December 25, 2022
Please join us for worship this Sunday, December 25, at 12 PM. You can find the order of worship and songs here.
This coming Lord’s Day we reach the crescendo of our Advent Celebration. In the past four weeks we have reflected on God’s gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love. This Lord’s Day, on Christmas Eve, we celebrate God’s gift of light.
Isaiah 9:2 writes, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” Isaiah was speaking there of the Messiah as the light that shines in the darkness. Indeed, light and darkness are very appropriate ways to think about what God has done for us. We in our sin are plunged in darkness. There is moral darkness, and we instinctively try to cover up the deeds and thoughts of our sinful heart under a veil of secrecy. We are ashamed to have them exposed for all to see, and we hide them from prying eyes. But Christ the light has come into our moral darkness, and with his grace we can bring to light our hidden sins in confession. The light that reveals also disinfects, and Jesus puts an end to our shame.
In our sin we are also in intellectual darkness. Our minds are saturated with the lies of the world, the flesh, and the Satan. Our minds are in darkness and we can no longer tell what is true and which way is up. But Christ the light has come into our darkened minds, and he has shown us what truth is. Indeed, Jesus is both the beautiful light that we delight to behold, and also the bright light by which we see all things in their true color and nature. As John Newton put it, because Jesus the light has come, we can say, “I was blind, but now I see.”
In our sin we are also in the darkness about the meaning of life. What is the meaning of joy and suffering? Why persevere when life is trying? Why do anything for others? Indeed, why do anything at all? In the darkness of the Fall life has no meaning. But Christ the light has come and he sheds light on our path. If we rejoice, it is because God is good. If we persevere, it is because God will one day bring to completion the good work he has begun in us. We give ourselves away and sacrifice for others because that is the path our Savior followed, and has therefore hallowed it. We have learned from Jesus that there is ultimately no more fulfilling, glorious, and, indeed, beneficial way to live than to live as he lived.
Jesus the light has come. We look with wonder the light that pierces the gloom of darkness with beauty. We find safety in his light, for by his light, and only in his light, we have a safe passage way through life.
Come, then, behold your light. Let him show you the true meaning and purpose of your life.
Upcoming Events and Notices
December 25 (Christmas Sunday): Please note that our worship service will begin at 12 PM. January 1 worship service will meet at the usual time of 11 AM.
We invite you to join us for "12 for 22." Our aim is to read 12 great books for the year 2022. Whether you read all 12 or just one, you will find it well worth your effort. Please see the list here. For December we are reading "The Weight of Glory" by C. S. Lewis.
For January 2023 we will be reading "In the Year of Our Lord" by Sinclair Ferguson. Amazon Ligonier The full list of books we will be reading in 2023 will be available soon.
Thank you for your continued support of Grace Fallbrook (PCA). Your loving support makes the proclamation of the gospel and the building up of the saints possible. Our church website now features online giving. Please visit the church website and click on "Give" which you will find in the upper left corner of our church's website. When you click on "Give Online Now" button on that page, you will be directed to the PCA Foundation where you can give towards Grace Fallbrook (PCA).