Christmas Eve at Grand Rapids First

And he shall reign forever and ever And he shall reign forever and ever And he shall reign forever and ever And he shall reign forever and ever And he shall reign forever and ever King of kings And lord of lords King of kings And lord of lords King of kings And lord of lords King of kings And he shall reign forever and ever Come on, would you stand to your feet? Put your hands together, hey! Is somebody ready to celebrate the king of kings and lord of lords? Come on, would you sing with us, say Angels we have heard on high Sweetly singing o'er the plain And the mountains in reply Echoing their joyous strain Would you say Gloria In excelsis Deo Shepherds, what this jubilee Why your joyous strains prolong What the gladsome timings be Which inspire your heavenly song Somebody say Gloria

In excelsis Deo Gloria In excelsis Deo Put your hands together Would you say Glory to God In the highest forever For all he has done Is unfailing love Glory to God In the highest forever Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord, the new born King Somebody say Gloria In excelsis Deo Gloria In excelsis Deo Say Glory to God In the highest forever For all he has done Is unfailing love Glory to God Say Glory to God Glory to God Glory to God

Glory to God Say For all ♪ Oh, He is God ♪ ♪ Glory to God in the highest forever ♪ Would you say, Gloria, say, Gloria. ♪ Gloria, glory to God in the highest forever ♪ ♪ Gloria, Gloria, glory to God in the highest forever ♪ ♪ Glory to God in the highest forever ♪ Give Him praise. Oh, come on, everybody. Give King Jesus the greatest standing ovation of praise and the greatest shout of victory. Jesus is Lord, everyone. Oh, He's Lord. Wow. You're going to have an amazing night tonight, everybody. And I'll tell you what, you know, you rarely get the opportunity to see some of the folks, some of you don't even know the person behind you or beside you. Just for a quick second, before you sit down, would you just wish somebody a Merry Christmas and just introduce yourself? Come on, tell each other how much you love them in Jesus Christ. Thank you. You know, this is the first year that we have ever done our Christmas Eve online, first time.

And so all of our online family, welcome. We're so glad you're watching. And I'll tell you what, it's probably good you're watching from home because it looks like this place is pretty filled up tonight. Yes, we're going to call it SOS. Yeah, that'd be a good idea. Scoot over some. Y'all scoot over and let somebody sit in your pew. Can everybody just kind of squeeze in? We got a lot of people waiting to get a seat. So if you could- Oh, you guys aren't moving. You just aren't there, aren't you? This is my seat, it's Christmas. I can't see anything though, but besides. It's good to see everyone. Merry Christmas, everybody. And later on in the service, we're going to have a time of candlelight. So I want to remind you, if you didn't get a candle and we also have one for kids that are bad repowered, somebody say amen to that. Yeah, kids and fire don't work well. Amen. But if you didn't get a candle for your child or you didn't get one when you walked in, do me a big favor. Would you just kind of hold your hand up and an usher will come to you and get you a candle?

Cause we want to ensure that at the end of this tonight, it is just one of the most beautiful memories and experiences and we don't want you to miss out on it. And it's going to be a wonderful night tonight and I hope y'all are blessed. Everybody got their Christmas shopping done? Yes. Okay. I want to ask you a question. How many here have a stocking for your dog? Thank you. There's a lot of people. How many bought your dog a present? Thank you, Susan. How many bought more than one? Look at this. You know, PetSmart has buy three, get two free. So. It ain't right. I only have one under there for you, but most of us- I know, the dog has got three. The dog's got three presents. No, he's got five. Oh, great, great. He got two free. He's worth it though, aren't they? Thank you, Susan. I can always count on Susan to amen me about the dogs. You and your dog. We're so glad y'all came tonight.

