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The Light Has Come
John 1:9
Skip Heitzig

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John 1 (NKJV™)
9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Christmas Messages

I love early mornings when sunlight first comes up over the eastern sky. But if you've ever had the experience of the sun suddenly shining into your eyes, it's not so pleasant. Most people wince when light is shined in their eyes. Jesus is presented here as being "the light of men" and "shining in darkness." But the world cries out, "Turn off that light!" How can Jesus enlighten your life and how will you respond to Him?

This collection of Christmas messages from over the years focuses on the birth of Jesus Christ—"Immanuel, which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matthew 1:23). You'll be encouraged to keep your eyes on Christ no matter the season.

Outline

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  1. This Light Is Reliable

  2. This Light Is Available

  3. This Light Is Helpful

  4. This Light Is Vital

Rejecting Jesus Christ is the moral equivalent of living in darkness. Receiving Jesus Christ is referred to in Scripture as walking in the Light. We invite you this Christmas season to step out of life's shadows and personally open God's gift to you—new life found in His Son, Jesus. Merry Christmas!

Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. The theme of darkness versus light is appropriate at Christmastime
      1. Luke 2:9
      2. Matthew 2:2
      3. Luke 2:29-32
      4. Matthew 4:16
    2. The light has come; Jesus has come; hope has come
    3. In a number of Christmas carols, Jesus is depicted as the bright light that shines through the darkness
    4. Farolitos (luminarias) show people that we believe Jesus is the light of the world and we're inviting the presence of God into our homes and churches
    5. Martin Luther first came up with the idea of the Christmas tree
    6. The gospel of John takes us back to the real beginning of Christmas: John 1:1-9
    7. Sometimes at Christmas we get a little short-sighted
      1. We look at the seen and forget the unseen
      2. This year, let Jesus get a little bigger than He has been to you
      3. He is bigger than any issue or problem you're dealing with
      4. "But every year you grow, you will find me bigger" —Aslan in Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
        1. That's true when we grow spiritually
        2. Jesus Christ isn't just the little baby in the manger that we celebrate once a year
  2. This Light Is Reliable
    1. If there's a true light, there must be false lights—and there are
    2. Our history is a dark record
      1. Every age of man has been dark
      2. This last century has seen more people killed by violence and war than all of the previous centuries combined
    3. Just when we think we have become enlightened, we're plunged into darkness
    4. John 8:12
  3. This Light Is Helpful
    1. God gives light to everyone
      1. He plants innately in every human being the knowledge of Himself
      2. General revelation in creation and in our conscience
    2. John 14:9
    3. Jesus really influenced and enlightened the world
      1. He only taught for three-and-a-half years
      2. Plato and Aristotle taught for forty years, Socrates for fifty years
      3. Yet Jesus Christ has influenced history and societies around the world more than all three put together
    4. Jesus painted no picture, and yet great artists throughout time have often used Jesus as their subject matter
      1. Jesus was no poet, and yet countless others were inspired by Him
      2. Jesus composed no music, and yet so many wrote compositions using Jesus as their inspiration
  4. This Light Is Available
    1. John 1:14
    2. The incarnation: God didn't just stay in heaven and shine His light down; Jesus came from heaven to this earth, this darkness
      1. It's unfathomable
      2. "One night in the cold, in the dark, among the wrinkled hills of Bethlehem... God, who knows no before or after, entered time and space. God, who knows no boundaries took on the shocking confines of a baby's skin, the ominous restraints of mortality" —Philip Yancey
    3. Why did He come?
      1. To show how dark it really is here without Him
        1. Man had a relative goodness
        2. Then Jesus came, and His light was so perfect, brilliant, and bright that He showed us all up
      2. To lead us out of darkness
        1. John 8:12 implies the world is dark and there's a way out of darkness
        2. Rabbi Hugo Gryn
        3. We celebrate the coming into the world of the preexisting one, the eternal one who died, rose again, and is coming again
  5. Closing
    1. If your faith and hope is in Jesus Christ, the light will never go out
    2. The light has come; Jesus has come; hope has come

Figures referenced: Martin Luther, C.S. Lewis, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Philip Yancey, Rabbi Hugo Gryn

Cross references: Matthew 2:2; 4:16; Luke 2:9, 29-32; John 1:1-9, 14; 8:12; 14:9


Transcript

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Introduction: Welcome to Calvary Albuquerque. We pursue the God who is passionately pursuing a lost world; we do this with one another, through worship, by the Word, to the world.

