WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
The Star
A Journey to Christmas
Songs
MARLEE: Welcome and Merry Christmas! Tomorrow is the day, the big day, Christmas Day! As if any of us needed any reminding, right?
LAURA: We are so glad you’ve joined us this evening to mark this special time. Yes, we all know tomorrow is Christmas, but I’d like to point out that tomorrow also marks the culmination of a journey we’ve been taking together over the last month.
Ours has been a journey of Advent as we’ve been focusing and reflecting on Christ’s coming—His coming to earth on that first Christmas long ago and His eventual triumphant return to earth to complete God’s ultimate work of redemption.
MARLEE: All along the way, we have followed the star guiding us toward Jesus as it guided those wise seekers toward Him long, long ago.
As we approach the manger this evening, we invite you to pause and reflect, allowing your heart to be drawn into the story that changed the world on that ancient night— a story of hope, redemption, and love that continues to unfold in our lives today.
And during this special night we share together, we begin our time with the 3 who have been on their own journey, with their own stories.
LAURA: Tonight, we are reminded that the light of Christ, which shone brightly in the manger, still shines in the hearts of believers, transforming lives and drawing us closer to Him. May we be open to receiving that light anew this Christmas Eve, as we celebrate not only the birth of our Saviour but also the new life He offers each of us through the waters of Baptism.
BAPTISMS
LAURA: Don’t you love a good story? How many of us have sat around the fireplace on Christmas Eve and heard tales of Christmas past? The traditions and family time surrounding holidays can bring that unique opportunity to retell and listen to the stories that form the tapestry of our lives.
MARLEE: Throughout the world, stories have been the way of preserving history, passing along beliefs and values, inspiring, entertaining, and motivating us. Stories move us. Shared stories connect us and link us to each other. They bring meaning to our lives and help make sense of our experiences.
Good stories are messy, full of conflict, suspenseful, moving and maybe even funny.
LAURA: They are filled with victory and defeat, struggle and triumph, fear and courage, conflict and love. They draw us into bigger and broader story lines and they make us curious about the storyteller.
Thru-hikers on long epic journeys like the Appalachian Trail often gather to tell their stories when they meet up on the trail. Their stories are as diverse as the characters who tell them, but they all contain the elements of where they have been, where they are now, and where they are going. The epic hike they are on deserves an epic story to recount its history, the progress made, and the expectations of what is to come.
MARLEE: And as we gather tonight on the eve of Christmas, we gather to tell and retell the story of the most epic journey ever. The story of the journey of God to earth that changed the world forever.
LAURA: There is no greater storyteller, with no more powerful story, than God’s story of love and redemption for the world.
MARLEE: In that spirit, I’d like us to imagine that we are outside, somewhere wild and open, maybe on a mountaintop, maybe in a sweeping meadow set against a flowing stream or rolling hillside.
LAURA: Maybe we can turn down these house lights and let the walls and ceiling fall away in our minds. Work with me, now—I know this may be easier for some of you than others. I KNOW HOW WE CAN MAKE THIS EASIER!
[Starry Scene Shows on Screen in Sanctuary]
LAURA: Now, can you see it in your mind? It’s a clear night long, long ago. We’re back at the very beginning.
MARLEE: This is creation, and into the inky darkness above suddenly God is flinging stars into the sky.
LAURA: Maybe they simply appear in the sky, glowing and twinkling. I like to imagine millions of shooting stars streaming with bright tails across the heavens to find their places in distant galaxies across the heavens.
MARLEE: There has never been a greater fireworks show! Where there was only darkness, now there is gleaming, glittering light.
LAURA: The Creator knows each of these lights. He knows which one’s humans will eventually connect with invisible lines into constellations.
MARLEE: He knows which ones will burn out when and then streak across our night sky as they BURST INTO FLAMES AND EXTINGUISH THEMSELVES.
LAURA: And He knows the one star that will one day pulse and glow and serve as a beacon to lead and direct seekers from afar to His newly arrived Son, Jesus.
MARLEE: This star would pierce the darkness with a unique purpose. It would serve as the signal of the birth of Christ,
LAURA: …the coming of the long-promised Messiah, come to earth at last to change the course of eternity forever.
MARLEE: This star guided wise men.
LAURA: It lit the night for shepherds.
MARLEE: It signaled the way of Immanuel, God with us.
LAURA: It announced the arrival of the bright Morning Star whose light shines brightest, calling us to see Him, drawing us to Himself to seek and find Him.
MARLEE: As we sit at the edge of darkness this Christmas Eve with light about to break through, we reflect on the whole journey—past, present, and future.
The star is leading us to Christmas, but the star has always been there leading, and it will lead beyond tonight. The light of God’s love showing us the way to Himself.
LAURA: As we’ve seen this Advent season, God’s story is ongoing. The Christmas story spans all of history from creation to Jesus born in Bethlehem to us gathered here tonight—seated in warmth, imagining ourselves under the night sky—and it continues on into the future as we wait for Jesus’s return.
MARLEE: The story of Christmas is a story of what was, what is, and what is still to come. So, I invite all of us to celebrate the birth of Christ this Christmas Eve and continue to journey deeper into the story.
LAURA: On this Christmas Eve, we will light the final candle in our Advent wreath, the candle that represents Christ.
These candles are like stars, each shining brightly, expectantly, and signaling the attributes of Christ drawing us along and filling us.
MARLEE: If you’ve been with us over the past four weeks, you know that we have followed these stars on a journey that brings:
HOPE to the doubting and fearful,
PEACE to the broken and storm-tossed,
JOY to the hurting, and
LOVE when we least expect it but need it most.
LAURA: Tonight, we celebrate together as the star leads us to the culmination of all of those journeys to the place where Jesus enters our world and changes history forever.
