O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold him, Born the King of angels.

O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O Come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. God of God, light of light, Lo, he abhors not the Virgin's womb; True God, begotten, not created.

Lo! star-led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring, Offer him incense, gold and myrrh; We to the Christ child Bring our heart’s oblations. Child, for us sinners Poor and in the manger, Fain we embrace thee, With awe and love: Who would not love thee, Loving us so dearly?

We shall see the eternal splendor Of the eternal father, veiled in flesh, The infant God wrapped in cloths. Sing, choirs of angels, Sing in exultation, Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above; Glory to God All glory in the highest.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, Born this happy morning; Jesus, to thee be all glory given; Word of the Father, Now in flesh appearing. Focus Point: Christmas is about worship and we worship because of who Christ reveals God to be. 1. Lord He is the preexistent God. Before time, before anything, God existed.

Exodus 3:14 I AM has sent me to you.

John 8:58 Before Abraham was born, I AM! He is the creator.

John 1:3,10 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

He sustains all things as creator.

Heb. 1:3 He upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Col. 1:17 In him all things hold together. 2. Life John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Jesus did not merely possess life, He is life!

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth and the life.

Through Christ, the incarnation, we have life.

John 3:16 Whoever believes in him, should not perish but have eternal life. John 10:10 I came that they may have life.

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 6:47,48,51,53-54 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 3. Light John 1:4-5,9 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Christ as light means two things: purity and revelation.

Purity speaks to God’s character. He is morally perfect and without sin.

Purity also speaks to the brightness of Christ. We cannot have fellowship or relationship with God outside of Christ. He becomes the necessary “filter”.

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.

. Christ as light, also reveals to us God. This is the nature of light, to reveal or make known what is hidden. We didn’t know God.

John 1:10 He was in the world and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

As sinners, we don’t want to know God. We actually suppressed the truth about God and His existence. (Romans 1:18)

God initiates this revelation of Himself to us. 4. Love Love is identified in the Trinity.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

Some translations say was face to face with God. This conveys the idea of the closest relationship possible. John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Some translations say in the Father’s bosom, NIV is in closest relationship with the Father. This gives us a glimpse of what love looks like.

God the Father, loved God the Son, and God the Son love God the Father throughout all of eternity. Matthew 3:17 This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

John 3:35 the Father loves the Son and has placed all things into his hands.

John 5:20 For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing.

John 10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.

John 17:24 You loved Me before the foundation of the world. God’s love is seen in Him sending His Son to us. God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Other religions say you must do works to save yourself. Their prophets only point you to God.

Christianity says you can’t do anything to save yourself. Only God can save you. God’s “prophet” Jesus, is the one HIMSELF who saves you. John 1:16-17 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Christmas is the grace of God extended to sinful man. This happens through God’s initiation.

“If Shakespeare and Hamlet could ever meet, it must be Shakespeare’s doing. Hamlet could initiate nothing.” C.S. Lewis

God does not merely write information about Himself, He writes Himself into the story, the Christmas story! God did all that was necessary to bring us back into relationship with Him. Even when we hated God, He did what was needed to save us.

Romans 5:8 But God shows his love for us in that WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, Christ died for us! Christmas is about worship, worshipping the word of the Father revealed in flesh. And let our worship be, not only in word, but in deed as well.

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.