DUE TO TECHNICAL ISSUES THERE IS NO RECORDING OF THIS SERVICE

Some of you will be wondering about the whole starting Advent a week early thing. I would like to put your mind at rest because we are actually going back to our roots as Celts. Celtic Christians had Advent for 40 days before Christmas, so Advent actually started last Tuesday.

We're going to dive into four specific carols leading up to Christmas. The carol that we're going to talk about today is one of my favourites. We're going to talk about O Holy Night. Let me give you some context of the history of this song and then we're going to talk about it.

The song, O Holy Night, was actually written in the mid 1800's. What's interesting is there was a parish priest who decided to try and have a poem written to Luke chapter 2.  There was a French merchant who was a poet in the town.   His name was Placide Cappeau. The priest asked Placide if he would write a poem to Luke Chapter Two. The interesting thing is, Placide was not only not a Christian, but he was also known as kind of a hell raiser. He was very far from God, didn't go to church at all, but he was a good poet. So, Placide wrote this poem, and he loved it so much he asked his friend who was also not a Christian, to put the poem to music. And this song became so popular that it ran through the Catholic Church, was played at all sorts of churches until a few years into it, when everyone realized just who wrote the song and who did the music and they said, 'You've got to shut this song down!' But, by then it was way too late and the song was massively popular as it is today.

Another interesting fact about this carol then, about five decades later in 1906, Reginald Fessenden was a 33-year old Canadian professor who did what many people thought was impossible. He took equipment, kind of out of his own garage and made a make-shift generator, plugged a microphone into it and broadcast the very first AM broadcast in the history of the world on Christmas Eve in 1906. He took Luke, Chapter 2:1, spoke into the microphone and broadcast that chapter, starting out:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world, and he read the Christmas story. Then he took his violin and played into the microphone. The first song broadcast across airwaves in the history of the world was this song, O Holy Night.

You know, you can only imagine what it would have been like to be there on that Holy night. To us today, I think the manger scene that many of us will have in our heads involves a lovely quiet baby, with parents and a few well-behaved animals looking on. You've got the Baby Jesus, and you've got the Virgin Mary, and you've got Joseph, and you've got a few animals and the odd shepherd.  I honestly think that the manger scene, as meaningful as it can be, actually does a little bit of a disservice to us in understanding what that night would have been like. Because the reality is, if you think about it, there was a teenage girl that was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, which is a whole other round of thoughts that we could have. And she and her likely not much older fiancé travel on the back of a donkey. Now, you have to picture this, nine months pregnant on a donkey and they travelled somewhere between 80 and 120 miles.

And then they can’t find anywhere to stay and the baby is coming.  I mean, it was chaos, it's screaming, it's panic, and this is what's going on inside this little cave, as Mary's giving birth to the Son of God.

Now, in this song, O Holy Night, there's a phrase that I want to zero in on, and that's what we're going to do in this series. I may pick out some phrases that may be a bit unlikely to you, but I suspect that every time you worship God to this song again, this phrase will jump out to you and you will remember the Holy moment as you experience God together at this time.

Here's the phrase I want to look at:

The song says, …a thrill of hope the weary world rejoices. Then it says, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

If there's two words that accurately describe our world today, I'd say it's weary world!  I mean, it's just overwhelming, there's so much anxiety; what's going on in the economy; politics; relationships are messed up; every other person seems to have some kind of serious disease and families are struggling. It's almost like we're fighting to stay above water and I just think so many people today relate to that phrase, 'the weary world'. But what I love about this song is it says there's a thrill of hope. Imagine in the chaos of this holy night, there's a thrill of hope that maybe, just maybe, this was the night when everything changed.  For centuries those who put their faith in God had hoped that one day the Messiah would be born. And on that day, everything would be different forever and ever and you can hear that kind of faith that there's a thrill of hope and suddenly the weary world does what? The weary world rejoices! And I pray to God that if there's any weary world in you that you will experience a thrill of hope, and inside your weary world you will find the faith to rejoice, why? Because even in the chaos of this night, there is a new and glorious morn. And every time as you move forward, I want you not to just to think about that holy night, but I want you to think about what happens the next day when the sun comes up, the Saviour has  been born, and on the new and glorious morn everything is different because a day with Christ can change everything.

