Jesus Our High Priest

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Well, good morning, everyone. Hope that you’re doing well. We’re going to be preparing our hearts for the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, over the next three weeks. But looking at a story from the New Testament, from Matthew chapter two. And in this story, we find that there are some wise men that bring some gifts to Jesus shortly after he was born. Now, before we jump into the text, let me just kind of give you the historical context of what’s taking place. Well, Jesus is born in Bethlehem. He was born during the reign of King Herod. Shortly after his birth, There are some wise men who come after Jesus seeking him, and they bring him some gifts. Now, let me ask you a question. How many wise men were there? Now, if you look at your grandmother’s nativity scene that’s on the mantel or wherever it may be on the kitchen table. How many wise men are there? There are always three. Now, why are there always three? Because they brought how many gifts? Three gifts. And the truth and the reality is no one knows how many wise men came seeking after Jesus. They could have had 30 or 40 of them. But here’s what we find out about them that we know from history they’re highly educated, they’re very wealthy, and they are seeking the savior of the world. Now, look what Matthew Chapter two, how it describes the wise men coming after Jesus.

“When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

Matthew 2:10.11 (NLT)

Now, what kind of gifts are these gifts? Now, when our kids were born, Rose and I what we receive. We didn’t receive any of this. Did you receive any of this? I didn’t. I mean, we got diapers. We got a onesie, and we got the all-important. What snot sucker, Right. I mean, that was like an important tool to get that snot out of their nose. Correct. I mean, this was, like, an important tool. But notice, what they got is they got gold. Jesus got gold, frankincense, and got myrrh. Now, here’s what scholars will tell you, these are all very valuable gifts. Scholars will also tell you there were very practical gifts, and they were also very spiritual implications in nature because what you see is that these three gifts represent three different rows of Jesus. They kind of foreshadow the roles that Jesus would come to be known for in the days ahead. Let me give you an example. In a couple of weeks, we’re going to talk about gold. Gold represents the kingship of Jesus. Next week, we’re going to talk about myrrh. And that really talks about him being the lamb of God or the suffering servant. And we’ll talk about that next week. But this weekend, we’re going to talk about frankincense. And frankincense is a very expensive oil that you could purchase back in that day and age. And I’ve talked to many the essential oil advisers, and they tell me that, you know, frankincense has multiple uses. It is kind of like a Swiss Army knife. You can use it in a lot of different ways. It’s good for healing sickness, for healing wounds. Actually, I read on the bottle, and here’s what I read on the bottle. And you tell me what this means. Okay. I have no clue. But this is what it says. It says Frankincense oil possesses an antiseptic, astringent, diuretic, and digestive sedative. Involuntary therapeutic properties have no clue what it means, do you? I mean, that’s what it says. But I do know that it was very expensive and it was very practical in a lot of different ways. The most important thing for you to understand is that the high priest would use the oil of frankincense when he would offer up the sacrifice in the holy of holies. And when he offered up the sacrifice, and he would pour on the sacrifice, and the smoke would begin to build up, and it would then go up to heaven. And it was symbolic of the prayers of God’s people rising to the heavens. And thus, frankincense scholars believe. Foreshadow the thing that Jesus is our high priest. Now, some of you are probably like a little confused at this moment, and you go in that Jesus is your high priest. What is all of that about? Well, what I want to do as we kick off this Advent season this weekend. I just want to talk to you a little bit about Jesus being our high priest. Now, who is our high priest? Who’s your high priest? I am going to ask you that throughout. Now, what does this have to do with Christmas? Well, I’m going to do a little deep teaching today, and I just want to know, are you ready for some deep thoughts about Jesus being our high priest? Are you ready for it? If you are so ready. Good. I love that.

Now, now, let’s dive into this. Jesus, our high priest. Now, the high priest had one primary role, and the primary role of a high priest was to represent the people to God. Now we break down this function, this row, into two different functions. And the two functions of the high priest were. Number one is that.

Priests made sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins.