Skip Heitzig: I brought with me a flashlight. It's a pretty, little, fun flashlight that I've had for some time. And there's a lot of things one can do with a flashlight. I can make, like, funny faces. I do this for my kids, grandkids. I can do that and entertain them, or I could do this. It's pretty bright, isn't it? If I kept doing this, you'd be, like, so annoyed at me if I just did this all night. That wouldn't be productive. Or it shines pretty brightly; I couldn't use this to direct a person in a dark room out of the dark room and into a place of safety and security.

That's the theme that we've been working off of the last couple of weeks---this whole idea of darkness versus light, darkness versus light. And it's appropriate, especially at Christmastime, because the Bible tells us when the angels came, announced to the shepherd the birth of the Savior, it says, "The glory of the Lord shone roundabout them." Or when the magi came seeking Jesus, they were following a star, this body bearing and emitting light, guiding them toward where Jesus was born.

If you were with us a couple Sundays ago, we remember that Simeon in the temple held up the baby Jesus. And he said, "I can die a happy man now, Lord. My eyes have seen your salvation, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel." And then this last Sunday, just a couple days ago, we saw how Matthew in chapter 4, quoting the prophet Isaiah, says, "Those who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them the light has dawned."

So, even in our studies the last few weeks, it's as if we have been sitting in the darkness throughout the night, until finally we come to Christmas Eve and we celebrate the fact that "The Light Has Come." Jesus has come. Hope has come. And we celebrate that tonight. [applause] Speaking about the light is appropriate, that's why you find it in so many Christmas carols even: "Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright." "O Little Town of Bethlehem," there's that phrase tucked in it that says, "In thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light."

Another Christmas carol: "Angels from the realm of glory, yonder shines the Infant light." Jesus is depicted as the bright light that shines through the darkness. As you came into the church tonight, you saw the courtyard lit up. There's lights in the trees. We have some of those luminarias, las luminarias, or farolitos. Los farolitos, verda? Okay, it's okay. [laughter] Well, you know, that's sort of like indigenous to New Mexico, but we didn't invent those things. They actually came from the sixteenth century in Spain.

And the whole idea was we put them in front of homes, we put them in front of churches back then to show people that we believe; we really believe Jesus is the light of the world. And we're inviting the presence of God into our very homes and into our church services. And then there's the Christmas tree you may have passed in the foyer as you came in all lit up. And now I may be addressing a few here tonight who are like really, really, really more spiritual than the rest of us, and you say, "I don't believe in Christmas trees. That's, like, pagan revelry."

Okay, whatever. You're wrong, actually. It was Martin Luther who first came up with this idea of bringing evergreen trees into one's home. He was walking one night, this great church leader, this reformer, and he noticed the moon shimmering on an evergreen tree and it gave him an idea. He cut one down, brought it home, put it in his house, put candles on it, brought his children around the tree.

Seeing those lights flickering and lighting up the green branches, he told them, "Children, this is to be a reminder to you that if Jesus would not have come into this world, this world would be in eternal darkness." Jesus Christ is the light of the world; "The Light Has Come." Now I want to consider with you a verse of Scripture. I'm going to read to you a few verses, but we're going to consider one verse in the few minutes that we're together remaining tonight. It's really from the gospel of John. It's the beginning of the gospel.

And what I like about John is John takes us back to where Christmas really began. You know, Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Mark skips the birth altogether and goes right to the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan River. The gospel writer Luke takes us to the angelic apparitions before the priest Zacharias and then Joseph and Mary. But John, John takes us back to the real beginning of Christmas before Bethlehem, before the conception, before the pregnancy, before time, before space---all the way back to "In the beginning God."

All the way back to this: "In the beginning," John 1:1 says, "the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he did not make. Life itself was in him and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it. God sent John the Baptist to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was only a witness to the light."

And here's the verse, "The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world." Sometimes at Christmas we; well, we get a little shortsighted. We look at the scene and we forget the unseen. We see Joseph and Mary cuddling that little baby in their arms, all the wonder and amazement of having a baby. But when you realize who this baby was, the amazement and the wonder is increased a hundredfold. This was the Word of God. This is the one that had life in himself.

