Embracing Freedom and Shalom This Christmas Eve

"Now, after gold, there was frankincense. Frankincense is a gift for worship. Why? Because there's a high-quality incense. When it was burned, this oil was burned, it would symbolize the prayers and praise that were rising to God. And we believe, and Christians believe, that Jesus Christ is the high priest. We don't need an earthly priest or high priest. We have Jesus who reconciles and repairs all of humanity and brings this shalom, this peace, to our relationship with God." [00:42:44] (40 seconds)


"This is foretelling of what Christ will find himself on a cross, dying for each and every one of us, that they used to take this spice and they would anoint the dead bodies with this. Again, foreshadowing that sacrificial death on a cross. God was displaying his true love on a cross for each and every one of us. It was his depth of love for all of creation. The Christmas story. It's so well known." [00:43:42] (29 seconds)


"We have fear of failure in our lives. We have fear of not being enough in our life. We have fear of being alone, or we have fear of the unknown. We have a fear of the future. Not being in control of our future, or even the present moment. Some of us even have a deep fear of God." [00:44:32] (21 seconds)


"We tend to be fearful, so we chase after approval, or we chase after power, or perfection, or safety, or happiness, or comfortableness, or just some sort of status in life. Now, we chase after these things, and that ultimately leaves us empty sometimes, isolated, fearful. And fear, fear can be exhausting." [00:46:12] (31 seconds)


"Sin and fear is a great oppressor. It actually enslaves us to, you know, all sorts of thoughts and issues in our life. And it stops us from truly living life to the fullest. You could say it's a great occupier. It occupies and takes up particular space in our life, and it creates this space and this distance and disconnect between us and God." [00:48:02] (26 seconds)


"Think about sin and fear are great oppressors. They are enslavers. And people tend to make Christmas all about forgiveness. Forgiveness is great, but that just brings people back to zero. And the old covenant could bring you back to zero with a sacrificial system. But Christmas is a gift of freedom, because zero doesn't remove the problem." [00:49:39] (31 seconds)


"Well, the Jewish concept of peace, shalom, goes beyond the absence of conflict. We often think if there's no conflict, then you have peace. That's not exactly the Hebrew understanding. That's not what Jesus would have thought about or even said when he talked about peace. He would be talking about wholeness. Shalom is wholeness. It is flourishing. It is completeness." [00:51:10] (26 seconds)


"To these songs that we love so much, actually speak about the two dual gifts of Christmas, this beautiful gift of freedom, but also shalom in our life. See, God's grace was born in a manger. There was one baby boy with a message of love and hope, and he gifted freedom and shalom. Because where sin enslaves you, Jesus, brings freedom. And where fear disrupts your life, Jesus can calm it. And where life feels incomplete, Jesus brings true shalom." [00:53:19] (42 seconds)


"Reclaim that freedom of Christ in your life. And when you sing Silent Night later on, the service, as we close up the service, and those candles are shining, the faces of all the people around us, I would love for us to claim the shalom of Christ, the peace of Christ in our hearts. Let those songs be a faith response to Jesus this evening." [00:53:59] (27 seconds)


"Thank you for offering us freedom, the gift of Christmas. Thank you for offering us more than just freedom, but also shalom. We can have true peace. In our lives, in our beings, our heart, our mind, our souls, our emotions. I just pray, Lord, as we continue to move towards communion, and we see your songs sung, and we sing Silent Night at the end, I just pray that we claim all those things that you've offered to gifts to us. Jesus' name we pray, all these things. Amen and amen." [00:54:46] (37 seconds)


"This candle christ's candle and the light in which it holds is the symbol that jesus christ is the light of the world and in just a moment as i light my candle off the christ candle that has already lit all the other candles in here it will again be a flame that will light yours and his light is shared with each one of us as we pass the flame we need to remember that his love and his hope and his peace and his joy though shouldn't just remain with us they should be passed on and shared with others in our lives in our lives in our lives in our lives in our lives in our lives in our lives in our world so just some quick instructions as well about this just remember as we come out to light your candle please bring your unlit candle to the lit candle because that will keep wax from falling on yourself so remember that as you pass it down the row but also uh we'll tell you when to extinguish those later on but we're gonna just enjoy silent night we're gonna listen to it then we'll begin to sing it together as the light begins to fill the room you" [01:14:36] (75 seconds)