Cathedral Church Service Christmas Eve 2020

[Music] but the angel said to them do not be afraid i bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people today in the town of david a savior has been born to you he is the messiah the lord [Music] see [Music] oh [Music] please [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] see [Music] see [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] good evening and thanks for joining us this christmas eve at san andreas cathedral sydney australia we hope to be meeting in person but we're very thankful to be able to offer this ministry online this year has been wretched in so many ways and we've longed for the coming of the light on those who dwell in a land of deep darkness the light has dawned the prophet isaiah says the coming of jesus christ into the world is the shining of the light of god's love upon a world that has wandered from him and fallen into darkness and gloom he does not leave us in lonely isolation but comes among us as one of us god with us he refuses to keep his distance though we often distance ourselves from him he comes to wash us clean of guilt and fear and shame and to dress us in christmas robes of joy and peace and gladness as this year has reminded us that we are not masters of our own destiny christmas assures us we are not alone and we are loved the angel says i bring you good news of 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 let us pray loving father who sent your only son into the world that we might have life through faith in him grant that we who celebrate his birth on this most holy night may come at last to the fullness of life in your heavenly kingdom where he now lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit now and forever amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] jesus christ [Music] to see [Music] [Applause] hey see see [Applause] [Music] me [Music] the first reading is taken from isaiah chapter nine verses two to seven the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned you have enlarged the nation and increased their joy they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder for as in the day of midian's defeat you have shattered the yoke that burdens them the bar across their shoulders the rod of their oppressor every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning will be fuel for the fire for unto us a child is born to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end he will reign on david's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever the zeal of the lord almighty will accomplish this this is the word of the lord thanks be to god [Music] the stars bright [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] i [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] yes [Music] oh is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] please would you join me as we pray for the community lord god you have made us to live in relationship with you and with one another we commend into your keeping ourselves and our families our friends our neighbours and all those around us in our workplaces and communities we thank you for all the ways many unnoticed in which you have provided for and protected us this year even in times of isolation and uncertainty we give you great thanks for all those who are working in our communities over this christmas for our emergency services health workers and the defense force for those working in shops for those keeping our streets and public places clean and safe please keep them from harm as they carry out their work and give them the opportunity afterwards to rest and restore gracious lord we pray for the most vulnerable at this time of year as so many face christmas alone or away from loved ones please be their hope and comfort help us father to look out for one another to show generous and sacrificial love not just towards those we know but especially towards those we don't give us your heart for the lost the stranger and the foreigner as we ourselves are the recipients of such a love from you through the lord jesus and in his name we pray amen this reading is from isaiah 11 1-9 a shoot will come up from the stump of jesse from his roots a branch will bear fruit the spirit of the lord will rest on him the spirit of wisdom and of understanding the spirit of counsel and of light the spirit of the knowledge and fear of the lord and he will delight in the fear of the lord he will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his years but with righteousness he will judge the needy with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth with the breath of his lips he was laid weak righteousness would be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist the wolf will lift with the lamb the leopard will lie down with the goat the calf and the lion and the healing together and the little child will lead them the cow will feed with the bear their young will lie down together and the lion will eat straw like the ox the infant will play near the cobras den and the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest they will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the lord as the waters cover the sea this is the word of the lord thanks each god [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] r [Music] oh [Music] r [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] please [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] it's [Music] is [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this next reading is from the book of luke chapter 1 verses 26 to 38. in the sixth month of elizabeth's pregnancy god sent the angel gabriel to nazareth a town in galilee to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named joseph a descendant of david the virgin's name was mary the angel went to her and said greetings you who are highly favored the lord is with you mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be but the angel said to her do not be afraid mary you have found favor with god you will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him jesus he will be great and will be called the son of the most high the lord god will give him the throne of his father david and he will reign over jacob's descendants forever his kingdom will never end how will this be mary ask the angel since i am a virgin the angel answered the holy spirit will come on you and the power of the most high will overshadow you so the holy one to be born will be called to the son of god even elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month for no word from god will ever fail i am the lord's servant mary answered may your word to me be fulfilled then the angel left her this is the word of the lord thanks be to god [Music] is [Music] me [Music] is [Music] let's [Music] stream [Music] christmas [Music] is [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] this reading is from luke 1 39 to 56 at that time mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of judea where she entered zechariah's home and greeted elizabeth when elizabeth heard mary's greeting the baby lived in her womb and elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit in a loud voice she exclaimed blessed are you among women and blessed is a child you will bear but why am i so favored that the mother of my lord should come to me as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears the baby in my womb leap for joy blessed is she who has believed that the lord would fulfill his promises to her and mary said my soul glorifies the lord and my spirit rejoices in god my savior for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant from now on all generations will call me blessed for the mighty one has done great things for me holy is his name his mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation he has performed mighty deeds with his arm he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts he has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble he has filled the hungry with good things but i sent the rich away empty he has helped his servant israel remembering to be merciful to abraham and his descendants forever just as he promised our ancestors mary stayed with elizabeth for about three months and then returned home this is the word of the lord thanks be to god [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] this reading is taken from the gospel of luke chapter 2 verses 1 to 16. in those days caesar augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire roman world this was the first census that took place while quirinius was governor of syria and everyone went to their own town to register so joseph also went up from the town of nazareth in galilee to judea to bethlehem the town of david because he belonged to the house and line of david he went there to register with mary who has pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child while they were there the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn a son and she wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them [Music] and there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby keeping watch over their flocks at night an angel of the lord appeared to them and the glory of the lord shone around them and they were terrified but the angel said to them don't be afraid i bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people today in the town of david a savior has been born to you he is the messiah the lord and this will be a sign to you you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising god and saying glory to god in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests when the angels had left them and gone into heaven the shepherds said to one another let's go to bethlehem and see this thing which has happened which the lord has told us about so they hurried off and found mary and joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger this is the word of the lord thanks be to god please join with me praying for god's world our sovereign god you created this world and everything in it by your breath and out of your love we thank you for the beauty of creation which bears witness to your power and generosity but lord we also experience the brokenness of this world through conflict and corruption natural disasters and so acutely this year sickness disease and death father of compassion we ask you to act in mercy to bring healing and restoration to your people and your world and as so much of your world struggles under the burden of the coronavirus we pray lord god that you would bring an end to this pandemic we thank you for the amazing work of our scientists please prosper their work to develop a safe and effective vaccine please strengthen those who are treating the sick especially in those countries where hospitals are full and resources are stretched to the limits and please give an abundance of your wisdom to governments and to leaders may they lead our communities with compassion and integrity you alone are the hope and healer of your people comfort and heal merciful lord strengthen the weary as we wait for the day when your promise of a new creation is fulfilled amen so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so see today so [Music] foreign [Music] uh [Music] is foreign [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] um [Music] let's pray may the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight o lord our rock and our redeemer amen well how unusual to be here on christmas eve well at least i'm here but you're at home i think it's the first time in the cathedral's history that we haven't had a physical church even in 1919 in the flu pandemic we were outside but here you're inside here i'm in the cathedral bringing god's word to you on this special night of all nights well christmas is about the birth of jesus but the bible tells us of two births which are very important and the passage we had read from luke's gospel we see the mother of jesus meeting the mother of john the baptist the record takes place in verse 39 of chapter one if you've got your bibles with you and there just after gabriel has spoken to mary and informed her that she is going to be the mother of the messiah what an extraordinary announcement that would have been we then find in verse 39 mary hurries down to jerusalem the hill country around jerusalem where elizabeth and zechariah live to meet the mother of john the baptist she comes and she brings this greeting but then elizabeth greets her it's very interesting they're kinswoman we're not quite sure exactly what the relationship was but they obviously know each other she's made this very special trip she's owned she's only just pregnant of course by the holy spirit elizabeth on the other hand she's six months pregnant and so she would have been confined at home in this period and she comes to meet elizabeth elizabeth is clearly the senior of the two she's an elderly woman well that's what her husband says anyway earlier in the chapter and mary on the other hand is probably a teenager big difference in age yet they both share the delight of having their pregnancy announced by the angel gabriel gabriel of course was the same angel who came in the old testament to announce the coming of the messiah to daniel when he was in babylon so gabriel is a very special announcing angel and here these two women meet listen to what elizabeth says when she heard mary's greeting she said in a loud voice blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear that blessing elizabeth pronounces upon mary and pronounced upon mary's child she's the older and you'd expect to be different from mary to elizabeth but elizabeth recognises that mary's child is actually more important than her child because her child john the baptist is prepared preparing the way for the coming of jesus but mary's child jesus is truly god in the flesh and that of course is what we celebrate at christmas the coming of god in the flesh god taking human form dot god if you like removing his mask to enter into our world visible tangible able to be seen able to be touched here is god among us but do you notice in this passage that when mary comes and gives the green to elizabeth the babe in her womb that's elizabeth's womb six-month fetus leaps for joy at the noi at the news that the mother of his lord has come it's not just a fetal kick no it's a covenantal kick it's actually a kick inspired by the holy spirit and for those of us who don't recognize that the working of god even in our mother's womb is a strong teaching of scripture king david speaks to that in the psalms it was true of jeremiah it's true specifically of john the baptist and it's true of all people in whom they're in covenant relationship with god john the baptist hears the news of the coming of the messiah and he leaps no he leaps for joy and that is the work of the holy spirit in his life mary of course when she hears the wonderful blessing that elizabeth gives to her she also exclaims and begins to recite this what we call a song it just says she states it but nonetheless i'm sure she would have sung it without a mask lucky her she'd have sung it because her heart was full of the joy that she had been chosen to become the mother of our lord notice that phrase mother of our lord we sometimes get a bit uptight about the place of mary in the church but mary is a very honoured person in god's kingdom because she is the mother of our lord of course mary is also one who needs a savior and when she starts to sing what we call the magnificat for those of you who remember and do and still go to