LSB 381 Let Our Gladness Have No End

LSB 381 Let Our Gladness Have No End

English Chorus, 

Orchestra and Choir, 

Orchestra, Choir & Soloists

Genesis 3:15

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

Isaiah 11:1-2

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Luke 2:10-11

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

Luke 2:20

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Matthew 1:22-23

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Romans 5:11

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 8:32-33

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 

1 John  4:9 

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

LSB 357 Key of David

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

LSB 357 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

Public domain

Key of David--Opening Heaven

The Antiphon
O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel,
You open and no one can close,
You close and no one can open;
Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death.

Rev 3:7-8, 12-13
"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name...
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

Matthew 1:21, 23
"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel”
(which means, God with us).


Top Eight Ways the The Lord Jesus, Emmanuel, is “with us.”

The whole human race is truly redeemed and reconciled with God through Christ. By His faultless obedience, suffering, and death Christ merited for us the righteousness that helps us before God and also merits eternal life.

Christ's merit and benefits are presented, offered, and distributed to us through His Word and Sacraments.

By His Holy Spirit, through the Word, when it is preached, heard, and pondered, Christ will be effective and active in us, will convert hearts to true repentance and preserve them in the true faith.

The Spirit will justify all those who in true repentance receive Christ by a true faith. He will receive them into grace, adoption, and the inheritance of eternal life.

He will also sanctify in love those who are justified.

He also will protect them in their great weakness against the devil, the world, and the flesh. He will rule and lead them in His ways, raise them again when they stumble, comfort them under the cross and in temptation, and preserve them for life eternal.

He will also strengthen, increase, and support to the end the good work that He has begun in them, if they cling to God's Word, pray diligently, abide in God's goodness, and faithfully use the gifts they received.

Finally, He will eternally save and glorify in life eternal those whom He has elected, called. and justified.

LSB 380 Hark The Herald Angels Sing

LSB 380 Hark The Herald Angels Sing

Charlotte Church - Soprano,   King's College,   Mannheim Steamroller

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the Incarnate Deity

Pleased as Man with man to dwell, Jesus, Immanuel!

Light and Life to all He brings, 

Ris'n with healing in His wings.

born to raise the sons of earth,

born to give them second birth

John Wesley nails these lines. These lines bring God in the Flesh teaching to the hearts and minds of both the smallest and biggest singers and hearers. Kids can easily learn these lines and belt them out to their hearts content. The great thing about them is that as they grow up year by year they can not only learn them by rote, but keep unpacking them as their minds, hearts, and faith grow up. 

The Poetic Promises here keep us hearing the vastness of God's love and the scope of His care with fresh perspectives. These words keep the truth wrapped in the mystery fresh enough for five year olds, fifty-five year olds, and hundred and five year olds.

Jesus in God in human form. Jesus gives us the opportunity to say "Hi" to our Creator God, and to be friends with each other. Jesus is our healer. He brings Light. He brings Life. Jesus' birth brings resurrection, new creation, new birth.

The poetic depth of promise upon promise gives us plenty of hooks to hang our faith hat on, enjoy! and have a merry second day of Christmas.

Refrain:

Luke 2:13-14 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Verse 1

Romans 5:10-11

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 

Verse 2

Matthew 1:23 

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 

John 1:1, 14 

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

Verse 3

Malachi 4:2 

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 

1 Peter 1:3 

Born Again to a Living Hope

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 11:24–27

Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

LSB 357 Branch of Jesse’s tree

Click Here for Music

LSB 357 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, Thou Branch of Jesse’s tree,
Free them from Satan’s tyranny
That trust Thy mighty pow’r to save,
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

Public domain

Branch of Jesse

Victory over Satan and the Grave

Now-Not Yet

Isaiah 11:1–11

¹There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
²And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
⁶The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
⁷The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
⁹They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
¹⁰In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Matthew 1:21, 23

"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel”

(which means, God with us).

Prophet Isaiah is a cut above the rest. Preaching and Prophesying in Jerusalem, it appears he had some access to the King's Palace at various times during his ministry. He delivers the Word of the Lord directly into the laps of Good Kings and Evil Kings with equal portions of power and poetry. What a guy! Here's a man's man, a prophet's prophet.