In other words, is that he was the one who took the sacrifice into the holy of holies. To represent the covering and the forgiveness of sin. The second thing that the priest did was that.

Priests prayed prayers on behalf of the people to God.

And so the priest represented the people to God. And so it has broken down into two different functions. And what I want to do today, I want to talk about these two functions of the high priest. And who is your high priest? Jesus. Right. And what did Jesus do? He served as a sacrifice, and he also intercedes for us.

So I want to start with the sacrifices that the high priest would make on behalf of the people. Now, you know that ever since the beginning of time when Adam and Eve were in the garden and Eve sinned first, then something happened. What was introduced into the world? The thing that was introduced into the world was what sin was. Now, folks, we don’t like to call sin. The sin we like to call sin by a lot of different names. We like to just downplay sin, and we don’t really call it to sin. We just say, hey, if it feels good to you, you just go ahead and do it. I’m not going to participate in that. But whatever feels good to me, I’m going to do. But folks, we have to understand something when the very beginning of time, when Eve sinned, and then Adam’s sin that something happened. There was something to waging. Oppositions were waging war together, and it was the.

Holiness of God > < Sinfulness of mankind.

There are these two opposing things that were going on, and you have to understand that ever since the beginning of time, these two forces have been working against each other and the holiness of God and the sinfulness of mankind. Now, folks, listen to me. We have to understand the holiness of God because. 

If we don’t understand the holiness of God, We will always have a casual approach to sin.

We will always downplay sin. And this is the reason we have to understand the holiness of God. Now, what is the holiness of God? What is God? Well, God is transcendently separate. Our God is perfect in every single way. He is flawless. He is pure. There is no fault. There’s no Rome. There is no stain in him. He is perfect. Listen to me. We need to understand that holiness isn’t one of the attributes of God. Holiness is the perfection of all of His attributes. His powers are holy. His grace is holy. His mercy is holy. His glory is holy. Everything about God is holy. And it’s the exact opposite of you and me. Because you and I are what? We are sinners. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all blown it. The person who’s nice at your workplace is also a sinner. That precious little baby that you have, our child that you think is perfect. They have blown it. The Bible tells us that each and every one of us we have fallen short of God’s glory, and we’ve all sinned and we’ve all made mistakes. And this is the reason why God hates sin. And because sin is the opposite of whom God is. Because who is God? God is holy, my friends. And sin separates us from God. Sin destroys the fellowship that we have got. Sin destroys and breaks us into pieces. And this is the reason why God hates sin is that sin breaks us. Therefore, sin breaks the heart of God. And so there’s got to be something that takes place between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of mankind. And how do you reconcile these two things? How do these two things coexist? Well, the Old Testament gives us a foreshadowing of what was to come.

Now, folks, listen to me. In the Old Testament, the holiness of God in the sinfulness of mankind had to coexist. But how do they coexist? What was the methodology? Well, in the Old Testament, there’s this thing that is called.

The Day of Atonement = Your sins from the previous year covered over and forgiven.

And the day of atonement is when the high priest enters into the holy of holies. One time a year. Now, what was the day of atonement all about? The Day of Atonement is all about your sins from the previous year, covered over and forgiven. In other words, when the High priest went into the holy of Holies, and God accepted that sacrifice, then God was saying All of your sins from the previous year are forgiven. Now you can continue to live in freedom for another year. And so the Day of Atonement was central to the life of a Jew. It was a sacred moment. It was a holy moment. Now, what does the Bible say about this? Look with me at Leviticus Chapter 16, verses 1-3. Now, remember, we’re going to deep dive into Jesus being ours. What? Jesus being what? The high priest. But this is the foreshadowing of what was to come. We have to understand the Old Testament. To understand the New Testament.

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover–the place of atonement–is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover. When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.” 