evening prayer magnificat is one of the canticles set forth it takes this name from the latin version of i magnifier so here is mary says my soul magnifies the lord or glorifies the lord and my spirit rejoices in god my savior how interesting it's often saddens me that the early church not the apostolic church of course but later on in church history there was such an adoration of mary to the extent that the doctrine grew up that mary was sinless the thought was she had to be sinless in order to conceive the god child jesus of course the bible doesn't say that in fact quite contrary the bible says and mary herself says she recognized that god is her savior if you're sinless you don't need a savior if any of you are listening today and thinking you're sinless well you don't need a savior but of course you know and i probably know if i got to know you that there are sins in your life there are faults there are failures there are flaws if you have children you'll see them ever so easily but we see them in adults too don't we and that's what christmas is all about we all need a savior mary needed a savior she delighted in the fact that god had chosen her to bear the savior to have jesus grow in her womb not of course by human means not through the the work of joseph who was only her betrothed at this stage and there was no sexual relationship between the two of them no the holy spirit we're told came upon mary and so a child was conceived it was a virginal conception we talked about the virgin birth but actually it's a virginal conception as the spirit of god did his work and so a fetus grew in her womb grew just much like you and me he was born a child he grew up as a young lad he went through puberty in teenage years he grew into manhood yes much like you and me though of course two thousand years ago he came to take our place to walk in our shoes he came so that you and i might be free free from our sins free from the judgment that god would bring upon a fallen humanity free for us to serve him without fear mary's song the magnificat is a wonderful exploration of the promises of god being fulfilled she declares how god has favored her though she's of humble estate to be the mother of our lord the mighty one has done great things for me and then she records how he's extended his arm in the old testament we see creation the work of god's fingers and salvation the work of his arm it's as if an extra power is needed in salvation whether it was bringing israel through the red sea bringing them back from babylonian exile or bringing the ultimate salvation gift of jesus in his life death and resurrection mary was aware of the history of redemption she was aware of the prophets of old she no doubt read of gabriel when she read through daniel's prophecy that was her surprise when she met gabriel in person no doubt and here we find as she goes through she talks about the mighty d's that god has performed how he's performed them and scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts he's brought down rulers from their thrones and lifted up the humble god still does that today you know god makes the humble exalted and pulls down the proud look at our world look at the mighty democracies of america united kingdom see how they've succumbed to just a wincy virus spreading with toxic speed across their nations but for the mercies of god we would have been in the same situation and we thank god for our government and for the prayers of many people to restrain the coronavirus but friends the coronavirus as serious as it is because it brings death three-quarters of a million people have died an extraordinary number we have no idea what's happening in china and in russia because they're not democracies which are open to exposure and to investigation as uk and usa are yes the virus the coronavirus which brings that disease covert 19 is deadly and look at the work being engaged in and wonderful it is for vaccines to try and beat this virus but of course the worst virus of all is the virus of sin it's a cancer in our soul and only jesus can restore us renew us heal us and save us mary speaks of the promises which were given to israel and the way in which god has remembered those promises to abraham and his descendants forever just as he's promised our ancestors so he now he's fulfilling his promises in the person of jesus in the very child that mary has in her womb what a joy it must have been for her what a delight it was for her to be that mother despite the shame of being an unwed mother despite the way in which people may well have talked about her behind her back she trusted in god despite the circumstances we can control continue to trust in god despite our circumstances locked up at home some of you in the northern beaches for example or perhaps other parts of the world if you're watching this recording but wherever you are we have the assurance that god's promises are true and will come to their fulfillment the coming of jesus secures that for us and yet elsewhere in jesus teaching when someone called out oh blessed is the mother upon whose breast you sucked quite a strong statement when you think about it and jesus said no more blessed is the person who hears my words and does them more blessed is the person who puts their trust in jesus and keeps his commandments who follows his way who becomes a disciple who receive the forgiveness of sins and all that god has in store for his people in the new heavens and the new earth mary was indeed blessed favored she magnified the lord god who is her savior but we too are blessed if we follow that same lord that same king and put our trust in him and if you've not done that what better way to do it what better time to do it than now on christmas eve the night before christmas when jesus our savior was born god bless and have a merry christmas [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] us [Music] now [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is and a prayer for christmas lord of heaven and earth you have reminded us that we are not in control through the events of this year you have called us to return to you to depend upon you and to trust in you as we consider today the humble faith and obedience expressed by mary also give us your spirit that we may become more conscious of our sin more aware of our weakness and more awestruck by your holiness and loving power father we cannot thank you enough for coming down into your world at christmas we didn't ask you to we didn't know we needed you to but we were people walking in darkness we thank you for sending your son our lord jesus whose light shines ever more brightly and who is drawing more people into your eternal kingdom every day and as we look beyond this christmas to the return of jesus in glory grant to us all joyful and peaceful hearts and a desire to share this good news as we say come lord jesus come and in his name we pray amen and would you join with me in the words of the lord's prayer our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever [Music] [Applause] amen [Music] um [Music] foreign oh [Music] it's [Music] is [Music] change [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] ah [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] well thank you for joining us tonight i hope you've sung to your heart's content without a mask at hand god bless you it's been a great occasion for us to celebrate christmas eve and the birth of jesus our savior may christ the son of god gladden your hearts by his coming to dwell among us and bring you his peace and may the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be among you and remain with you always amen you

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Length: 70min 3sec (4203 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 24 2020