Welcome to Ontario Community Church,
where we're dedicated to encouraging, equipping,
and engaging lives for Christ.
Located in Ontario, Oregon,
Pastor Patrick Daley preaches insightful sermons
from the Word of God,
offering practical applications for modern living.
We're delighted to share this sermon with you.
What a great time is it to be able to sing praises
to our God,
to take time to worship Him,
to sing these Christmas songs,
these songs that we sing,
they are a reminder of the love that God has for us
in sending His Son down to the earth,
to Bethlehem,
to be born in a manger.
The prophecies and the promises made so long ago
were fulfilled because our God tells the truth.
He is not a liar.
He is a promise keeper.
And there were many prophecies that were fulfilled
on that holy night that we celebrate together.
Love came down,
and that's the title of this message tonight.
And we're basing this off of mainly two passages
from John 3.16 and 1 John chapter four, verse nine.
You know, the love that God has for us
is a love that is unlike any sort of love
that is found here on the earth.
It is something that is supernatural.
It is something that is beyond our human understanding.
The love of God, Christ came down into our world
to live and dwell among us people.
Love reached down to humble beginnings in a manger.
Love came down to our level,
down to us, down to our world from heavenly places.
The love that God has for us, it is active.
It is sacrificing, and it is everlasting.
And I want to bring up these two verses
that will help us understand this kind of love.
I'd like to go to the John 3.16 passage,
and it says, feel free to follow along on the screen.
Some of you will know it.
Maybe.
It's okay, that's all right, that's all right.
Oh, there we go, all right.
Let's read it together.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son
that whoever believes in him should not perish
but have eternal life.
This verse speaks of how God has this love for the world.
So much so that because of this love,
he sent his one, his only son, Jesus the Christ,
Jesus the Messiah into the world.
And the love that this verse is speaking of is agape love.
It is divine love, and it is greater than earthly love.
It is something that is much more powerful.
And God sent his son at the right appointed time
for Christ to be born in Bethlehem in a manger.
And did you know that when John speaks of God loving the world,
he's speaking of agape love,
that word, the world is where we get the word cosmos.
Everyone in the world in this context,
but in a similar way, it could mean everyone in the universe,
but we're thinking of people in this particular sense.
And I found that to be very interesting,
everyone in the world, the word here in biblical times
is speaking to everyone in the world.
And this takes us to our second verse,
which is found in 1st John chapter four, verse nine.
Let's read this together.
It says, in this, the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent his only son into the world
so that we might live through him.
And this verse is to show it's a connection
with the John 3 16 passage.
It helps us to understand that Christ was born.
It was a manifestation that Jesus was born among us,
among everyday people.
And it's just such a radical thought if you think about it.
When you think of other gods,
it's about what you can do for the God.
But our God, the God of the Bible,
sent his son to us.
And that's something that's very powerful
just to think of Jesus Christ being born as a child,
a young baby.
That's something that is radical
and that's something that's powerful
of the love that God has for us.
And this is the reason why we celebrate.
It's that sacrifice.
It's that agape love that God has for us,
that God sent his son to dwell among us.
And this love that God has for us,
it is active today as it was yesterday.
God's love is sacrificing and it is everlasting.
Jesus Christ coming down from heaven to be born in a manger
is a wonderful type of love.
It is in the stillness.
It is in the quiet, the silent night,
being born in a stable among animals.
Now, I don't know about you.
Has anyone here been born in a stable before?
If you have, then kudos to you, right?
I think for majority of us,
we were born in a hospital, right?
Where it's clean and it's appropriate for children.
But to be born in hay, right?
With animals, it's not always the,
you don't get the cleanest thought with that.
But that is the humble beginnings
of our savior, of our Messiah.
Not being born in a hotel or the Marriott
or any of the fancy hotels.
I don't know all the fancy hotels out there.
I don't know you guys, but with that,
in a humble beginning.
And Christ was not born in a palace
or in a fancy hotel like I'm saying,
but they're born in the manger in hay, right?
How many of us have animals, right?
Or you've played with hay before maybe?
Have you laid in hay before?
Right?
It's kind of a funny imagery there,
but not so much for our savior
having that humble beginning.
It was there that God's love came down.
And as we have read from Luke chapter two,
we heard about how the angels,
they proclaimed the good news with great joy
about Christ, the Messiah,
the son of the living God being born
in the city of David.
This Christmas story is the story of how love came down
in Jesus Christ.