HOPE
DAVE: We began Advent with a journey of hope. And as we look back on that, we see the thread of hope -past, present, and future:
Through many years and centuries of history, hope burned for a Saviour. Sometimes that hope flickered. Sometimes it barely glowed like an ember as time passed and the people waited and waited and waited.
MARLEE: But hope was fulfilled. Christ has come! God’s promise was fulfilled in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Today we place our hope in the fact that Jesus came, died for our sins, and is alive. He is the ongoing source of our hope.
LAURA: And we live in the future hope that Jesus will come again to complete the story of redemption in our world and in our own lives. The story is not over yet. All will be made right.
[Mary comes and lights her candle of Hope & sits down at the Manger.]
DAVE: The good news of the journey of hope is that just like on that first Christmas Eve, when the darkness seems deepest, God is about to show up. Let’s place our hope in the God who never changes, whose story is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our hope in Him will be fulfilled.
PEACE
MARLEE: The journey of peace was our second part on this journey of Advent. Peace is so elusive in our local news and world events—and sometimes in our family relationships and in our own minds. Everywhere we look are indications of a desperate need for peace. Yet there and everywhere, we again can see God’s peace throughout the story line of eternity.
There in the past is the arrival of the Prince of Peace in that manger. This is what we celebrate today. Peace has come. Peace is here!
LAURA: And fortunately peace remains. Jesus left us the gift of His peace through His Spirit—a peace that transcends our full understanding and our worst days, a peace that guards and restores our hearts and minds.
DAVE: As we look to the future, we still expectantly wait, knowing that when He comes again, He will bring ultimate peace for all the world. Peace among nations. Peace among enemies. Peace to reign over and within every heart.
[Joseph comes and lights the candle of Peace & sits with Mary at the manger.]
MARLEE: As we followed the star on a journey of peace, we realized that it was not a journey away from the pain and suffering of our lives. Think of the state of the world on that first Christmas—there was noise and hurt and pain and struggle and fear! And yet the Prince of Peace came in the midst of it.
Jesus’s own life was filled with hardship, and He knew that His followers would not be immune from it. And so He gave them the gift of peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you,”
Tonight, as we continue on the journey of peace, let’s remember the peace He brings, which comforts us in the midst of our lives, will one day be complete in our hearts and in our world.
JOY
LAURA: Our third journey of Advent has been a journey of joy. We know from the angel’s announcement on that first Christmas that the birth of Christ was a joyful event.
LAURA: The good news of great joy was that Jesus, the Saviour of the world, was born. This joyous event broke through the darkness and dispelled the fears of those shepherds, just as it replaces our own fear in the midst of darkness.
MARLEE: The joy for us today is that the same message of good news is for us, here, now, today. Jesus offers us the same salvation and life that He came to give through His birth, death, and resurrection. It is the source of the greatest joy possible.
DAVE: And while we still live in a world where joy and pain coexist, God’s promise is that our joy will be made complete in the future when Jesus comes again. It fuels us along the way, standing as a stark contrast to the death and despair of our broken world.
[A shepherd comes and lights the candle of Joy & sits at the manger.]
LAURA: Tonight, as we continue on the journey of joy, let’s rejoice with the angel who announced the arrival of the long-awaited Saviour. Joy leads us to worship, and joy is sparked by and drawn from worship as we tune our spirits to God’s.
LOVE
DAVE: The last week of Advent led us on a journey of love. Again, this story is one that spans eternity since God is love. But on this Advent journey we have seen the same threads of past, present, and future:
As long as God is, there has been and is love. It is His nature and being. It fuelled His creation. It drove Him to make a way to restore humanity to relationship with Himself. And at a specific point in past history, motivated by intense love, God sent His Son among us.
MARLEE: Today love fuels our relationship with God. It is our motivation, and we live out the love of God in us by loving others.
LAURA: And we look forward to the future day when God’s love story is complete, and we will live for eternity with Him. This will be life fulfilled in perfect love.
[The wiseman comes and lights the candle of Love & sits at the manger.]
DAVE: These elements are summed up in 1 John, which says, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. . . . And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:9–11, 16).
MARLEE: Tonight as we continue on the journey of love, let’s bask in the amazing love of God, who gave up everything to be with us and show His love for us. His love is real, and it is here.
Hope.
Peace.
Joy.
Love.
LAURA: We have followed the star, and now we come to the end of Advent. Tonight, we light a candle for Christ. The journey of hope, love, joy, and peace has led us to the same place—a manger in Bethlehem where the source of all good gifts lies. Jesus, the Son of God, is our hope, love, joy, and peace!
Pastor Dave lights the Christ Candle
MARLEE: The star marked Jesus’s arrival, but He is the true light of the world! Later in Jesus’s life, He taught His disciples that He had come as the light of the world. As John explained, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
LAURA: Here in Advent, on the verge of Christmas, and looking forward into the days to come, we follow Jesus, who leads us and gives the light of life. No matter how dark your life is tonight, no matter where you find yourself, no matter what pain or sadness you feel, the star’s light shines for you. It is God’s invitation to come and experience His story—past, present, and future.
And together we will carry hope, love, joy, and peace as we head out into the world with our way lit by Jesus, the true light of the world.
Prayer
God, thank You that Your story—past, present, and future—has become our story in Christ Jesus. Please encourage our hearts with Your hope, love, joy, and peace as we follow the light of Your star to Your Son, Jesus Christ, this Christmas Eve. Amen.
Song
Benediction
LAURA: From our families to yours….
May you share in the gifts of this season.
May love, the promise of generations, be with you.
MARLEE: May Joy, the gift of life together, fill you.
And may Peace, the desire of all, find you.
DAVE: And finally, we pray you know Hope, the horizon of faith, and may hope sustain you.
May a very Merry Christmas be yours. Amen.