This is the only person who ever existed before he was born. That's Jesus Christ. "The Light Has Come." One of the things I'm hoping and praying for us is that this year you would let Jesus get a little bigger than he has been to you. You might have issues, problems, medical problems, financial problems; they seem so large to you. And I'm not minimizing them. They may be enormous, but your God is bigger. Jesus Christ is bigger than any fear, any problem, any issue you're dealing with. [applause]

In C. S. Lewis' book The Chronicles of Narnia toward the end Lucy sees Aslan, you know, that big lion, if you remember the story, who represents Christ. Lucy sees Aslan again. And as she gazes up at Aslan the lion, Aslan says, "Welcome, child." And Lucy says, "Aslan, you're bigger." "That's because you're older, little one," said Aslan. "You mean it's not because you are?" asked Lucy. "I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger." I think that's true.

I think when we grow, spiritually we grow, the evidence of that growth is that Jesus Christ isn't just a little baby in a manger that we celebrate once a year. "Hey, pull out those Christmas songs." He's grown up. He grew up and He said things and He claimed things. And then He died on a cross, and then He rose from the dead, and He's alive right now, and He will come back. That's why we celebrate at Christmas. [cheers and applause] So that verse, once again, "The one who is the true light," said John, "who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world."

I just want to break that verse up for a few moments and consider three things. First of all, this light is reliable. He's reliable. John said, "This is the true light," which implies if there's a true light, there must be false lights, and there are. The world has been filled with false hope and false light and false promises. And every year, generation after generation, it seems to get darker and darker, not brighter and brighter.

If somebody asks me to paint the history of the world; I'm not a good artist, so bear with me here. I think if I was asked to paint a picture of world history, what I would do is ask for the blackest paint possible, the kind that is matte black that does not reflect any light but absorbs all light. And I would cover a humongous piece of canvas with just all black and I'd hang it up. That's world history. And then I would take the whitest-of-white paint that I could find and beginning in a corner I would draw a sliver of light going through, penetrating all the way through from top to bottom till it whitens out and douses the entire bottom corner with light.

Light invades the darkness. Our history is a dark record. I know there's a period of history that historians will call the Dark Ages, that period of European medieval history from like 476 on to about 800 when there was violence in Europe and terrorism and war. Um, last time I checked, that's still going on. Last time I checked, that hasn't stopped. Every age of man has been dark. In fact, did you know that this last century has seen more people killed by violence and war than all of the previous centuries combined?

The world we live in is a dark world. This is the true light. Back in the nineteen hundreds, especially in this country, there was a widespread optimism that life was getting better. We even thought, some even thought, utopia was right around the corner. "We're going to bring in the golden age." Social evolutionists were telling us we're getting better, we're becoming smarter, we're getting more enlightened. We actually believed all of that. You might ask, "Well, what happened to that thinking?"

I'll tell you what happened to it. World War I happened to it; World War II happened to it; the Vietnam War happened to it; the AIDS epidemic happened to it; nuclear proliferation happened to it; September 11, 2001 happened to it and on and on the record goes. Just when we think we have become enlightened, we see we're plunged into darkness. Everyone wants enlightenment. I was once on a quest for personal enlightenment. I took drugs thinking I could become enlightened. I will tell you I saw things, I saw lights, but I wasn't enlightened.

One night on an LSD trip I saw three lights come out of heaven and I thought, "I'm enlightened." No, you're on drugs. This is your brain on drugs. It plunged me further into darkness. So, I tried spiritualism, astral projection, spirit writing; so many things that I thought promised me enlightenment, but only feeling empty and dark. See, all of those systems and experimentations, they were like flashlights, and when you need them the battery dies on us. It won't get you out of the dark.

Jesus said, however, "I'm the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." This light is reliable. A second thing to note from that verse is that this light is helpful. For the text says, "The one who is the true light who gives light to everyone." Think about that. God gives light to everyone. I believe God plants innately in every human being the knowledge of himself. He plants that even in its little nascent state.