Leviticus 16:1-3 (NLT)

Now, folks, the day of atonement, you have to understand, was a very significant moment each year in the life of the nation of Israel and everything centered around the actions of the High priest. And I want to show you what a high priest would look like in that day in time because he was going into the holy of holies. He was going in representing you, representing me before God himself. He was asking for forgiveness of your sins and forgiveness of the sins of the community. Now, you’ll notice that there are some things about the high priest that are very important divestment that we call the garb in the South. But these are the vestments that the high priest would put on. But we call it the garb, Right? But this is like the high priest, you know. This is his apparel. Whenever he went into the holy of holies, there were some details that were very important. And one of the things that you heard as Gentry walked out was there were some bells that were attached to the bottom of this garment. And why were there bells on the bottom of the garment? Remember, the high priest is going into the holy of holies. He’s just instructed Moses in there. And if you go in, there unapproved that you will be struck down dead like his two sons. And so if the people on the outside of the curtain, if they heard bells inside, they knew that the high priest was what was still alive. If they didn’t hear any bells, didn’t they know, Oh, he’s died? Now, who’s going to go in after him? And no one would go in after him. So what they would do is before the high priests went into the holy of holies, what would they do? They would tie a rope around his ankle. And if they didn’t hear any bells, then they would go, okay, he must have died. And they would pull him out. Right. And but fortunately, we have no account of any high priests dying in the holy of holies. So it’s a good thing.

Now, the other thing that you’ll notice is that there are 12 different stones on the vestment here. And what do you think those 12 stones represent? Might you want to take a guess? The 12 tribes of Israel. But more importantly, notice this is that he’s carrying the high priest is carrying the sins of the nation of Israel and the 12 tribes with him into the holy of holies, into the ark, because he’s going to ask for forgiveness for the sins of himself and of the community when he goes into the holy of holies. Now, everything revolved around the actions of the high priests. Now, it’s very important for the high priest to have his life in order. You understand this, right? I mean, he’s going in. He’s representing you. He’s representing your nation. He’s representing your community and your tribe. He’s representing your family. And so it’s important that the high priest would have his act together. Now, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want my high priest. The night before, throwing back a couple cold brews and going. Tomorrow’s going to be a long, stressful day. I’m going to have a couple tonight. Right. Are we clear on this? Everything revolved around the high priest. Now let’s continue to read Leviticus chapter 16, verses four through six. Well, notice what the high priest must do.

“He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the LORD.”

Leviticus 16:4-6 (NLT)

Notice what it says is not only does he have to bathe, not only does he put on the right clothing, the right garments. But notice what else he does before he will even represent you or represent our community or nation. The first thing that the high priest had to do was to purify himself and to purify his family. Making himself in his family’s right before he would represent us, before God. And so the activities on the Day of Atonement started with the high priest. First of all, having his own sin and the sins of his family covered first. It’s very, very important that you understand that everything started with the high priest. And as the high priest entered into the holy of holies. This is your chance. This is my chance to be made pure before God for another year. And this moment when the high priest enters into the holy of holies is a very intense and sacred moment. Now let’s look at Leviticus chapter 16, verses seven through nine. Then notice what he must do.

“Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle. He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the LORD and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the LORD.”

Leviticus 16:7.9 (NET)

Now you have to understand what’s taking place here? There are two goats. One’s going to be chosen to be a sacrifice. Because why? Your sins have to be covered. The other goat is going to live, and he is going to be the one who’s going to remove your sin away. Now, look at me. Verse number ten.

“The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the LORD.When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the LORD.”

Leviticus 16:10 (NLT)

Now, folks, this is where we would probably need a live goat because if we have a lot of goats, I could show you the actions of the High priest. And I think we have a live goat. And here it comes. Holy cow. Look at this. Unbelievable. It just showed up. Now, this was the goat. Now, don’t let that thing bite me. Okay. It knows it doesn’t like me. Don’t smile. So now look what would happen in verses 20-22 with me.