And listen, you're going to have a wonderful time tonight. And we want you to make this an incredible memory for you and your family and your friends. But most of all, we want you to know that in the midst of you enjoying everything that's happening, the incredible music that's going to happen through the whole evening, we want you to know that we're here to lift up one name above all other names. And his name is Jesus Christ. And he is Lord. The one that came to take away our sins and give us eternal life. And you're just going to be so, you're going to be so blessed. But how about before we go any further, how about we just give Jesus Christ the greatest praise we could ever give him as we enter into this night. Amen. Come on, let's praise him. He's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"]

["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] For as long as we've existed, there's been light. The sun by day, the moon by night, but God made a promise to all mankind, a greater light would come. The hue of galaxies diverse, lit with supernova burst, there is long existed light across the universe, but a greater light would come. Isaiah spoke the father's plan on those living in the land of darkness. Hope shall descend the greatest light would come Then beneath the Christmas star it came this blazing light of God was named Jesus

Heavenly host proclaim the greatest life has come And many well our God with us with endless power and fire of love of equal brilliance There is none the greatest light has come This light unlike any other sinners saved by mercy's turning enemies into brothers the greatest light has come a light that wakes the sleeping nations draws the billions to salvation Light of Christ our firm foundation the greatest life Is come in this light the blind are seeing in this light is life those once dead alive and singing the greatest light Is come Oh Joyful Of the skies with angelic hosts proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem Hark the herald angels sing Glory to the new born King Christ is born in Bethlehem prise, he holds him proud Offspring of a virgin's womb Held in flesh, the Godhead's King Held in heart, the Deity Pleased as men with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel Hark the herald angels sing Glory to the newborn King

Do you hear what I hear? Hark the herald angels sing Do you hear what I hear? Hark the herald angels sing A child born to save can never be Lord Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace Hail the Son of Righteousness Light and life to all He brings Risen with healing in His wings Mild He lays His glory by Born that man no more may die Born to reign the sons of earth Born to give His Son new birth Hark the herald angels sing Glory to the newborn King How many of you blessed so far by the ministry of our worship team? There's so much more coming and more worship and more for you to enjoy. I do have one announcement though, I just want to take care of one thing. You know when we exit tonight, I'm asking God to give everybody a special gift this Christmas. It's called patience. And so you'll see they're exiting, we'll have assistance from our Wyoming Police Department. God bless them, thank them for helping us get out of here. But I want to make you aware of another exit option that's only available tonight. And for those of you who faithfully attend, remember it's just for tonight only. We have a little reprieve from the city. But when you're in this parking lot over here, there's an exit called Allison Avenue. And that gate will be open and you'll see someone direct. So that's going to be another outlet to go down Allison and then you can get on Byron Center.

So it'll be a lot easier. And if I could just ask you, this is the first time we've done that. So be very kind to our neighbors. Drive the speed limit. I don't want you to get another gift for Christmas that you don't want called the ticket. Amen. So please be very, very conscientious of our neighbors as you go through and drive safely. Any exit you go out of. But how many grateful we got another little release valve out there. Okay. So for tonight only, you know, we really love this. We really love this, this season. But you know, the spirit of giving and us wanting to give, you know, that nature only came from one and it's from God himself. Any of you that are students of the word have been in church very long. I hope that there's one passage of scripture that you have memorized by heart and that's John 3 16. And I tell you what, why don't we just, why don't we just say that verse together? Because this is what the reason of Christmas and the reason why Jesus Christ came was for this very reason. And here it is ready. Come on. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. How many know we can just praise God on that one right there and call it a night for God still loved you and me. And he said, I'm going to die for them. So that Sam Rifko and everybody else who believes in me can have eternal life. And tonight in just a moment, we're going to have an opportunity to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and thank him for being our gift in just a moment in a tangible way to give