We have what's called general revelation. We see it in creation. We feel it in our conscience. You're conscience tells you there's a God. You have to get that educated away or taught-by-somebody away. Adrian Rogers a few years ago said that they gave a lie detector test to some people in Atlanta, Georgia. And one of the questions on the test was, "Do you believe in God?" And when many people answered, "No, I don't," it registered on the machine, "You're a liar." It's as if there's something in all of us that says, "There must be something greater than what I've already experienced."

And so Jesus came into the world and he showed us the light. And Jesus said, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." And when he came, his light was brighter than all others. He gave us not only an incredible example, but he influenced the world. He really enlightened the world. Compare Jesus; Jesus only taught---what?---three, three and a half years. Plato taught for 40 years; Aristotle taught for 40 years; Socrates for 50 years; 130 combined years of the great luminaries of the Grecian Empire. And, yet, Jesus Christ has influenced history and societies around the world more than all of them put together.

Jesus painted no picture. You can't buy an original by Jesus Christ: "This painting was painted by Jesus." He painted no picture and yet the great artists throughout time have often used as their subject matter for their great works of art, Jesus. Biblical stories; Jesus was no poet. He left no works of literature, and yet people like Dante, Milton, and countless others were inspired by Him. Jesus composed no music. It would have been cool if He did. I'd buy all His records. But people like Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Handel; all wrote so many compositions using Jesus Christ as their inspiration. This light is helpful.

A third thing to note is that this light is available. For it says, "This one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world." And as we keep reading through in the text, it says, "And the Word became flesh and he dwelt among us." This refers now to the incarnation. See, God didn't just stay in heaven and shine his little light down onto you like this. "Hi, I'm God."

No. Jesus came from heaven into this earth, to this darkness, leaving the third heaven, bypassing the galaxies, finding this one little, blue-green, tan globe called the earth, into the backwaters of the Roman Empire, into a little town of Bethlehem, into the womb of a virgin. We talk about it, but it's, it's unfathomable. Philip Yancey writes, "One night in the cold, in the dark, among the wrinkled hills of Bethlehem . . . God, who knows no before or after, entered time and space. God, who knows no boundaries, took on the shocking confines of a baby's skin, and the ominous restraints of mortality."

Why did he do it? Why did he come? Two reasons, several, but two reasons I want to touch on: to show how dark it really is here without Him; and number two, to lead us out of darkness. Mankind, before Jesus came, had a relative goodness. We always love to compare ourselves with ourselves. We often hold on to a certain form of self-righteousness: "Well, I feel I'm better than that person is." We often do this. We do it constantly. But then Jesus came with his perfect life doing what he did, saying what he said. And suddenly that light was so perfect and so brilliant and so bright that we look at ourselves, and we go, "Ooh, not so much."

He shows us all up. But he doesn't do that just to show us all up. He says, "Take my hand, I will lead you out of your darkness, and I will take you to my Father's house. There is light at the end of your tunnel." Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." That implies the world is dark and it also implies there's a way out of darkness. And the reason we get together every year and we sing what we sing, and we celebrate, and we have such joy is we really believe this. This is hope. We believe there's a future and a hope.

One rabbi by the name of Rabbi Hugo Grin, when he was a little boy was in a Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, one of the worst of the worst, around him was death, destruction. The Jews were being slaughtered by the Nazis systematically in the ovens, in the showers, and by exposure. But this rabbi, when he was a child, his family in Auschwitz, his father got them together one night to celebrate, to celebrate one of the days of the Festival of Lights in Judaism called Hanukkah. He got them all together huddled in the barracks.

And those who were Jews during that time in Auschwitz would hold on to relics of their religion, but they didn't want the Nazi guards to find out, so they did it secretly. On this night Hugo Gryn's father took a pat of butter, one last piece of food he had left, one little pat of butter, and he took a thread of his garment off to make a wick, put it into the butter to light it as a candle to celebrate the Festival of Lights in their tradition. As he lit the match and he was lighting the thread into the pat of butter, little Hugo said, "Father, Father, no! Don't do it. This is our last bit of food. How will we survive?"

His father said, "Son, we can survive for a few days without any food, but we cannot survive one second without hope and faith. This is the fire of hope. Never let it go out, here or anywhere else." When we gather at Christmastime like this, we celebrate not just the birth of a baby, but the coming into the world of the preexisting One, the eternal One, who came from eternity past into this world, died, rose from the dead, conquering death, and will come again, and is alive right now. His light will never go out. [cheers and applause]. "The Light Has Come."