“When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat.He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land 

Leviticus 16:20-22 (NLT)

Did you notice that not only was you covered the sins of the people, but now he’s going to lay his hands on the head of the goat, and he’s going to confess over it? All of the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. Now, folks here’s the deal. The high priest would reach down on the head of the goat and he would lay his hands on head of the goat. Now, there’s a lot of debate and a lot of discussion about what would take place when the high priest laid his hands on the head of the goat. Now they would go, Well, what would he say? Would he say anything? And there’s a lot of debate and discussion. Would he say a prayer if he says said a prayer? How long would the prayer be? You know, the only thing they know for sure is that when the high priest put his hands on the head of the goat, all of the sins of Israel were placed on that goat, and the person who’s in charge of this goat was a Gentile and not a Jew.

Now, why was it a Gentile? Well, a Gentile wouldn’t want to be handling a loaded goat like this, right? Because it was what he carried all the sins of the nation upon it. Then the Gentiles would take that goat way out into the wilderness, turn it loose, and they would drive it away as far as they could, signifying the removal of the sins of the people of God. Now, folks, the nation of Israel actually believes that God would remove their sins. Listen to me. They believe that God would remove their sins. Can you imagine that they believe something like this? Do you mean they actually believe that when the goat left, their sins left with it? And folks, this is at the heart of what it means to live a life for God. The redeemed life is where your sins are taken away. And folks, you understand that the goat didn’t remove the sins of the nation of Israel, that the goat is only a picture of the fact that God has removed their sins. Its symbolism is symbolic that when the high priest placed his hands on the head of the goat, it was only symbolic. The God. What is just a picture of what God did in their hearts? And here’s the thing that you need to understand is that this was a temporary covering under the Old Testament. This was something that happened every single year. But guess what, My friends, you and I, we don’t live under the old covenant. We live under what, The New Covenant. And can I tell you something? There is a high priest that is greater than Aaron or any other high priest. And guess what? His name is my friend. His name is Jesus. And look at how the New Testament describes the high priest named Jesus. It’s in Hebrews chapter ten,12:10-12.

“For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.”

Hebrews 10:10-12 (NLT)

Friends. Jesus Christ is our high priest. He’s taking away our sins once and for all. We never have to have another priest to enter into the holy of holies for us. Because why? Jesus Christ did it once and for all. He became the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. Is that wonderful? Is it a beautiful picture of Jesus being our high priest? Would you give it up for Gendry in the golden bread? Yeah. Thank you, man. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Jesus is our sacrifice. But can I tell you something else? Jesus also intercedes for us. You have to understand that Jesus is not only our sacrifice, but Jesus is the person who intercedes for us. I want you to look at this next verse from Hebrews chapter four.

So then, since we have such a great high priest, who’s your high priest? Jesus, who has entered heaven. Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold firmly to what we believe.

“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all the same testing’s we do, yet he did not sin.”

Hebrews 4:14-15 (NLT)

Do not forget this principle. Do not forget that Jesus sacrificed his own life to cover your sins. But you have to do something we will talk about in a moment. But notice what it says. And next slide, this high priest of ours, this priest that is called Jesus, he understands. What, my friend. What does it say? He understands what our. What? What does it say? I can’t hear you. What does he understand? He understands our weaknesses, for he phrased all of the same. What testings that we do. Yet he did not sin in folks. Jesus. Our high priest not only made the ultimate sacrifice, but he ultimately intercedes for you and I. in other words, he prays on our behalf. You have to understand that he relates to our trials. He sympathizes with our pain. If you’re struggling physically, if you’ve had someone who has received some bad medical reports, Jesus Christ is your healer. Whatever you’re going through this moment, he understands what you’re going through. Because why? He is our high priest, if you’re tired and exhausted, you’re overwhelmed, and you don’t feel like you can hold it all together, and you’re completely weak and broken. I want you to understand something. Your high priest name Jesus understands everything that you’re struggling with at this complete moment. He understands your weaknesses, and he can make your weaknesses perfect because of his strength. If you’re struggling financially and you feel like the weight of the world is on top of you. You have so many expenses, and you have so few resources. I want you to understand that he is your provider. He is your high priest. If you have a loved one who is far away from God and you’re worried about where they’re going to spend eternity, I just want you to know something Jesus, your high priest, is praying for that loved one right now on your behalf and on behalf of heaven. If you’re here today and you’re dealing with crazy family members, can I just tell you it’s a spiritual principle? Everybody has a crazy family member. Just understand that Jesus, your high priest, understands everything about your family. If you’re hurting emotionally, perhaps you need to understand that your high priest, Jesus, is asking you to cast all of your cares upon him.