tonight. And there's a lot of ways that you can give and you can do it on an app and, or there's going to be ushers in just a moment, there'll be a bag go by. Please understand tonight, if you've never given your life to Jesus Christ, and maybe this is real foreign to you tonight. You are our guest here tonight. We're not asking you to bring any type of gift. In fact, we're going to give you a gift today and his name is Jesus Christ, but you're our guest. And for those of us who've received that gift of Jesus Christ, how many believe we ought to be given it to someone else. That is our mission in life. Amen. That is our mission. That's the reason why Grand Rapids first, I don't want to stand before God and say, Hey Lord, let me show you how much money we saved here at the church by being as tight as we could be. I know some people pride themselves on that, how tight they can be. I don't want to stand before God and say, God, um, I want to show what Grand Rapids first savings and loan did for you. How many of you want to say, God, we did it all and gave it all. So we keep telling others about the gift that you gave us, which is eternal life. Amen. And that's the reason why, you know, as we get ready to give, this is why this church is so such good stewards of what we do. We believe we need to be telling others about the name of Jesus Christ and his power to save. It's their only hope. It's the world's hope. That's the reason why we have 126 ministries and missionaries every month that depend on

this church. So they can continue doing ministry around the world compassion ministries caring for people feeding programs teaching them and showing about Jesus Christ This is the reason this past year this church We made a decision to give two point one million dollars away to empower other 126 other missionaries and ministries because we believe this is the only hope for the world. It's the only hope This is the reason why we believe pointing Jesus Christ We can be entertained and enjoy and have fellowship, but we ultimately need to point them to Jesus Christ not to a church Not to a denomination. We need to point them to Jesus Christ. It's your hope my hope and their hope and said it's Jesus Christ and This past year. I just rejoice because Jesus said when one comes to him all heaven rejoices and this past year this past year We want to rejoice and give honor and glory to God because this year through the ministries of Grand Rapids first 4279 people said yes the following Jesus Christ We're gonna follow Jesus Christ That's the reason why I don't want to be around a stingy church, I don't want to be around stingy people I don't want to be around stingy Christians Because first of all, I don't think we're running out of money. I know that we are running out of time And so I'm gonna find any way that I can Give to God even in the Christmas story. They were constantly given the Magi who came from a long distance a gold Frankincense and myrrh and many of scholars believe that it was that gold Frankincense and myrrh That Mary and Joseph used to sustain themselves and Jesus Christ the Son of God when they had to spend two years in Egypt It was that gift so that Jesus Christ could come to the world You think of the shepherds who left and gave their time to leave their flocks vulnerable at night to wild beasts But they were gonna go worship and seek Jesus Mary and Joseph they were willing to give up the reputation no matter what people said about them because they wanted to bring Jesus and Jesus loved you so much and he said I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do Sam for you and others in the world I'm gonna give my life for you. That's who he is And can I tell you the father loved you so much. He went beyond that and I can tell you this

When the father had to give his own son For you and me how many thank God that is the greatest gift that could ever be given to anybody. Amen. It is And So tonight I want you just to give a thank-you Jesus offering That will empower us to keep doing more and more of one thing and that is to point people to the Lord Jesus Christ Just a point of Jesus Christ So today I want you if you want to join me just take a gift if you want There's an envelope in front of you. There's an there's an app you can use that QR code There's a lot of ways that you can do this tonight, but why don't you end this year? We're saying Jesus. I want to do something to empower others to hear the gospel. Just like it came to me and We internally use this to reach people in the city and around the world How many believe this is the greatest message in the whole world Jesus Christ saves? Delivers and he's coming back. Amen. He's coming back He's coming back. Would you join me and let's pray as we worship and giving father Thank you so much For loving me loving the world loving all of us That you would come into this earth a sinful place That you could get us All that you've gone through Lord to get us And so now father in the gratitude of you giving your life for us We want to help others to get the same thing we've received and that is you Jesus so tonight father We want to bless you with a gift just like the Magi the shepherds Mary and Joseph We want to be like you Jesus and we want to give tonight so others can hear and father I pray would you bless those? Who are coming with a spirit of generosity So that others can hear in Jesus Christ's name and everybody said amen God bless you as you worship Jesus with your giving tonight You

