Introduction and Background
· What if I don’t feel jolly?
· Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
· Joy to the World (1719)
· Watts and chronic illness
Why can we sing for joy at Christmas, even when times are tough?
1) Jesus has come as our Promised King (Lk 2:8-12)
2) King Jesus has come to save us from sin (Matt 1:20-21)
3) King Jesus will end sin’s destruction of things (Ps 98; Gen 3:17-19; Rom 8:20-22)
4) Jesus will reign as the best of all Kings (Is 9:6-7; Phil 2:9-11)
When did the One “who is God and Lord of all” come “down to earth from heaven”?
- Jesus came to be human like us (Lk 2:1-12; Phil 2:5-7)
- Jesus came to be human to us (Lk 2:39-40; 1 Jn 1:3 and 5b-6)
- Jesus came to be human with us (Heb 2:14-18; 4:14-15)
- Jesus came to be human to rescue and restore us (Jn 14:1-3; 1 Jn 3:1-2)
We apologise that the audio recording was of poor quality and did not adequately portray the intended message of the sermon. The recording has been removed from the web.
Introduction and Background
Why does Charles Wesley urge us to sing with the herald-angels?
- Jesus came to earth to reconcile us to God
- Jesus came to earth to relate to us as God
- Jesus came to earth to raise us to be with God
Will you be singing this Christmas?
- A New Beginning: An Ancient Purpose
- Promised Land becomes Holy Land
- Final Reflections on the book of Numbers
- Wesley: A Brand Plucked from the Burning
- Wesley’s Conversion #1: Holiness
- Wesley’s Conversion #2: Aldersgate Street (May 24, 1738)
- Wesley’s Conversion #3: Field-preaching to the unreached (April 2, 1739)
- Wesley’s legacy (and why he’s a dead guy worth knowing)
- Learning wisdom through a riddle
- If that’s the riddle, what’s the lesson?
- Putting wisdom into practice