. It's in his nature. We either recognize it or we ignore it. He's the radiance of God's glory. He's the exact representation of His being. In other words, the startling claim of Christianity, the startling claim of Christmas is that God appeared as a real man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth and He's the exact representation of His being. The idea here is of a stamp. The impression that a stamp makes is identical to the pattern. In other words, I have a stamp in my office and I can press it down on something and it will say from the library of Ronnie Norman. And the impression and the stamp are identical. By the way, some of you might have a book and if you open it up, it might say, from the library of Ronnie Norman inside. Just a little reminder there. And Jesus is the exact representation of God. Imagine Jesus going into the temple. Let's use our holy imagination here for a moment. He's 12 years old and one of the wise teachers there says, son, just how old are you? He would say, on my mother's side I'm 12 and on my father's side I'm older than my mother and just as old as my father. He was God and man. On his mother's side he got hungry. On his father's side, he took a boy's lunch and fed 5,000 people. On the mother's side he we want at the grave of Lazarus. And on his father's side he said, Lazarus, come forward, and raised him from the dead. He was in human flesh in the exact image and sustaining all things by his powerful word. In other words, dynamically involved today. He didn't just create it and move away. He's sustaining it all. All those in business, you start something and people ask, is this sustainable? He's sustaining all by the power of his word. God will always be above us, but he never wants to be away from us. He is with us. He has day-to-day involvement in everything. Part of what that means is you were not made to hold yourself together. You were made to depend on the Lord. He holds it all together, sustains it all. Let me just ask personally, he can sustain you, help you, help your marriage. Don't give up leaning on Him and depending upon Him. One woman, a fantastic Bible teacher, she said this. She said, think about this. If the distance between the earth and the sun 93 million miles, imagine that to be the thickness of one sheet of paper. Then the distance between the earth and the nearest stars would be a stack of papers 70 feet high. The distance across the galaxy, the diameter of our galaxy would be a stack of paper 310 miles high and our galaxy is one little speck of dust in the universe. If there is someone out there who holds it all together by his little pinky, is that the kind of person you with condescension say, would you come be my personal assistant? Or is this someone to who you bow in reverence and honor and ascribe glory and lordship? Hey, there are two more wonders and they get even better. He provided purification for sins, and only Jesus can do this. Only Jesus can cleanse you of all sins and make you guilt free and this is the focal point of scripture. Jesus deals with the sin problem to which I reminded you, he won't solve every personal problem. He cares, a lot of things will get solved, but he came to solve the sin problem. That is your greatest need. You might think your greatest needs are food, water, shelter. No, it's not. Your greatest need is to be reconciled to God in a status of son-ship or daughter-ship delivered from sin. There is a well-known Hollywood comedian who is also an atheist. He was interviewed and asked, if there is a God, what would you want him to say to you? He gave a three-word answer: You are forgiven. And every sane person is looking for that same sense of assurance. That's why Jesus came, the eternal son of God, stepping into our shoes, bearing our penalty, and carrying it away. Bearing the judgment of God and bringing us into his mercy. He was treated as an enemy so that we might become sons and daughters. My friend, you don't have to live in disgrace. You don't have to run away from the Lord. He loves to show mercy in a broken and contrite heart. He will not ever despise. Last of all, he accomplished his work and sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. There he reigns from a throne on high. This is Jesus, God's great prophet, priest, and king, he's God's final word. He's everything you will ever need, the best friend you will ever have. Listen, you listen to these credentials. This is in your face. These are strong credentials. As C.S. Lewis said, don't give me any of this nonsense about Jesus being a nice teacher. He didn't leave that option to you. You can call him a liar or a lunatic or you can bow down and worship him as Lord. But the scripture s are very, very clear that Jesus is not just one option of many, this is not just a king, this is the king of all kings. This is not just a Lord. This is the Lord of all Lords. A couple of talking points, walking points to take home with you. First of all, worship Jesus Christ because indeed He is worthy. He is worthy of our worship. He is God's good gift and a gift to be acknowledged and not ignored. He's worthy of every sacrifice, penny, and dollar. He's worthy of every sacrifice you give and your efforts. He's worthy of your efforts and admonition of the Lord. It starts by believing. Put your faith in Christ. The word "believe" is a strong word. It means to put your full weight down on something. You do a belly flop to Jesus Christ. You know, I would not put my full weight, all 152 pounds of my full weight, I would not put that down on this music stand. It would not hold my full weight. When we believe in Jesus, we put our full weight there. If you're not going to believe in Christ, I would ask you respectfully to please name your alternative. It's pretty easy to sit back and say, well, here are all my doubts, but if you decide Christianity is not true, historic, Orthodox, apostlic Christianity is not true, what do you believe? Some say it is a personalized spirituality where you pick and choose some beliefs that make sense to you, some politics or spiritual ideas. If that's you, okay. Then consider what that alternative means. In other words, you are effectively saying, I am the ultimate arbiter of truth. You might feel comfortable with that. If you're not going to believe in Christianity, name your alternative. I've got some family members who say, we're going to go out to eat, where would you like to go? I don't want sushi. Where would you like to go? I'm not in the mood for barbecue. What are you in the mood for? I don't want a salad. I hear all of the objections. What are you for? I know you question Christianity, but what do you believe? There are some things in the Bible that I don't agree with. There are many things in the Bible that at times are hard to understand and they will challenge you. I've got a question for you. How will this God of your imagination ever challenge or correct you if you're unwilling to listen to something you don't like hearing, will you ever give God