If your faith and your hope is in Jesus Christ, the light will never go out. Life can get pretty gnarly, some bad things can happen. They happen to all human beings, eventually. We're all going to die. As one person said, "We all die of our last disease," whatever that might be. Family members get sick and die. People get in accidents. Life happens like that. But we have hope and it is real. Jesus penetrated our darkness and leads us out. "The Light Has Come." Jesus has come. Hope has come. Let's pray together before we close this service.

Father, we do indeed celebrate. We have a reason to celebrate. Of all people on planet earth Christians should sing the loudest. You put a song in our hearts. And if there's not one in our hearts, I pray that we would right now exam our hearts to see what's really inside, what our hope is in, what our trust is in, where our future really lies. Lord, bring us to that place, a place of enlightenment, of hope. Thank you for Jesus. Not one among many, but one who is singular and unique and stands out of all in history as the unique Son of God.

Your Word says that you love the world so much that you sent from heaven your one and only Son, that whoever would lean on him, trust in him would never perish, would not eternally die out. Their wick would never flame out, but they would have everlasting, eternal life. It's the life of Jesus that is the light of all men. I pray, Father, for those who are here tonight who don't really know you personally, or they do and their eyes have gotten on other things and they're weary and broken. I pray you'd lift them up. I pray you would encourage them, enlighten them. May their room become brighter than ever before.

If you don't know the Lord personally, right where you're seated, you can invite him in. It can be as simple as you turning your heart toward him. There's nothing you have to do. There's no pilgrimage you have to go on. There's no painful excursion you need to make. He did all the work for you. He suffered all the pain for you. All you have to do is agree to his terms. You have to admit that you're a sinner. You might say, "Doesn't he already know that?" Yeah, but he likes to hear you admit it.

So right where you're seated, you could say: Lord, I know, I admit I need you. I'm a sinner. Forgive me. I believe you sent Jesus, the Light of the World into this world. I believe He died on a cross, and that He rose from the dead, and I choose tonight to put my trust in Him. I turn from my past. I turn from my sin. I turn in my brokenness to you. Receive me as your child, in Jesus' name I ask, amen.

Closing: What binds us together is devotion to worshiping our heavenly Father, dedication to studying his Word, and determination to proclaim our eternal hope in Jesus Christ.

For more teachings from Calvary Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig visit calvaryabq.org.