Let's focus in on a new and glorious morning. What I want to do is take you back to the Old Testament, to the Book of Lamentations. The context of Lamentations is that in the year 586 B.C., Jerusalem fell and the people were as distraught as you could possibly imagine. And the prophet Jeremiah, he was lamenting, he was whining, he was hurting along with everybody else and he just pours his heart out full of hurt in this text. And in Chapter three, we see a switch, where he moves from his mourning to a moment of faith. And I love this, he says in v 19-20:

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.  I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.

In other words, he's not going to just put his hands over his eyes and pretend it isn't happening! No, he's acknowledging that there's some significant life-altering difficulties, but he goes on in verse 21 and he says:

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

I love this, he says, 'I'm going to call this to mind.' I know it's there, but it's not at the front of my mind and I'm going to place it at the front of my mind. I'm going to call this to mind and because I remember this truth, I will have hope when no one else does because I know this to be true. I call it to mind, therefore I have hope. He says:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. V22

And now, I love this! He says about God's compassions, they are what?

…new every morning…

Then he loses himself and he starts talking to God. I mean, he's talking about God, then he's just got to talk to God and he says:

God,  great is your faithfulness. V23

Then he says:

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

 V24-26

It's amazing what a new day with Christ can bring and I want to show you three truths that can bring you a thrill of hope when your weary world is in darkness.

Number one:

1. A new day with Christ brings exactly what you need.

Every new day with Christ will bring you exactly what you need. Now, I didn't say what you want, because what you need and what you want are sometimes different things. Lamentations 3:24:

I say to myself…

How many of you know, every now and then you just have to talk to yourself and preach to yourself some truth. Sometimes you've just got to be the best preacher around. You just open up God's Word, you call it to mind, you say to yourself and you remind yourself of the truth of God. I say to myself:

The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.

The Lord is my portion, what does that mean? Well, it could mean any number of different things. Some scholars believe, and I tend to agree that it likely is referring back to the time when the Israelites were wandering in the desert and God would provide for them their daily portion of heavenly manna. That everyday when they would awake, God would give them exactly enough food for that day. If they ever tried to hoard the food and hold some over for the next day, the food wouldn't last, it would rot. It was as if and we know, that God was trying to teach them that they need Him every single day. Just like in the New Testament when Jesus taught us to pray, give me today my daily bread, because I need it every single day.  And I call this to mind and I say to myself, The Lord is my daily portion, He is exactly what I need. The good news is, I want you to understand, God is already in tomorrow and He has everything you need for tomorrow, whatever it brings. He is already absolutely there.

If your marriage is struggling, what I hope you'll understand, is God is in tomorrow waiting for you and He is what your marriage needs.

If you are weak today, God is already in tomorrow and His strength is made perfect in your weakness.

If you are down and depressed today, He is already in tomorrow and He is your joy. He is the lifter of your head.

A new day with Christ always brings exactly what you need and what you need is the presence of God; His reality, His strength, His power, His goodness. I say to myself, the Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him. I know some of you think I go on a bit much about the importance of regular prayer and bible reading – but that is how you wait. A new day with Christ, it brings us exactly what we need.

The second thing:

2. A new day with Christ brings us the hope to keep going.

A new day with Christ brings us the hope to keep going. It's the thrill of hope in the weary world, it's the thrill of hope and faith when all we see is darkness. It's the belief that there's a new morning coming in the middle of the chaos of the night.

Verse 25 of Lamentations Three says:

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him.

I believe there are too many people today who are trying to survive with a very hope-deprived life. They're struggling to find places to put their hope. In fact, they're putting their hope in the wrong places.

Some of you know, right now the stock market is kind of a risky place to put your hope, isn't it? And it is. Put your hope in your company and you may get let down. Put your hope in another person and they may not come through for you. Put your hope in some outcome that you just need and you may not get exactly what you thought should happen. We so often put our hope in the wrong places. And when we put our hope in the wrong places, we start to end up hopeless and we become a weary world that wonders where is anything good, because our hope is in the wrong places.