 If you are here today and you’ve never had your sins forgiven, if you’ve never asked Jesus to come into your heart, if you’ve never received a new fresh start if you’ve never had your name written in the Book of Heaven. The great thing about our high priest named Jesus, he is ready and willing to extend grace to you. Because what Jesus did do as our high priest is that he satisfied the holiness of God, and He took care of the sinfulness of mankind. That’s what Jesus, our high priest, is all about. And some of you may be here this morning. And you may. Pastor, I’ve heard you talk about being born again. I’ve heard you talk about getting saved and having my name written in the Book of Heaven. But I don’t believe that God can save me. I don’t believe God is still in the business of doing that. Well, this morning, we have a testimony, and Sam Morgan this morning is going to come and share about how God saved him back this past October. So would you welcome Sam to the stage this morning, and let’s give it up for Sam as he shares this.

Well, good morning, everybody. I’m Sam Morgan. This January will be my second year attending East Side Community Church. And our worship leader. Olivia sent me an invite to come here and play drums in the worship team for the evening Youth Services. And I think at the time, I was just trying to get any kind of gig that I could get. I will be honest with you. All my relationship with God. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It hasn’t been very good in the past. My parents took my brother and me to church when we were younger, but I feel like, over time, we kind of grew away from that, and for a long time, I really didn’t know what to think about Christ. I was uncertain about a lot of things in my life. I felt like I had little direction. I felt like I could take on my life on my own. Which I quickly found out was very hard to do. I went to college for four years, but I ended up not graduating mainly due to a falling out really within myself because I. It felt like. Especially after that moment, I lost my conviction. I felt like I had really lost the little direction that I had. But it was at that moment that God was in my life. Of course, I didn’t know it at the time, but when Olivia invited me to come to play here, that was God knocking on my heart. After I dropped out, I got a job. I started providing for myself. My roommate and I started playing more here at the church. I met more of the great people that go here, the great people that are on the worship teams. And overall, I was feeling better about myself. And then, of course, eventually I was invited to go to man camp, which I used to be in Boy Scouts, but I haven’t been camping for like ten years. I was all intimidated when I was first asked could do it, but they helped soothe my doubts. And it was on that weekend that God showed me what He can do, how he moves, and how he’s changed this world for good and for me. I couldn’t ignore it any longer. And since I’ve made that confession, I feel like my life has turned completely around. I mean, I feel inspired. I feel that sense of conviction again. I feel motivated to make a difference in my community and my world. And it’s all through him. He gave me the gift of salvation. I feel like I can never give up things for that. So today, if you have any doubt in Christ, just know simply the fact that you’re here. You know, somebody may have invited you to come. You know, a family member may invite you, whatever it may be. That’s God knocking on your heart, and he has a gift for you. So if you’re here today and you have any doubts, I went to the same thing. Well, I’m not sure what’s going to happen if I give my life to Christ. I don’t know what’s going to happen. You know, whatever doubts you may have, they don’t matter. Today is the best day to accept that gift. It’s not tomorrow. It’s not next week. It’s not next month. It’s not wherever it may be in the future. It’s today. Thank you.

And Sam’s right. Today is your day of salvation. And some of you may be asking, well, what does that even look like? And there’s a verse from John, chapter three, verse three, and it’s from the lips of Jesus. Jesus says.

“I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.”