permission to teach you, to challenge you, to correct you, to actually grow you? Or is this a God where you put your own little micro chip in there and say, I want you to turn when I say right, turn left when I say left. Do you have a real God? And I believe you find that real God. In times past he would speak to the prophets in the Old Testament and now we have a final word in Jesus Christ, as Jesus said, even as I send, I send the Holy Spirit that will guide you into all truth. He's worthy of our worship. Second of all, He's worthy of our service. Be on mission for Jesus because He is the remedy. He's not only our remedy. He's remedy for the people we know and love. That's why as a church, that's why we teach children and students, that's why we gather together to keep people strong in the Lord. Martin Marty was asked one time, what should the church be doing in the 21st century? He said, the church needs to keep doing what the church was always called to do, worship God, be a community of belonging. Rescue and nurture souls. That's the mission of the church. And during the season, might the just ask you, who is one person in your life who could use a nudge from you in the direction of Jesus? Our great God and King loves to show mercy. In Luke 5:30-32 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” If we've blown it, we need to keep running back to the Lord. Don't engage in self loathing, he loves you and wants to show mercy and grace and His mercies are new every single day. Me is worthy of our worship and me is the remedy. Let's be on mission for him. Who is one person in your circle who could use a nudge from you. I'll close with this. A few years ago Martha and I were at a graduation at ACU. Many of you have been on that campus. The graduates are down on the floor and we were seated above so we're looking down at the graduates. The graduates are wearing the gown and the hat. There was one young lady graduate. She has written something on her hat. It was very obvious. It said: Thank you, Jesus. I would have loved to have known her story. Did someone help pay for her education? Was there a particular professor or two that was particularlily inspirational to her? Did she make a group of friends that shaped her life. I don't know all the reasons why, but in that moment she wanted everybody in that room to know, thank you, Jesus. You know, the Bible says that actually every single good gift you have has come down from above. Jennifer, that ability you have to play the flute, you've stewarded that ability, but that gift comes from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Simon, that ability you have to play the violin, that is a gift from God. The very breath you take today, the opportunity to be here, it's all a gift from our great God and King, but as the Bible would say, the greatest gift of all is the forgiveness of our sins, the promise of eternal life, the presence of the living God within us. Our God is up to something good. In times past, He's been at work and today we celebrate advent, the first coming of Christ. We look forward to the second advent when He will set all things right. He's up to something good in your life and mine. He's worthy of our worship. You have before you, my friends, a fantastic future that never-ending happy ending all made possible because the the Lord knows you and loves you. Thank you for being with us today. God bless you, everybody. Drew is going to come and lead us in prayer. >> Let us pray. Lord, you are an awesome God. Lord, we acknowledge you as all powerful. Lord, we know that you are our father. Thank you so much for your love. Thank you so much for your caring. Thank you so much for every blessing that we have in our lives. God, thank you for the impact you have on our lives. God, I pray for each and every person that's here this morning. God, I pray for each and every person watching online. Lord, I pray for our brothers and sisters around the world. Lord, I pray for every human being. Lord, we're all equal in your sight. We all sin and fall short, God, but you love us. You pick us up, Lord, and I'm so very thankful for that. Lord, thank you so much for your son. Thank you for His love. God, I pray that you would just help us to remember that this world is not our home, Lord. Help us to know that there is a better place. Thank you so much for your son, Jesus, and I pray for impact and I pray for each and every one of us to have impact. Thank you to show everything we do in our relationships and the service that we do, Lord, thank you for reflecting him. Too much for being the image bearers and thank you for the season of Christmas. God, I pray that you help us to remember the true meaning of Christmas and live that every day, God, not just December 26, but every day and week to remember that birth, but more than anything help us to remember that death and that sacrifice. Thank you so much for that. Lord, I pray that you would be with us. Look into the hearts and the things that bother us. We all struggle with things in our lives. I pray that you work in those situations. I pray for the missionaries. Help them to be emboldened and that they impact lives and bring them to you. Thank you so much for your son and it's in the love and in his name that we pray. >> Shane: Well, we get a treat today because we get to close with a baptism. Gavin -- Guervens Groves. This is my son who is an incredible hard worker. We are celebrating a water baptism and it is also his 16th birthday. Happy birthday, Guervens Groves. Do you believe that Jesus came to this earth and tied for your sins and you accept him into your heart? >> Yes. >> It is in that profession of faith that I'm baptizing you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [Applause] [Applause]. >> Shane: Amen. What a great way to end the day. As we close, I just have a few things to bring to your attention. First is our Bible classes will resume on Sunday, January 2. Our 9:45 Bible classes will resume on January 2. There is an online Bible class today following the service. Come for our Christmas Eve service like Ronnie mentioned at 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. In this lobby get one of these signs and take a picture of yourself and your family and put it up on social media and invite people to the Christmas Eve service. It's going to be a wonderful service. We have one service at 10:00 a.m. next Sunday. We hope to see you then. Now as we have celebrated and we continue to celebrate Jesus, our Emmanuel who has come near. We get to walk out those doors into the mission field to tell about the King of Kings. Let's do one more song and go out with praise. ♫ "My Soul Magnifies The Lord" ♫ >> Richard: Thank you, church, for your worship today. Have a Merry Christmas. You are dismissed. [♫♫♫] >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our podcast "Anchor Point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the App Store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. we are glad you're here.