Christmas Services 2020

Christmas Morning

Jesus was made flesh

Introduction

Detlef Stegen

We greet you this morning. This is a great day a season of great joy. This is a time for children to be enriched and let their voices sound out through the world because of the Saviour who has come. What a joy it is to hear the happy sounds of the season which bring the good news of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

Yesterday I heard a conversation where the tradition of Christmas was discussed. ‘Christmas, the Christ Child and the exchange of gifts is so traditional and old fashioned. We need something new,’ they said. ‘New artists should bring us something new. Why should we keep the old, the old, old story?’

The Scripture is true: We all like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way. How wonderful that we can be reminded year after year of these glad tidings of great joy as we read in Luke 2:8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. Heaven declared it as tidings of great joy. This great joy was not only for the shepherds or a select few, but it was for me and you too.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:3-6

Can your shepherd pray with joy when He remembers you and me? Let this be a time when we can admonish each other. That this Christ will be yours. He came to save. If you are not saved, you are a selfish man and woman. You will be unhappy because you seek things for yourself only. You seek your own riches, comforts and existence. If these tidings remain tidings of great joy, you will spend your life in the Church of Christ and be part of Christ. You will be a blessing to others. You will give up and sacrifice your own because of the love that Christ puts in you. We thank the Lord who enables and equips us for every good work - work that is good in the sight of heaven, where each one plays his part where he is.

Do you play your part as a child in your family or are you a burden? Can your parents say, “How would we survive without this child?” In a choir, each singer has his own role. In an orchestra each one has a vital role. During this time of COVID-19 when so many people are being infected, you might be limited in what you can do but let your life be a joy to those around you, there where you are. This is only possible if Jesus who has come to save from sin, has saved you and your sins are blotted out through the blood of the Saviour. God loved us so much that no-one should perish but have this everlasting life.

We thank the Lord that we can listen to a message by Rev. Stegen today. His messages are very precious to me. They are new every morning. It seems as if it was preached today for the first time. How wonderful that we have recordings and equipment to keep these messages that have been anointed by the Spirit of the Lord. These messages equip us and revive us and make us what He wants us to be through His Spirit. May the Lord bless us and may His word find room in our hearts.

Rev Erlo Stegen

It is Christmas day today. It is a great day for God was made flesh.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:1-3

Today is a great day, for our Saviour Jesus Christ was born for us. What does that mean? Why did Jesus come as a man? Why should Jesus come in the flesh? It is said that there will be many false prophets and we will need discernment, especially in this era when many claim to be prophets, but are false prophets. This text helps us to understand the difference between the Spirit of God and Jesus and the spirit of the antichrist. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 How are we to discern because it says there are many false prophets? The text says that you will know the Spirit of God through this: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God… 1 John 4:2 What does it mean that Jesus came in the flesh? Many religions admit that there was a Jesus in the flesh. The antichrist does not deny Christ’s existence, but he is the antichrist as he replaces Jesus Christ.

Let us look more carefully at the meaning of Jesus coming in the flesh. Jesus is both God-Himself and man-Himself. We are told that all things are created by Him and unto Him which shows that Jesus is God for He is the creator of everything. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha meaning that He was there from the beginning and has created all things. He created Heaven and earth. He was from the very beginning right to the very end. Jesus is God Himself. He is the Spirit. But He came down and became flesh. He became fully human like you and me, while being God. He was known as the son of God. Doctors say that a child receives the blood from its father and the body from its mother. In this way, He is both God and man. This is a great secret. If you understand that the blood comes from the father, you will understand that Jesus was the son of God, not of Joseph. That is why His divine blood is so precious. We should never take His blood lightly. If you are washed in the blood of Jesus, you are washed in the blood of God. You should treat it is as very precious. The blood of the Lord should be treated very carefully. We are cleansed by the blood of the Son of God, not the blood of Joseph, not the blood of man, but the blood of the Most High. How precious that blood should be to you! The Lord says that He who confesses and forsakes his sin shall obtain mercy. Consider how precious the blood of Jesus should be to us if we were cleansed by that blood. What manner of lives should we not be living?