Let's go take a ride. Progress always starts with a step. Sometimes that means stepping out of your comfort zone or stepping in to what you're called to do. Sometimes it's just simply stepping forward in faith. Every step is a choice, to trust God, to move when staying put would feel safer. Because real growth only happens when you take that step. And no matter where life takes you, you're never done stepping up. Come on, church, would you stand to your feet? Would you stand to your feet as we continue to worship the Lord? How many just love Jesus? Thank you, Lord. This baby boy and king, treating his dying mother like she's his own. This baby boy and king, treating his dying mother like she's his own. This baby boy and king, treating his dying mother like she's his own. And we're in humanity. From the holy of holies to the dirt with lolly, our Savior stepped off His throne. To meet us in flesh and bone, lift high the name of Jesus Christ. Let us exalt the treasure of heaven. Lift high the name of Jesus Christ. Let praises rise for Christ our Emmanuel. Let us exalt the treasure of heaven. Let praises rise for Christ our Emmanuel. Lift high the name of Jesus Christ. Let us exalt the treasure of heaven. Lift high the name of Jesus Christ. Let praises rise for Christ our Emmanuel. God with us tomorrow. Hallelujah. To the saving Son of heaven, to the Prince of peace eternal, His name is Jesus.

Hallelujah. ♪ To the roaring lion of Judah ♪ ♪ To the King of kings forever ♪ ♪ His name is Jesus, hallelujah ♪ ♪ To the slaving son, to the slaving son ♪ ♪ To the Prince of peace eternal ♪ ♪ His name is Jesus, hallelujah ♪ ♪ To the roaring lion of Judah ♪ ♪ To the King of kings forever ♪ ♪ His name is Jesus, hallelujah ♪ ♪ His name is Jesus, hallelujah ♪ ♪ His name is Jesus, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Lift high the name of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Let us exalt the treasure of heaven ♪ ♪ Lift high the name of Jesus, let praises rise ♪ ♪ To Christ our Emmanuel, let praises rise, let praises rise ♪ ♪ For Christ our Emmanuel, let praises rise ♪ ♪ For Christ our Emmanuel, let praises rise, let praises rise ♪ Somebody give Jesus a clap of praise. Thank you. Come on, would you join me and sing this with me today? ♪ Hallelujah, salvation in glory ♪ ♪ Honor and power to the Lord our God ♪ ♪ For the Lord our God is mighty, say ♪ ♪ The Lord our God is omnipotent, that's it, say ♪ ♪ The Lord our God is one, somebody stir up this praise today, would you sing it again, say ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, salvation in glory ♪ ♪ Honor and power to the Lord our God ♪ ♪ For the Lord our God is mighty, say ♪ ♪ The Lord our God is omnipotent, the Lord our God, say He is one ♪

Come on choir, would you say all praise? ♪ All praise is due to the King of kings, and the Lord our God, He is one ♪ Oh, sing it again, sing it again with all you have. ♪ All praise is due to the King of kings, and the Lord our God, He is one ♪ Come on guys, would you bring it back in and sing. ♪ Sing hallelujah, salvation, honor, honor, He is one, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, to the King of kings, and the Lord our God, He is one ♪ Just the voices, lift it up, somebody sing! ♪ All praise is due to the King of kings, and the Lord our God, He is one, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, to the King of kings, and the Lord our God, He is one, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Honor and power, He is wonderful ♪ Somebody give the Lord some praise. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Joseph and Mary made the journey to Bethlehem to register for the census, with Mary carrying the child God had promised. While they were there, Mary gave birth to Jesus, wrapped him in cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Jesus traded divinity for humanity, leaving heaven for a stable. In this one simple night, he changed our world forever. The little Jesus laid down his sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where he lay. The little Jesus lay down his sweet head. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes. But little Lord Jesus, how high he makes. I love thee, Lord Jesus. Look down from the sky, and stay by my cradle till morning. We sing hallelujah to the Prince of Peace.