And I want you to consider for a moment
the shepherds that were there.
They were watching their flocks at night
and how the gospel message was proclaimed to them,
the good news of great joy.
And in the same way, these shepherds,
they heard the good news of great joy
of the arrival of Jesus being born.
There is a message of Jesus Christ
providing salvation for all who believe
just as we went over the first verse,
that whoever, whosoever, that all who believe,
it doesn't matter what ethnicity you have.
It doesn't matter your socioeconomic status.
It doesn't matter your education level.
It doesn't matter if you're tall or short
or if you're fat or skinny.
All who believe shall not perish
but have eternal life or everlasting life
as some translations say.
That salvation is this free gift.
And when we think of the manger, the nativity,
we think of how God is changing the course of history,
making salvation available for everyone, for all.
And maybe this is a call for you,
for this Christmas to believe in the Lord.
Maybe this is a call for you to get right with the Lord.
Maybe it's been a long time
since you've set foot in a church.
Maybe it's been a long time since you've opened a Bible.
Maybe you don't even know what a Bible is.
I don't know where you are at
in your own spiritual walk or journey.
But I hope and I pray that all of you,
your spiritual journey begins with Christ.
And from that point in belief
that you are on a path of growing in faith,
growing in love with Christ.
In John chapter eight, verse 12,
it reveals to us that Christ is the light of the world.
When we light these candles,
I want you to think about this that
Jesus Christ being the light of the world, right?
It shines in the darkness.
I want to put this verse on the screen.
Let's read it together.
Again, Jesus spoke to them saying,
I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.
And it is in believing in Christ.
We exhibit that same light.
Sharing in the hope of Jesus,
sharing in the good news of the gospel.
There is hope in Jesus Christ.
There is peace that surpasses all understanding.
There is joy that is inexpressible,
that is unspeakable.
And of course, there is everlasting love,
the agape love that is divine, that is transcendent.
This is, these are but attributes of our God.
And when we think of the light of Christ,
think of the darkness.
If you're in a dark room and you turn on the light,
you turn on a light bulb or a flashlight or a candle,
you see how it illuminates the room.
And it makes me think of how when we believe in the Lord,
in Matthew chapter five,
I want to put that on the screen here.
It's interesting that same light that comes from Christ
can shine in us so that we can exhibit love to others.
Sharing in the gospel message.
Let's read this Matthew passage together.
This is what Christ is saying.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden,
nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket,
but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others
so that they may see your good works
and give glory to your father who is in heaven.
Believe in the Lord and be saved.
That is first and foremost.
In this Christmas season,
we recognize the sacrifice that God made for us
by sending his son down to earth.
We believe in the Lord and we shall be saved.
And because of this saving grace,
it should move us to grow in our faith
and to do good in the name of the Lord.
And as we conclude our time,
we're gonna sing Silent Night,
but we're also going to light the candle together.
I actually don't have one.
Oh, I do have one.
Okay.
We're gonna light this together.
Do you all have a candle?
Please stand.
What we're gonna do,
let us know if you don't have a candle, please.
If anyone doesn't have a candle,
go ahead and raise your hand
or let's make sure everyone has a candle.
These candles represent the light of Christ
in these attributes that I was talking about.
Hope of the Lord, peace that surpasses all understanding,
joy unspeakable and the love.
And they all point to Jesus Christ,
who is the light of the world.
And I wanna begin.
By lighting my candle, hopefully it doesn't blow out.
It's just a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world
that shines in the darkness.
And that we, as believers, we grow in faith.
We become the light of the world,
showing Christ's likeness in all that we do.
As we hold our candles,
I want us to think of the love that Christ has for us
and think for a moment of how perhaps you have experienced
or how you have felt or how you have seen
the love of Christ in your own life.
Let us carry the light of Christ into the world,
not just tonight, but in everyday living,
in every action, in every word and in every deed,
and with all that we are.
May we share that love of Christ with others.
And may we thank the Lord for this love
that he has given to us.
And let's pray, Father, we thank you for sending your son
who is the way, the truth, and the life.
Your son is the light of the world.
And oh, do we need a light in this world.
We need truth in this world.
We need a constant.
And that constant is found in your son, Jesus.
Be with us, Father, as we go from this place.
May we know who you are.
May we grow in knowing you and go and do good
in the name of Jesus Christ.
And we all say together, amen.
Amen.
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sermon podcast.
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May God's blessings be with you.
Thank you.