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Joy to the World - Christmas Service 25 Dec 2015

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11, ESV)

The Christmas Day service at GBC this year was an evangelistic service that spoke to believers and non-believers alike with a clear presentation of the gospel, interspersed with favourite carols of praise to God. It was the first time we had celebrated Christmas with an afternoon service and it took some planning, especially on the part of those preparing Christmas lunches or dinners, but everyone was happy to set aside family traditions in favour of worshipping our Lord on this special day.

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The service began with a choral call to worship called Songs of Bethlehem, beautifully sung by the choir. The choir also led the congregation in the carols that followed, as well as reading from Scripture and bringing God’s precious words to life with a reverent and prayerful spirit.

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Hannah Yeo blessed us with a solo called Mary Did You Know? – a song that puts the spotlight on Mary’s response to the angel’s message. The congregation listened contemplatively, touched by the words as well as by Hannah’s beautiful singing.

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Pastor Arnold’s message reminded us that the message of Christmas comes from God: He is a personal God who communicates with us. The message of Christmas is also one of joy for all people, not mere happiness that is dependent on our circumstances, but true joy that can be felt even in the midst of trials and difficulties. Moving on the meaning of Christmas, we learned that Christ was born for us not just to us, as is indicated by the word ‘unto’ in the verse above. Pastor Arnold then expounded for us each of the names given to Jesus in Luke 2:11 – Saviour, Christ and Lord. Special emphasis was given to Jesus’ role as Saviour so that the gospel message could be preached clearly, to call non-believers to faith and believers to renewed commitment. Finally we were exhorted to go and act on our faith by living for Christ and making the most of every opportunity to present Christ at our gatherings and parties over Christmas and the New Year. What more appropriate song could we sing in response than Joy to the World! It was a fitting end to a simple and moving Christmas service that stripped away the festive trappings and gave us back a meaningful and truly blessed Christmas.

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Christmas Collage 25 Dec 15