We sing hallelujah to the Lord. We sing with the angels to the newborn King, the Christ. He's the Savior of the world. Be near me, Lord Jesus. I ask thee to stay. Close by me forever, and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in thy tender care. And feed us for heaven to live with thee there. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. We sing hallelujah to the Prince of Peace. We sing hallelujah to the Lord. Oh, we sing. Oh, we sing with the angels to the newborn King. See the Christ. He's the Savior of the world. We sing, we sing hallelujah to the Prince of Peace. We sing hallelujah to the Lord. To the Lord. We sing, we sing with the angels to the newborn King, the Christ. You know, the words that I was listening to that song and singing with them, and the line that just stuck out to me was, and fit us for heaven, to live with you there. You know, when I was raised in church, and some of you, maybe this is the first time you've been in church since you were a kid, or maybe you didn't have anything you wanted to do at church because maybe one of us represented Jesus wrong. But there were times where I almost thought like God was just up there in heaven just ready to let me have it if I stepped out of line. And the longer I've served Jesus Christ, what I'm figuring out is that he really wants to hang out with you and me. And he doesn't just want a moment, he wants eternity with us, everybody.

And that's what the coming of Jesus Christ is about. That's what Christmas is all about. It's about Jesus Christ trying to get close to you and me. But somehow we get it in our mind that, well, maybe it's the enemy puts it in us that somehow you're not good enough to get there with him. I got a word for you. You're not. You say, how do you know, how can you say that? Because I know I'm not, and I'm the pastor. But he's the one that fixed it so I could be fit to be with him for eternity. That's what this whole thing's about. It's God's always trying to get close to us. That's why he's called Emmanuel, which means God with you, with us. That's what he's doing. That's what this whole thing is about Christmas. And he came once. How many know he's coming again? He really wants to get close with us. See, because God didn't want any space to come between us. You know, when it all started in the Garden of Eden, there was no space between man and woman and God. They would, I mean, the Bible is pretty descript on this, that they were with God in the cool of the day, holding conversations all the time, and both of them were naked. Now, if this was a Southern church, we say it naked. You know, what is God trying to say here? What he's trying to say is there was such a closeness that God had that there was no embarrassment or body shame or identity shame because there was no sin there. There's no sin. Are you getting this? Maybe you're not much of a church person or something, but it took me a long time to figure

it out. I wish I'd have figured it out earlier. He's always trying to get close, and here's what happened. When that first sin, when the first humans sinned, that closeness that God had brought space between God and men, broke down the relationship, broke down eternal life, broke it all away. In fact, there's a scripture in the Bible that Paul writes to the Christians in Colossae, those new Christians in Colossae, in Colossians chapter one, verse 21. He said this. He said, once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior, there's a separation from God, but here's what God wanted. He wants to keep coming close, and he knows we can't get to him because we're never going to be good enough, so he comes to us. God said the only way someone sinless can do this is I got to put on skin. I got to send myself on the form of my son because I want to remove the space between me and that lady, that man, that teenager, that senior citizen. I'm going to remove the space between us, and I want to remove the judgment that comes with that sin. That's why the Bible is very descript that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God, eternal life. So he goes on to tell those people in Colossae, he says to those Christians, and he says it to you and me. He says the same thing, Colossians 1.22. He says, because of Jesus. but now he has reconciled you by Christ physical body through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation how many know that is good news for you and me no accusation and some of you don't need a preacher accusing you or some bible thumping fandom fundamentalist accusing you you do a pretty good job on your own at night accusing yourself listening to the whisper of satan but jesus said this is why i came and it all started with that away in a manger but here jesus makes it very clear i love the