Additional Messages in this Series

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12/25/1983
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Christmas 1983
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12/23/1984
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12/24/1985
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12/21/1986
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12/20/1987
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12/25/1988
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Luke 2:25-35
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12/24/1989
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Isaiah 9:6-7
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12/23/1990
completed
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Kinfolk of Christ
Matthew 1:1-17
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12/22/1991
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The Man Who Missed Christmas
Matthew 2; Luke 2
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12/24/1992
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Strange Birthday Gifts
Matthew 2:1-12
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12/24/1993
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Christmas Eve Service 1993
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12/15/1994
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12/24/1994
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12/25/1994
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The Crisis of Christmas
John 1
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12/9/1995
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12/17/1995
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12/24/1995
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Christmas Eve Service 1995
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12/28/1995
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12/24/1996
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Christmas Eve Service 1996
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12/24/1997
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12/20/1998
completed
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Four Names for God's Gift
Matthew 1:18-2:5
Skip Heitzig
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Four Names for God's Gift - Matthew 1:18-2:5 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/24/1998
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Christmas Eve Service 1998
Skip Heitzig
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Christmas Eve Service 1998 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/24/1999
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Christmas Eve Service 1999
Skip Heitzig
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Christmas Eve Service 1999 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/24/2000
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Christmas Lessons From The Family Tree
Matthew 1
Skip Heitzig
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Every year many folks buy a Christmas tree and place it in their homes, bedecking it for the holiday festivities. Meanwhile, the real Christmas tree is too often left out of the celebrations. I'm talking about the family tree - the genealogical record of Jesus' ancestry which forms the beginning of the Christmas story. If you've never considered it before, you're in for a pleasant (and shocking) surprise!
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12/23/2001
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The King of Christmas
Isaiah 9:6-7
Skip Heitzig
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The King of Christmas - Isaiah 9:6-7 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/24/2001
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Christmas Eve Service 2001
Skip Heitzig
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Christmas Eve Service 2001 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/24/2002
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Christmas Eve Service 2002
Skip Heitzig
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Christmas Eve Service 2002 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/24/2003
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Christmas Eve Service 2003
Skip Heitzig
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Christmas Eve Service 2003 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/19/2004
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The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Matthew 1:18-2:6
Skip Heitzig
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The Gift That Keeps on Giving - Matthew 1:18-2:6 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/24/2004
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Christmas Eve Service 2004
Luke 2:1-7
Skip Heitzig
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Christmas Eve Service 2004 - Luke 2:1-7 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/17/2005
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Merry CHRISTmas
Matthew 1:18-25
Skip Heitzig
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Merry CHRISTmas - Matthew 1:18-25 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/21/2005
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A Classic Christmas
Skip Heitzig
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A Classic Christmas from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/23/2005
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Christmas Eve Service 2005
Skip Heitzig
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Christmas Eve Service 2005 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/25/2005
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How Did Jesus Celebrate Christmas?
John 10:22-31
Skip Heitzig
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How Did Jesus Celebrate Christmas? - John 10:22-31 from our series of Christmas Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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12/24/2006
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A Not-So-Silent Night
Luke 2:1-20
Skip Heitzig
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The Christmas season with its familiar carols wafting through the air evokes emotions of peace, tranquility and serenity. The birth of Jesus Christ was hardly that kind of an event. It was not a "silent night" but rather a boisterous and busy one. It's been that way ever since hasn't it? Into our busy world stepped the Son of God. Let's consider what lessons we can learn from the busyness of the first Christmas and how God wants to connect with our busy schedules.
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12/24/2006
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Christmas Eve Service 2006
Skip Heitzig
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12/24/2007
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Christmas Eve Service 2007
Skip Heitzig
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12/21/2008
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Christmas in a Nutshell
John 1:14
Skip Heitzig
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12/24/2008
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No Fear - Christmas Eve 2008
Matthew 1:1-25; Luke 1:1-80
Skip Heitzig
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12/28/2008
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A One-Star Hotel in Bethlehem
Matthew 2:1-12
Skip Heitzig
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12/20/2009
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Is It OK To Celebrate Christmas?
Matthew 2:1-6
Skip Heitzig
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Every year timid yet sincere believers ask this question. They can see the commercialization of what was intended to be a celebration of the Lord's birth. They've heard about the paganization of the ancient Babylonians and Romans. Perhaps they're worried about putting up a tree or giving gifts because they, like their Puritan predecessors, feel that this would be compromising their faith. So let's take a brief look backward to the origin of some these traditions and chart a reasonable and biblical course forward so we can celebrate with a clear and joyful conscience.
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12/24/2009