Isaiah's depictions of God's plans include a Ruler and a Servant. In the first 12 chapters, Isaiah goes back and forth, almost chapter by chapter, between Israel's rebellious heart and the Ruler/Savior who is coming to set things right again. In his last chapters, 40-66, He works similar messages between Israel and the Suffering Servant.

What fascinates me about Isaiah's prophecies about God's Spirit Filled Righteous King – the one who is going to finally get all this Reign of God stuff right – is that Isaiah is speaking these prophecies in the Palace courts. Here we have God's Truth-Teller comforting the residents of Jerusalem with the message, “Don't worry, God has much bigger plans for us than King Ahaz. Hold on everyone, someday God is going to send us a real King instead of the king we have now.  The Reign of God will come when the descendant of David frees us from Satan's tyranny or slavery of the grave. We won't be worrying about Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, Midianites, or any other “-ites.” God's Ruler would not rule by the standard of every other earthly ruler. God's Ruler will minister through the Spirit of the Lord taking the upside-down every day world and turning it right side up again."

Jesse's Branch rising out of the stump of David's line fulfills the promise to David of an eternal Kingdom, sure – and to Abraham of being a Blessing to All Nations – But even more so, Reigning over the New Creation that overhauls the Adam and Eve problem of Satan, Sin, and Death. Rejoice, God's Ruler is on the way.

359 Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

Lo, how a rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming
As prophets long have sung,
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to us a Savior,
When half-spent was the night

This flow’r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness ev’rywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us
And lightens ev’ry load.

O Savior, child of Mary,
Who felt our human woe;
O Savior, King of glory,
Who dost our weakness know:
Bring us at length we pray
To the bright courts of heaven,
And to the endless day.

Public domain

LSB 379 O Come All Ye Faithful

LSB 379 O Come All Ye Faithful

Casting Crowns, Celtic Women, King's College, Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Hebrews 1:3-6

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son, today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Luke 1:35 

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

1 John  1:5-7 

Walking in the Light

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 

John 1:1 

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

John 3:16

For God So Loved the World

[Jesus said:] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

Colossians 2:9

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 

Highest, most holy,

Light of Light eternal,

Born of a virgin, a mortal He comes;

Son of the Father

Now in flesh appearing!

LSB 357 Lord of Might

O Adonai
Click Here for Music

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,

Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height

In ancient times didst give the Law

In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee, O Israel!

Public domain

LORD of Might, Holiness before and after

Exodus 19:9-13

And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”

When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

Exodus 20:1-3

And God spoke all these words, saying,

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.”

Matthew 1:21, 23

"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel” (which means, God with us).

Stanza three presents God's Sinai coming as a hint of God's arrival at Bethlehem. On the one hand this works, on the other hand it doesn't. Sinai is, no doubt, an example of God showing up to play a direct role in the Bible's action. To this extent, the parallel between Sinai and Bethlehem runs smoothly. To the extent that God's presence is enough to answer our questions, calm our fears, reassure and encourage us, Sinai and Bethlehem speak the same language.

Beyond God's arrival, not much is the same. Bethlehem replaces the strong arm of the LORD with Jesus born in humility. No one prepares for Bethlehem by cleaning up the house and doing the laundry. Preparation for taking Sinai seriously meant getting cleaned up first – like we think about taking a shower Sunday morning before church and putting on our Sunday suits and dresses. We imagine that if we look and dress the part of holiness we will “be holy” even as the LORD our God is holy.

But mangers cannot qualify as sanitary conditions. Jesus' parents are “living out of their suitcases” for who knows how long before the Baby arrives. The shepherds are the first witnesses on the Nativity Scene. They come with haste straight in from the fields to see if the angels message was true. These guys are not in the running for holiness awards. Still, the Baby doesn't seem to mind at all. To Jesus, everything is as it should be. Bethlehem is where the dirty, grimy, sinful ones come to be cleaned up, to be called holy, to be made holy. 