song away in a major i love it when that how precious was were those kids i'd show up just see those kids saying i'm just i love those kids singing getting jesus in their heart that way by song but i want to make very clear because jesus made it clear he is not a way in a major along with many ways to be presented before him clean and holy before a holy father he is not one of many ways to see god he's not a way in a manger jesus made it clear i am the way that came in the manger very clear so that's not my words jesus christ himself self made this bold audacious exclusive politically incorrect statement jesus christ the one that came in the manger made a very clear statement because he wanted us with him and that statement was john 4 16 jesus christ words himself he says i am jesus said it i am the way i am truth and the life no one can come to the father who's holy pure no sin there no one can come to the father except through me jesus says i am the way that came in that manger and when christ listen when christ does not fill that space between you and god because of what he did on the cross when he died for us other things start filling that space i'll tell you what fills it just like adam and eve that first here they used to walk with god in the cool of day absolute pure relationship they sin and then here comes god in the cool of the day looking for him because he just wants to be with us everybody do you get it he really wants to be with us and in the cool of the day god's calling adam eve where are you where are you and the bible said they hid in fear because they realized they were naked and they were ashamed here's the problem of satan's lie to humans like you and me get away from god get away from his word so you can be free to do what you want to do but what happens is the further way you get from him you become characterized by fear now fear becomes your idea they never knew fear and now for the first time in their life they start body shaming themselves the first time in their life he starts accusing his wife and he starts she starts accusing him the first time they felt vulnerability they felt vulnerable they felt shame for the first time never before space came in and fear came in i wonder how many of us are building up more fear about this world and more fear about what's happening in nations of the world and more fear it's not that we're desensitized to it it's that jesus christ when he comes in actually he says perfect love drives out that fear and he is perfect love it's not a feeling it is a person and his name is jesus the busyness of life starts coming in jesus gets pushed out you're no longer communicating with him talking with him prayer the connection with his people starts separating you watch it offenses and bitterness you can't deal with bitterness you

can't deal with offense you can barely stand to hang out with them this christmas but jesus said let me just show you something i came to remove the space of sin and help you overcome the fear and overcome the hurt and the rejection and the bitterness and the fear of this world i came to remove that that's why paul then talks to the christians the new the new believers in ephesus and this is what he says to them in ephesians chapter 2 Verse 13, he says, but now, since you came to me, but now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away, look at this, far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Jesus Christ. How many thank God Jesus is the greatest gift, amen? Amen. So I know you're all gonna scope out the gifts tonight. Who's got the big package? Who's got the heaviest package? Listen, it's not about the biggest tree, the biggest gift that's under the tree. It's about the greatest gift that hung on the tree, and it's Jesus Christ, because he really wants you. He really wants you. He really wants you. Before we have candlelight and more songs, this is what Paul said to those Christians. I said it earlier, Romans 6.23, he said, for the wages of my sin and your sin is death, but the free gift of God, how many love free? Okay, I know there are more Dutch people in here than that. He says, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. How do I get it, pastor?

It's not complicated, everybody. You don't have to give any money. You just simply need to surrender. And 1 John 1.9 says this, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. And you simply gotta ask him. So how about receiving the greatest gift that hung on the tree? And why don't you give him your life totally and completely tonight? Why don't you give him all the hurts and the offenses and the bitterness and the fear of life? And say, Jesus Christ, with you, you will drive out all this fear because the closer he gets to you, the less fear, less anxiety. The better, you'll be so much better to handle bitterness, offenses, when Jesus Christ starts coming in. But more importantly, you get eternal life. So how about this just for a moment? Can we just close our eyes for a moment? And just because I know some of you are with family and friends, and sometimes when God's trying to talk to us, everything distracts. And I know we have kids in here enjoying the evening with us, but I want you just to tune everybody out

by just closing your eyes just for a second, just for a second. And maybe you never, ever gave your life to Jesus Christ. Maybe you've never surrendered to him. Maybe you're searching for all of these other ways, and Jesus says, I am the way you've been looking for. I'm it. This is the night. You've tried every other thing, and it's not working. And he's saying, I am the way, the truth, and the life. You can know the Father through me because I paid the price you couldn't pay. You need to receive the free gift of what I've done, but you have to receive it. And you say, Pastor Sam, tonight, I didn't know this was gonna happen, but I sense God in this place, and I know it was before you even got here. God's been talking to you for a long time now, wanting you to surrender to him by saying yes to Jesus Christ and what he did for you on the cross. That's why he came. And you say, Pastor Sam, tonight I wanna give my life to Jesus Christ. I'm not gonna ask you to give any money, not ask you that you gotta start doing something, some certain routine to finally be accepted by Jesus. It purely is your faith to say yes to him.

