The Real Christmas Story

2023.12.24.Sermon.Christmas Eve, Morning Service

The Real Christmas Story

William Akehurst, HSWC

The Real Christmas Story (Message)

Arranged by William Akehurst, Pastor of HSWC

BIG IDEA:

We celebrate the birth of Christ,

the only HOPE for this world,

who gave his life for all mankind

to rescue them from sin and death.

And to everyone who believes in HIM,

to them HE gives the promise of eternal life.

Scriptures: John 1:1-5, Genesis 1:1-5, Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 2:15-17, Genesis 2:18, Genesis 2:23, Genesis 3:1-4, Genesis 3:6, Genesis 3:14-15, Micah 5:2-3, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 9:2, Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 2:1-12, John 1:10-14, Colossians 2:9, Isaiah 53:3-8, John 19:16-18, John 19:30, John 19:40-41, Matthew 20:1, Acts 1:9-11, John 14:3, John 11:25-26

In The Beginning

John 1:1-5

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Genesis 1:1-5

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:26-28

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 2:7-8

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden…

Genesis 2:15-17

15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eats thereof thou shalt surely die.

Genesis 2:18, 23

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

23 And Adam said, … she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

The Fall

Genesis 3:1-4, 6, 14-15

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

6 …she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, …

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The Prophetic Word

The prophets of old spoke of a Messiah coming.

Born in Bethlehem

Micah 5:2-3

2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

A Sign - Born of a virgin

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

From the Line of David

Isaiah 11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

HE was…before the World began

John 1:1-4 (KJV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.