 Everyone, come as you are; no questions asked. Come with all your baggage and lay your burdens down. Kneeling at Bethlehem's manger, rise and stand, free and holy. Sinai shows that God is holy -- a holiness that demands our awe. Bethlehem shows God scooping up and embracing His grimy people announcing them holy and setting their new course, “Follow Me.”

578 Thy Strong Word – Stanza 3

Thy strong Word bespeaks us righteous;

Bright with Thine own holiness,

Glorious now, we press toward glory,

And our lives our hopes confess.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Praise to Thee who light dost send!

Alleluia, alleluia!

Alleluia without end!

© 1969 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100011178.

LSB 378 Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light

LSB 378 Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light

Organ, Choir, Congregation

 

 

 

 

 

Who is in the manger?

“Fear Not” – The one who takes away fear

“Good tidings of great joy” – the One with Good News

“Savior” – “We are Americans we have never been slaves of anyone!” -

“All sinners are slaves of sin”

• Why is it that the most detailed perfect plans never seem to work out right?
• We even have a sayings to cover up and make ourselves feel better about screw-ups,
  • “To Err is Human”
  • “Everybody makes mistakes”
  • “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again”
• Nothing's perfect – the first transistors – failure rates
• We admit that we are sinners and that we are slaves to sin – it clings to us wrapped up in bad habits, little annoyances, body odor and bad breath.
• Sin creeps up on us in little one experiments in evil only to find that turn so easily into addictions – cheapo replacement gods
• And because they are cheapo replacement gods they cannot hold up under the weight of our lives and so we need a few back gods.
• But that is why the angel Gabriel tells Joseph, “You shall call His name, Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” – “save our sins”

“Christ” – “The one set aside for service to God” “The Perfect One”

Prophets – Priests – Kings

• Prophets had spoken God's word – no holds barred – The True “No Spin” Zone
  • People don't like that kind of truth – It's hard on our egos, it spoils our good time to hear that we have not loved each other the way that God would have us love
  • Still not one perfect prophet in the Old Testament
• Priests? Not one perfect priest in the Old Testament
• Kings? Now there is a sorry lot, there is a reason we don't teach about the biblical old testament kings to our kids – we would hate for our kids to imagine they should be like them.

Jesus the Christ is the anointed one announcing the Word of the Lord as no human prophet could.

Jesus the Christ is the anointed one rescuing from sin as no human priest or animal sacrifice could

Jesus the Christ is the anointed one beginning His reign over all creation as no human king could

How? A Savior has been born who is Christ, the LORD.

The LORD – with this claim the Angel announces that this little babe is no run of the mill man of God.

This little babe is God. They did not go running to see a baby. They went running to see “this great sight” They went running because God was there. They went running to see because He had moved out of his comfy digs up in heaven and was now walking right along with us.

• To save
• to rescue
• to bind Satan
• to cast out sin
• to bring health and healing
• to disarm death
• to take up the throne of the Kingdom of God and set it over hearts and minds
  who will know Him, Trust Him, Love Him, and Follow Him.

One more problem of Christmas to solve and that is this:

Christmas is the starting line for God and us

It's wonderful to be on the field in competition, the stands are full and crowd is filled with anticipation, the spotlight is right on us, we are chomping at the bit to WIN.

Preparations

On your mark

Get set

Here is the climax of all those preparations – the moment when we will be tested against all the forces against us – forces of nature – forces of other competitors – forces of evil. Every muscle, every fiber of your body tensing for the moment anticipating the starting gun, it is going to fire any second ...

Go!

Shall we just stand up at the gun, admire the crowd, and bask in their cheers as others run on ahead to capture the prize. Jesus, our champion is tonight stepping onto the field of battle in full battle array – wearing your flesh and blood.

The LORD is putting you on, so that you can put Him on.

People around the world today and tomorrow are Hearing these words and the Savior, who is Christ the LORD is pleading with them one more time: Know Me, Trust Me, Love Me, Follow Me,

On your mark, get set, …

Luke 2:8-12 

The Shepherds and the Angels

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 

John 1:1-5, 14 

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

1 Timothy 2:5 

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 

Hebrews 2:11-12 

For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”