I'm following you, Jesus. And you want that tonight. Maybe it's been a long time. Maybe it's been a long time since you even walked into a church you didn't think God would ever want you. But today he says, I came for you, and I can free you from all sin and all accusation, purify you because of what I did, but you need to receive what I did. And you say, Pastor, I'm coming back home to Jesus. So just for this moment, while your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed, you say, Pastor, I wanna do that right now, just me and God. I wanna do that right now. I wanna lead you in a prayer, but I'm gonna ask you this. If you want that tonight, I'm going to ask you to do one simple act. I'm going to count to three, and then I want you to simply lift your hand as if you're raising it toward heaven, saying, Jesus, today I received the greatest gift that came from me, the one that was the way in the manger, that made a way for me that I could have eternal life with him and be totally forgiven and clean, and I want that today. When I count to three, I want you to lift your hand as high as you can get it, and just say, Jesus, today I want you, and just hold it up there, just leave it up there, okay, just for a moment. Here we go. Ready? In this one moment, your life is getting ready to receive the greatest gift in the universe, Jesus Christ and his forgiveness and his eternal life. If you want that, I want you to simply raise your hand. Here we go. Ready? When I count to three, Jesus, give them the strength to say yes to you. Here we go. Ready? One, two, three, just lift it up, pastor. I want that today. I want that today, yeah. Safe place. This is the safest place you'll ever do this. Some of you are watching online. I want you right now just

to raise your hand right where you're sitting. Just leave it up there. Now, just for a moment, I want you to leave your hand up. I'm going to do one thing for you. There's somebody that's going to come, and they're going to put a gold card in your hand. There's a reason for it, and it's very special. Just leave your hand up, and someone's just going to put one right in your hand, a gold card. Just leave it up there for a moment. When you receive that card, you can just put your hand down the moment you get that card. It's very special, that card. So, ushers, if you just see the hands and just give those cards, that gold card, to each one of our friends tonight. Just leave it up there. I'm going to lead you in a prayer in just a moment, but I'm going to tell you about the card right after that, but I want to lead you in this prayer. If you meant that tonight, and those of you watching online, I want you to say this prayer with me, because God is listening to you right now. Would you just say this prayer with me? Church family, would you join all of our friends that are receiving the greatest gift, Jesus Christ? Say this with me. Say, Jesus, I may not understand it all, and God, you know I'm not perfect, but I know you are, and you came to this earth because you wanted me, and I received Jesus. What you did on the cross to die for my sins, you're the only one that could do it, and Jesus, tonight I receive this. You are the Lord of my life, and today I surrender to you. I want to follow you, Jesus, and I invite you to follow me, and I invite you into my life. There's a lot of things, God, I'm embarrassed about, but Jesus, you're not afraid. You're not embarrassed of me. You've wanted me the whole time. You want to come near to me, so Jesus, I receive the power of your blood that washes away every sin, makes me pure and holy before God. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me, and today I receive that by faith. Jesus Christ, I declare you are the son of the living God who died for my sins, rose from the dead, and you're coming back for me because you really want to be with me, and Jesus, I want to be with you. You're my Lord, and I'm your child from this day forward. I am clean, forgiven, and whole because of you. Amen and amen. That's okay. We are going to praise God for you just for a moment. Now, if y'all just give me one moment. All of my friends that raised your hand and you got that gold card, when we did this, I wanted it to be a gold card. It's the closest thing I could get to show. I wanted them to realize how important you are to Jesus Christ,

