Central Grace Church

3596 Franklin Street Rocky Mount, Virginia

Website: www.centralgracechurch.com Email: [email protected]

December 22^nd 2019

10:00 am &hel lip;& helli p;..& helli p;&he llip; &hell ip;&h ellip ;&hel lip;& helli p;&he llip; &hell ip;&h ellip ;.&he llip; &hell ip;&h ellip ; A Saviour, Christ the Lord – Luke 2:11

*** NO WEDNESDAY NIGHT SERVICE THIS WEEK ***

Birthdays: December 25^th – Earlene Sheesley, 27^th – Kathy Smith, 29^th – Ron Fannin

30^th – Polly Peters, 31^st – Kathryn Polk

Cleaning this week: Kesses, Next week: Andersons / / / Nursery: Vikki

 ‘Let the thoughts of a crucified Christ be never out of your mind. Let them be meat and drink unto you. Let them be your sweetness and consolation, your honey and your desire, your reading and your meditation, your life, death and resurrection.’ -- Thomas Brooks, England – 1608-1680

 ‘Ah, Believer, it is only Heaven that is above all winds, storms and tempests; God did not cast man out of paradise, that he might find another paradise in this world. The world and you must part, or Christ and you will never meet. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”’ -- Brooks

Christmas

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

There are so many things to do this time of year, that we get caught up in them, and we seldom take the time to stop and think what this time means. It is this time of the year when the whole world is forced to think about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Think about the words in the passage above. “God with us!” The infinite Jehovah God with us. No wonder the angels burst into song and sang “Glory to God in the highest.” This was worthy of a new star in the Heavens. This was worthy of preserving on record for us to read today. This was worthy of the martyr’s death. The Apostle Paul said, “This is worthy of all acceptation.” This is the great mystery of the church, that “God was manifest in the flesh, and dwelt among us.” He, who was born in Bethlehem, is God, and He is “God with us.” Have you stopped to think why the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world? The Lord Jesus Christ did not come into the world to have pity on man, but He came into the world to redeem sinners. Christ came to redeem us by the offering of Himself on the cross, suffering the wrath of God for our sins as our Substitute. He did not come to prescribe a remedy which we must perform ourselves, but He came to provide the way of salvation to His people. The Saviour of the world came not only to provide salvation, but He is that salvation. “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ… (Who) loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”

We must never think that there is any spiritual value or even any spiritual meaning in keeping Christmas-day, or that we will stand any more in the favor of God by doing it. We know that our Saviour was not born on what is known as Christmas-day. Without a doubt, the observance of Christmas as the day on which Christ was born is of pagan origin. Many peoples’ religion requires that they keep this day holy, but no true believer should consider it as some sort of holy, sacred day.

However, there are times when I wish there were more Christmas-days in the year. This seems to be one of the days in the year when men everywhere join together in a moment of peace, and we could sure use more of that. We know for sure that there is enough work to do every other day, and a little rest now then would not hurt us. Christmas is really a good time for us, a time of rest for us, and a time which enables us to gather around as a family and to visit with our friends once again.

—Milton Howard

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

My friends, if you will carefully consider it, this is the most extraordinary fact ever declared in human language. God became a man and “took upon him the likeness of sinful flesh.” The Ancient of Days became an infant of days. The Son of the Most-High God became a man of sorrows. He made the world; but as a man, “he had no place to lay his head.” He who made the rivers asked a woman to give him a drink of water. He who cast out devils was tempted of the devil, and the author of life died and lay in a tomb.

“The sun that hid from Him its face

By His own hand was hung in space;

The sky which darkened o’er His head

By Him above the world was spread;

The spear that shed His precious blood

Was tempered in the fires of God;

The grave in which His form was laid

Was hewn in rocks His hand had made.”

-- Henry Mahan