The body is from the mother. The soul in in the blood. If Jesus has human blood, He would be a sinner like you and me, but He was sinless. He received His body from Mary, that is why we know Him as fully man. His blood He received from God the Father, that is why we know him as fully God. Faith in this precious blood is very precious. Woe to the one who tramples this blood underfoot.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2

The body is from the mother. That is why we are sinners for the sin dwells in the body, in the flesh and we are live in it. When you try to fight against the flesh you will fail. One person said that he would stop smoking but that demon of smoking was in him. He threw his cigarettes into the long-drop toilet. But after 3 or 4 days he went back to buy cigarettes again because of the fierce craving he had for cigarettes. The sin indwelt him. Another old man who smoked a pipe heard that it was bad or sinful. So, he said, “Lord, I hear that you don’t want this therefore I am stopping. My body is your temple and this is the end of it.” He buried his pipe in the corner of the garden. But after 3 days he craved his pipe so much that he dug it up, shook off the sand and smoked again. Sin indwells your flesh. You try to stop but it is unstoppable. Drug addicts also try to stop but they cannot leave the habit because sin indwells them. Although God has told you stop with your lying, killing, and smoking, you continue. Although you try very hard, you cannot leave the sin because the temper, the irritability indwells you. Jesus had divine blood but a body, nonetheless. He was sinless. If you try to stop sinning, you just cannot no matter how hard you try. This points us to Romans 7:24 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 

In ancient times, Paul and the people of his day, fully understood the meaning of this expression: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? In ancient times, a person was not hanged or given a lethal injection but if you had killed someone and were caught, the corpse of the dead person was tied to the murderer - hands to hands, arms to arms, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, legs to legs. If the murderer wanted to get up, it would be difficult because he would be tied to this corpse. If he would walk in the street, he would do so with difficulty saying, “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?” The corpse putrefied as it was tied to him. As the worms grew in the corpse, they would move to him. The maggots would enter his mouth and nose. A corpse stinks. (No matter how much you love a person, when they die you must needs bury them.) This putrid corpse was killing him because the maggots invaded him, the rottenness entered him. He would cry, “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me?” No-one could. This is like drug addiction, immorality and filthy thoughts which make a person cry out, “Oh wretched man that I am who will set me free from this body of death?” The murderer was killed by the corpse. No-one would be allowed to deliver him from the body. God sees mankind in his wretched state and He loves them nevertheless. Look at the addiction and sexual immorality in little children. Look at the disrespect and rebelliousness of young people. Jails are full. One can mention so many things.

Do you know this liberation? After being bound to the corpse of sin, you have been set free? Here is the marvellous thing: He goes on to say 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:25 Jesus Christ in the flesh is able to set us free from this body of death. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8: 1,2 God has given us laws: Do not lie. Do not steal. Do not be promiscuous. But that does not help us. But what the law could not accomplish, Christ did by coming in the flesh. For there was no sin in Him.

If you are trying to stop something but cannot, come to Jesus. He will set you free. Because sin is in our flesh, we cannot leave it. God sent Jesus to earth in the flesh. He was sinless. He was victorious over sin and the devil. If you accept Jesus to live in you, you will live a life like Him - a holy life. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8: 1,2 It is wonderful to believe. There is nothing in the world like faith, because if you meet with Jesus Christ, He delivers you from your sin which is something the law could not do. The law says do not steal - a person wants to stop sinning but cannot -  even if he is beaten with a sjambok, he will return to that sin because the sin of being like a pig is in him. The satanic dog is inside you, that is why you continue behaving like a dog. If you receive Christ, you will separate from your sin. Even if sin is put right in front of you, you will resist it. You can take a chicken and its chicks to water, but they will not enter the water because they are not ducks. They do not love water.

This is why Christmas is so special. Christ can enter the life of a person who was rebellious and has left home to wander in the world and change them. That is why the Bible says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Romans 1:8 I once heard a wonderful story about an infamous criminal who met with Christ. People said that they no longer needed to guard him or watch out for their little girls. There was no fault in him. They did not fear that he would steal their money because the Bible says, there is therefore now no condemnation. People have parted from sin. They no longer need to be policed. Is that not wonderful? Do you see how great the event of Christmas is? You do not have to beg for Christmas gifts. This is the great gift – Christ - who enters in and conquers sin and death. The Alpha and Omega indwells you. You do not have to try and be holy because Christ who indwells you is holy. The spirit that agrees to this, is from God. The spirit or person who rejects this truth is the spirit of the antichrist because they live in sin. I have said that the spirit of the antichrist replaces or substitutes the Spirit of Christ. Is this understandable now? Now even if Satan tempts you with your old sins, it is no trouble for you because the One who indwells you is greater than he who is in the world.

Detlef Stegen

We thank God for these wonderful tidings. If you are troubled by something, come. Do not keep silent. Be washed and set free by His power.

Christmas Evening

Sunday Morning - Are you an oak or a bramble? Are you in the centre of God’s plan for you?

Rocket

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