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A Christmas Island - Christmas Eve 2009
Skip Heitzig
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The circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus form a paradox to the identity of our Savior -- the God who created heavens and earth born as a helpless baby in Bethlehem. Let's travel together to that Christmas Island of old, and consider the greatest gift ever given.
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12/8/2010
completed
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Is It OK To Celebrate Christmas?
Matthew 2:1-6
Skip Heitzig
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Every year timid yet sincere believers ask this question. They can see the commercialization of what was intended to be a celebration of the Lord's birth. They've heard about the paganization of the ancient Babylonians and Romans. Perhaps they're worried about putting up a tree or giving gifts because they, like their Puritan predecessors, feel that this would be compromising their faith. So let's take a brief look backward to the origin of some these traditions and chart a reasonable and biblical course forward so we can celebrate with a clear and joyful conscience.
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12/12/2010
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The PRESENTS of God
Matthew 6:25-34
Skip Heitzig
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No matter how generous you may be this Christmas or at any other time, you will never be able to out-give God! His lavish kindness can be plainly observed, but it is too often overlooked. Let's consider during this season just how openhanded God is to us and the nature of some of His presents that He gives to us who are His children.
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12/19/2010
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Mary's Excellent ADVENTure
Luke 1:26-55
Skip Heitzig
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Christmastime has historically been referred to as Advent Season by the church. Advent means arrival or coming. At Christmas we celebrate the first advent (or coming) of Christ to earth to redeem the human race from sin, while we await His second advent when He rules forever. Mary of Nazareth was the human receptacle that God used to birth His Son into the world. She was a model believer in every way. Her example brings fresh encouragement to us. Let’s consider her.
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12/24/2010
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The Light Was About to Shine - Christmas Eve 2010
Matthew 4:13-17
Skip Heitzig
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As the prophet Isaiah peered through his prophetic lens, he could see a small glimmer of light in the future. At the time of Jesus' birth the world sat in darkness--politically, economically, and spiritually. But when Jesus Christ was born, God Turned on the light! Let’s consider the beautiful source of illumination and learn that while we may be sitting in darkness, God is calling us to step into Son-light.
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12/15/2013
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A Baby in an Old Man's Arms
Luke 2:25-35
Skip Heitzig
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To speak about a gruesome death seems out of place at Christmas time, doesn't it? Why would we take Communion (the elements that speak of Jesus' death) at a time we should be celebrating Jesus' birth? An old man answers that question for us: Simeon of Jerusalem takes the baby Jesus in his arms and tells us the rest of the Christmas story.
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12/22/2013
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It's Darkest Just Before Dawn!
Matthew 4:13-17
Skip Heitzig
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A well-worn adage from the 1600s declares that it's always the darkest just before the dawn. Christmas is a celebration of light: Lights are strung everywhere both indoors and out. If you've ever wondered why, it's because Jesus, the light of the world, pierced the darkness of our world, making it possible for us to see clearly enough to escape one world and move into the next.
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12/24/2015
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Jesus: Hope for All
Luke 2:4-14
Skip Heitzig
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The birth of Jesus Christ fulfilled prophecy and brought hope to all. In this Christmas Eve message, Pastor Skip explains how Jesus' birth is a preview to what His life and death means for us: Jesus was and is accessible to all people from all walks of life who believe in His name.
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12/24/2017
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Christmas Under the Tree
Skip Heitzig
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With roughly 30 million sold every year, Christmas trees are one of the most popular and cherished Christmas traditions. Decorated trees adorn our homes, shops, and churches during the holiday season. The question is: What does a tree have to do with Christmas?
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12/23/2018
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Christmas Through the Ages
Romans 1:1-4; Galatians 4:4-5
Skip Heitzig
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Christmas stands as one of the major holidays within the church. On Christmas Day, we celebrate the incarnation, God coming to earth in human form through the person of Jesus of Nazareth. In this teaching, Skip Heitzig reflects on the unique aspects of Jesus' birth, looking to Scripture to find where Christmas began and why.
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12/24/2019
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Ornaments
Luke 2:8-11; John 17:6-12; Revelation 5:8-10
Skip Heitzig
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The night Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord invited all people to meet the newborn Savior, starting with the lowliest and most overlooked population: shepherds. This extraordinary invitation to the most ordinary people was a preview of the humble birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ. In this Christmas Eve message, Pastor Skip Heitzig explains how Jesus is God's gift to us and we are God's gift to Jesus for all eternity.
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12/24/2020
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A Candlelight Christmas
Skip Heitzig
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12/19/2021
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How Joseph Gave Us Christmas
Matthew 1:18-25
Skip Heitzig
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In the Christmas story, Jesus understandably gets top billing. Mary follows as a close second, again rightfully so since she was a young virgin girl who miraculously turned up pregnant with Israel’s Messiah. But then there’s Joseph. Though he is part of the nativity scene, he is regarded as almost incidental or supplemental, like a bystander. Today, we will follow Joseph’s uneasy emotional journey from Nazareth to the manger as we consider his role and reaction to it.
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12/24/2021
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A Thrill of Hope
Luke 2
Skip Heitzig
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So many of the great songs of the Christmas season have hope as the theme. Perhaps the most famous is the familiar hymn from 1847 “O Holy Night,” which describes the thrill of hope as the weary world rejoices. There are two people in the Christmas story who are usually overlooked, but who embodied this hope as they waited with expectation for years on end for Jesus’ birth. They are Simeon and Anna, and these two are great examples of what it means biblically to have hope.
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12/26/2021
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Being Wise and Unwise
Matthew 2:1-11
Skip Heitzig
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There are 56 additional messages in this series.
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