Merry Christmas from Providence!
Though we are not gathering as a body on Christmas Sunday morning, we will be united as we worship Christ together in each of our homes. To that end, we have prepared this Christmas Worship Guide for you. The purpose for this guide is simply to assist you through a time of worship, prayer, and study of God’s word as you reflect on the birth of Christ. We encourage you to take a few minutes at some point on Christmas day to walk through this with family and/or friends.
May Christ be magnified in our hearts and our homes this Christmas.
Sing: “Sing We the Song of Emmanuel”
Sing we the song of Emmanuel
This the Christ who was long foretold
Lo in the shadows of Bethlehem
Promise of dawn now our eyes behold
God most high in a manger laid
Lift your voices and now proclaim
Great and glorious, Love has come to us
Join now with the hosts of heaven
Come we to welcome Emmanuel
King who came with no crown or throne
Helpless he lay, the invincible
Maker of Mary, now Mary’s son
O what wisdom to save us all
Shepherds, sages, before him fall
Grace and majesty, what humility
Come on bended knee, adore him
Go spread the news of Emmanuel
Joy and peace for the weary heart
Lift up your heads for your king has come
Sing for the light overwhelms the dark
Glory shining for all to see
Hope alive, let the gospel ring
God has made a way, he will have the praise
Tell the world his name is Jesus
Read: Luke 2:1-7
Why is it important that Jesus was born in Bethlehem?
See Micah 5:2
Why is it important that Jesus came from David’s family?
See 2 Samuel 7:12-13
In the Old Testament, God promised David that one of his descendants would one day have a kingdom that would never end (2 Sam. 7:12-13) and that this king would be born in Bethlehem. At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of this king! Though many centuries passed between these promises being made and Jesus’ birth, God knew exactly when he would fulfill them. In Galatians 4:4, Paul writes that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman … ” At Christmas, we remember that God is faithful and will always keep his promises!
Read: Luke 2:8-14
What message did the angel bring to the shepherds?
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.”
What is the significance of this message?
Good News: See v. 11 – The message is good news because it declares the birth of a Savior. Jesus’ birth points forward to his death on the cross to pay for our sins.
Great Joy: See v. 14 – The message brings great joy because it gives us peace and gives glory to God. It gives us peace with God because Christ came to reconcile us to God by bearing the punishment we deserve for rebelling against him. It gives us peace with one another as we forgive others the same way we were forgiven. It brings glory to God since it is solely by his grace in sending Jesus that we are saved.
For All People: The message is not just for a particular group of people. This message of good news and great joy is for people from all nations and is to be proclaimed in all the earth.
Read: Luke 2:15-21
How do the shepherds respond to the angels’ announcement?
The shepherds respond by traveling to Bethlehem to see the newborn King with their own eyes. Once they arrived, they found the baby lying in the manger, just as the angels had promised! Then, they shared the angels’ good news with Mary and Joseph: Jesus, their newborn child, was the Savior, Christ the Lord. After sharing this glorious news, the shepherds went back to their homes praising God for all that he had revealed to them about Jesus, his birth, and the good news that a Savior had come.
What can we learn from the shepherds’ response?
The shepherds responded to the good news of Jesus’ birth by praising God and by sharing the good news. In the same way, we can respond to the good news of the Gospel message by trusting in Jesus and by worshipping him! Additionally, just like the shepherds, we should respond by sharing the good news of the Gospel with the people in our lives.
Pray
Spend some time praising God for sending his Son to save us and pray for the people in your life who do not know Jesus.
Sing: “Joy To The World”
Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare him room
And heav’n and nature sing
And heav’n and nature sing
And heav’n and heav’n and nature sing
Joy to the world!
The Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness
And wonders of his love
And wonders of his love
And wonders, wonders of his love