but I want you to take this card, and when you go out the door here or out this area, when you go across the bridge, those of you that gave your life to Jesus Christ, I have a very, very, very special gift for you. It's, I mean, we have really worked on this for you and I want to give you your first Christmas gift from the body of Christ. And I'm telling you, it is, it is a beautiful, beautiful Bible that I want you to have. I mean, it is beautiful. It's easy to understand. And we have been preparing this gift for you. And you say, well, what do I do now, pastor? What do I do now? Well, on the front of this, on the front of the box, I'm going to show you what to do the next seven days. It'll take you about five, 10 minutes. Here's what I want you to do step-by-step for the next seven days. As you start walking with Jesus Christ. And I want to welcome you into the kingdom of God. And I want to give you this gift today. So if you would just do me one simple thing, uh, just put your name on the card, your information, just hand it to the person there. And they're going to give you this gift tonight from us to say, welcome to the family of Jesus Christ. And we want to be the first one to give you a gift. Okay. And I promise you, if we have your information, uh, we will not sell it to telemarketers. We're going, okay, here they're bugging me now. You know, we're not going to do that to you, but we want to help you walk your journey with Jesus Christ. We really want to walk beside you church. Can you tell them and show them how much you love them and how much heaven is rejoicing over them right now? Amen. Oh, somebody give Jesus praise. Amen. I'd like to invite my wife, Brenda and all of our pastors to come. And I want you to get your, uh, your candles ready. As we have this moment of candlelight together, don't light your candles yet, please. Until we're, uh, here in just a moment, if, if you could do me a big favor first and just hold for a moment, I like the scripture in John 8 12, when Jesus said, I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you have the light of life that leads you to life. You have that light Jesus in you now, follow him. Those who gave your life to him, just follow him. And it leads your life. And here's another thing. This light isn't supposed to stay inside of you. How many know we are to take this light to the people that are around us. You're going to be in homes with friends and families that need to know what Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid to tell them what Jesus

did in your life to forgive you, give you eternal life. Because now Jesus said in Matthew 5 14, he says, you are the light of the world, like a city. Look at this. You are the light of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. All you got to do is just let the light of Jesus Christ, what he did for you, let others know. And Jesus is that light of the world. Amen. So tonight, as we prepare our time for candle lighting, remember he's the light in you and it's time for you to tell somebody else. So so would you sing silently? Holy night, holy night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright, all is calm around yon virgin mother and child, holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. Silent night, silent night, holy night, holy night, shepherds quake, shepherds quake at the sight. Glory streams from heaven afar, heavenly hosts, heavenly hosts sing Alleluia. Christ the Saviour is born, Christ the Saviour is born. Silent night, silent night, holy night, holy night, Son of God, Silent night, holy night, Holy night, Holy night, Holy night, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. Silent night, silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright, all is calm around yon virgin mother and child, mother and child, tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. Would you sing it again, sing silent night. Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin mother and child, Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. Merry Christmas, everyone. Jesus is Lord, isn't he? Amen.

I want to encourage you, if you're going to take your selfie, you better take it right now, because we cannot remake this again tonight. But we're just so delighted that you're here with us, and we pray that you truly sense the presence of Jesus Christ in your home, whether you're with family or you're by yourself, but some of you watching online, the glory of God just doesn't fill your life just this night, but that you carry this throughout 2026, the presence of Jesus Christ, because he is with you. He really wants to get near to you, and I pray you get closer and closer, and you are the light of the world, amen? You are the light of the world, shining Jesus Christ. Oh, wow. You don't want to put the candles out, do you? But I got wax going down my finger right now. I want to encourage you, as we get ready to extinguish our candles, that when you exit tonight, there will be metal containers, metal containers outside that you need to drop these into, because we reuse these again. We are a nonprofit ministry, so if you put the candles in there, though, and for safety, put them in the metal containers. Don't put them in other dumpsters that are out there when you leave today. I know we're getting ready. They got one more song they want to do, but before we do that, I just want to thank a few people that have just done an exceptional job today, but I want to thank the leadership of Pastor Drew McElhaney, who is our executive pastor that oversees worship arts, communications, and tech. I want to thank Dane Kasperson, our worship arts pastor here, and I want to thank him for his leadership. I also want to thank Corden Tuttle for all of the tech things and his team that he's put together. But we're so delighted that you are here to experience this. Now, if we can put out our candles, and then let's just express our gratitude to them, okay?

We're not going to be able to clap with fire in our hands, but let's say, give them a big woo-hoo. How about that? How about that, eh? Come on, Pastor Drew, you and the worship team. Hey! Come on, choir. Somebody say, Sing, Gloria. Gloria. Would you say, Glory to God. For all, for all He has done. Sing it again and say, For all, for all He has done. Glory to God in the highest forever. Sing, Gloria. Gloria.