I love what Hebrews 10:23 says. Scripture tells us:

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

I love that picture. Let us hold onto it. Grab a hold, those of you who are Christians, grab a hold of the hope that we profess and don't ever let go. Don't ever let go because God is faithful.

The challenge today is that I believe there are too many of us that are letting go of the hope that we profess – and we're grabbing onto all of the fear and anxiety of the darkness of the night. We're letting go of the truth of God and we're hanging on to all of the lies of the evil one. And what we need to do is the exact opposite; let go of the fear, let go of the anxiety, let go of the stress, let go of the panic, let go of the doubt and hold on to the hope that we profess. Hang on to the promises of God and don't let go, don't ever lose hope of what a new day in Christ can bring. Don't ever lose that hope.

Don't let go of the hope, don't give up, don't surrender, don't cash it in, don't… we understand, it may be dark for a while, but there is a new day coming and it's amazing what a new day in Christ can bring. Don't give up, don't give up the hope. There's a weary world, yes, but in the weariness there's a thrill of hope and the weary world can rejoice. There is a new day coming, and you need to know that a new day with Christ can change everything.

So, a new day with Christ brings exactly what you need and the hope to keep going, and

3. A new day with Christ brings the help that you're seeking.

A new day with Christ brings the help that you're seeking.

Verse 26 tells us: it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Some of you need the salvation of your souls and you need to know that today you need to be saved and forgiven by God.

Some of you, you already have been born into the family of God, you need to be saved out of a difficult situation. I'm always amazed how hard we find it to fathom what a difference one day with Christ can make. We find it so hard to put into words the difference that one day with Christ can make.

Lazarus, in the New Testament, had been dead for four days. He was so dead that he was smelling bad. The King James version said it best, 'He stinketh!' You know you're dead when you stinketh in the King James version! Four days, everyone had given up hope. Jesus shows up, looks at the stone, looks into the grave and says, 'Lazarus, get up, come out.' Lazarus walks out and I'm here to tell you, Lazarus would say, 'It's amazing the difference that one day with Christ can make.'

There was a woman who for twelve years was suffering with an issue of blood. For twelve years, can you imagine the pain, the embarrassment, the humiliation, the torture, the private suffering of her soul for twelve years. Every day, hoping this will be the day.  One day, she sees Jesus and touches the hem of His garment and she's healed. She would tell you that you can't even describe the difference that one day with Christ can make.

One man, for 38 years, since the day he was born was unable to walk. He was at the pool of Bethesda one day when Jesus came up and Jesus looked at him and said, 'Pick up your mat and walk!' And after 38 years of being unable to walk and this man walks. He would tell you, 'It is amazing the difference that one day with Christ will make.'

Some of you, you've got to hear this. You're in the weary world right now. I want to tell you, there's a thrill of hope that will make your weary world rejoice. There is a new and a glorious morning that is coming. You may look at your life and think, 'It could never be what it should be.' I'm telling you that it's amazing the difference that one day with Christ, what it can make.

Some of you right now, feel as if you're in the night.  There's screaming, there's no epidural, the baby's coming, there is the stink of animals. Nothing is what it should be.  And, all of a sudden, in the middle of this weary world and the darkness of the night, I want to remind you that because Jesus was born you can have hope – even in the middle of the night.

Because Jesus is here, you can have hope in the middle of the night. Because a new day with Christ brings exactly what you need. It may not be what you want, but it's always exactly what you need. And a new day with Christ, gives you the hope to keep on going. And a new day with Christ can bring you the help that you are seeking.

Romans 13:11-12 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.

The night is nearly over and the day is almost here. The night is nearly over and the day is almost here.  The darkness is nearly over because the sun will rise again. The darkness is nearly over because the Son of God will appear again. And you are nearer to your salvation than you were yesterday.

For some of you, that is the salvation of your souls. For others of you, that is the salvation out of darkness. The day is coming the night is almost over. The sun always rises again. The Son of God is risen and because He was born into this weary world there is a thrill of hope. For yonder breaks, a new and what? Say it with me…a new and glorious morning.

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