John 3:3 (CEV)

What happened to Sam back in October at Man Camp weekend is that he was born again. He received Christ as his Lord and Savior. And the most important question that you’ll ever have to answer is this. Have you been born again? Have I been born again? And you’re the only person that can answer that question. No one else can answer that question for you. And no one can ever take it away from me. People can question you, but only, you know, deep down. If you’ve ever been born again or not. And if you haven’t been born again and you’re here, and you go, Well, Pastor, how can I be born again? Well, there are three things that you need to do in order to start the journey because, as Sam said, he’s it’s a journey that is a process. And the first thing you have to do is to admit that you’re a sinner, to admit that you’ve messed up, to admit that you are broken, to admit that you’ve fallen short, to admit that you’re jacked up on the inside and whatever is wrong with you, you cannot fix it. You know why you cannot fix it is because it’s a sin issue. And not one single person can fix your problem for you. Not your parents, not your grandparents, not your priest, not your pastor, not your life group leader. You can’t take a program. You can’t take a pill. There’s nothing that you can do here on earth that can fix what’s wrong with you. Because it’s a disease that is called sin. And you go, Well, if nobody can fix it, then what’s the solution? Well, this is where the letter B comes into play, which is that we believe that God sent his son Jesus as our high priest. Right. Our high priest became the sacrifice once and for all. For your sins. And my sins. And then Jesus only does that. But he became the person who intercedes for us. Who’s praying for you today? For you to accept him and to be born again. We believe that Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He lived the life that we cannot live, and he died. The death that we should have died. He did it all. He was our substitute. He took our place. And the letter C means that we have to confess. All of this was to confess that we’re a sinner. Confess that we cannot save ourselves. Confess that we’ve fallen short. Confess and believe that Jesus has died for our sins. And he’s taking care of her sin as she went to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.

How Is a person born again?

Admit I’m a sinner.

Believe God sort his son to fix my sinful condition.

Confess Jesus as my Lord 

And so this morning. Let me just ask you about your head. And maybe you’re here today, and you’re ready to receive, to be born again, ready to receive Jesus into your heart. And if you’re ready to do that this morning, I just want to include you in the prayer of being born again. This was basically the same prayer that Sam prayed is a prayer that I prayed when I was nine. It’s a prayer that many of you prayed, but there’s probably a couple in the room, maybe more, who’s never made this decision, who’s never stepped across the line. And today is your day to be born again, to have your sins taken care of once and forever. And what I want to do in a moment, I’m going to pray the prayer of being born again. But I want to make sure that I include you in the prayer. And here’s what I’m going to ask you to do for me just in a second. I just want you to just raise your hand really, really hard if you want to be included in that prayer. And I’m going to go around the room and count the hands, and then we’re going to pray the prayer together. And so this morning, if you’re here and you’ve come to the realization that God brought you here, that God’s knocking on your heart’s door, He’s ready to save you. He’s ready to give you a brand-new start. And if you recognize that this morning and are ready to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, just raise your hand really, really high and just keep him up. I’m just going to go around the room and count them. I see one. Thank you, two. Thank you. Does anyone else see two hands? Thank you. Anyone else? To people this morning. Here’s what I’m going to ask you to do. I want to ask everyone just to look at the screen with me. And I just want everyone to read this out loud with me. It says.

Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you’re the son of God. I believe that on the cross, you took my sin, my shame, my guilt, and you died for it. You face hell for me so I wouldn’t have to go. You rose from the dead to give me a place in heaven. A purpose on earth and a relationship with your father. Today, Lord Jesus turned from us. Sin to be born again. God is my father. Jesus is my Savior. The Holy Spirit is my helper, in heaven is now my home. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The best Christmas gift ever that the two of you have just received is being born again, having your sins completely wiped away. And friends. Aren’t you glad today we get to celebrate with these two individuals? And not are we celebrating as a community of faith? But we’re celebrating with a cloud of witnesses this morning because the scripture says that there’s a cloud of witnesses watching us this morning, and there are angels in heaven that are rejoicing with what’s going on in this place today. And we’re going to worship and rejoice with them. So let’s give it up one more time for these two individuals.