MBC Christmas Concert | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (12/14/25)

Well, good evening, everybody. Welcome to Maranatha Bible Church. It's a joy to see all of you here with us tonight. Preliminarily, I would ask as as more people are coming in, could you do us a favor and please just scoot into the middle of your road to allow more people to come as as they're coming. We're gonna have chairs in the back.

So that would help us out a great deal. So once again, welcome to our members and regular attenders. It is so good to see you. I also know that we have many friends and family. This you are visiting with us.

You are our guests. So feel welcomed because you are welcomed by us in the name of Jesus Christ. It is a joy and a privilege to have all of you here with us tonight as we, in the midst of this Advent season, just take this brief moment to celebrate, to remember, and to worship Jesus Christ. It? And even in the midst of all the commercialization, in the secularization, There are three words in this Advent season that still ring out.

You still see them in in cards and decorations and windows, joy, peace, and hope. Now for the Christian, we understand that it is only through Jesus Christ that you can truly know the the reality and experience true joy, peace, and hope. Now all of you here, I don't I don't know where all of you are coming from. I don't know what kind of year you have. I don't know what what your walk with the Lord is like or even if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

But this I do know. And I tell you this now at the beginning of our service. If you want to know true joy, no matter your circumstance, run to Christ. If you want to experience lasting peace, even if your life is not filled with peace, even if your life is filled with strife and conflict, no peace by surrendering everything to Christ. And if you want to have everlasting hope, believe in Christ.

You know, at the end of his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul, at the very end of the book, he gives a benediction to the church in Rome, a blessing to the church in Rome. And as he finished, I'd like to start this sermon out with that blessing, the service out with that blessing. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this moment that we can just set aside to give back to you as we meditate and we celebrate and we rejoice in worship you for your great plan, for your great redemptive plan that that Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity became incarnate to take on the form of a servant so that he could live a perfect life and to die on the cross for the sin for our sins and take the penalty that we all deserve.

Father, even this now through the singing, through the through the proclamation of your word, through the prayers in the scriptures, may you be glorified and may every single person here know your peace. In Jesus' name, amen.

Isaiah nine two. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shown. Isaiah nine six to seven. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Matthew one eighteen to Matthew two eleven. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way, When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son and he called his name Jesus. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, 'Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.' When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet, and you, oh Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.' Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared and he sent them to Bethlehem saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.' After listening to the king, they went on their way and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy and going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Luke two eight to 14. 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.

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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord, and this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those with whom He is pleased.

Well, good evening. Maranatha Bible Church, precious family, and good evening to our visitors tonight. We hope you're being blessed so far as we're coming to a near close to this Christmas concert. And as you know, this time of the year is a time of reflection. And so that's exactly what we're gonna do in the word, reflect on things that we have perhaps heard before, but nonetheless never failed to refresh our hearts.

And I'd like to turn our attention to the gospel of Matthew. If you have a Bible with you, it'd be great for you to join me in reading these verses together. If you don't, you can still listen and enjoy this. In Matthew chapter two, we read this earlier, but we'll examine it more closely. Let's read from verse one.

Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born King of the Jews? When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told them in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the Prophet, and you oh Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel. You know this very well that the Bible gives us no indication of the precise date of the birth of the Messiah.

And I won't get into the reasons now, but there is great wisdom in the veiling of that knowledge. That being said, we are told the general timeline of history when Christ did in fact enter into our world. And from Matthew's perspective, he informs us that it was in the days of Herod, according to verse one of chapter two, in the days of Herod. Now there are many Herods in history, but this is the Herod known as Herod the Great. And he was given that title because he was a mastermind in many ways.

He had great administrative skills, but he was also a master architect. And And the greatest thing he was known for accomplishing was the revamping of the Jewish temple. It took around forty years to to accomplish. He put great effort into it, and it was the great boast of his time. But the greatness of this Herod, unfortunately, could not be said of his morality, of his character.

Like many ancient kings and rulers, he was an unpredictable individual. He always lived with this suspicion that perhaps there would be someone who would usurp the throne, someone who would try to hijack his authority, especially because he was not autonomous. He was a puppet for the Roman Empire. He had to do their bidding and he had to fulfill their wishes. And so obsessed was he with the potential threat arising to remove him from his position of authority that he even killed some of his own family members because he had a sneaking suspicion that they might be after him.

Now when I examine this and consider this my own time, I thought to myself, if I had the opportunity to sit on the divine council of heaven to determine the exact date of Christ's entrance into the world, I'm not sure I would suggest to bring him into the world in the days of Herod. But God's mind is greater. And so this speaks of the great darkness and the great peril of the days that Jesus decided to come into our world. Because as we reflect on on this Christmas message, we're not just remembering the humility of Christ, though we should. The love of Christ, absolutely.

Also included in this truth is the majesty and the might of God. Just how profound he is in his great wisdom that he deliberately chose this time to make an entrance. You would think that it would make sense for him to come as a mighty king, as a glorious king, but he doesn't. He comes as a helpless babe in one of the most vulnerable times of Israel's history. Why?

To prove what we see over and over again in the word of God, that darkness cannot stop God. No evil, no matter how great, no no matter how fierce, no matter how powerful, can thwart his purposes. In fact, he chooses to come into moments like this to show just how great he is. And that's what we find here. In fact, so great is God's wisdom in this.

So awesome is his sovereignty even in this moment. Look over at verse eight. We didn't read it, but look at this for a second. It says here that he, being Herod, he sent them to Bethlehem saying, go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word that I too may come and worship him. Herod is giving directions to the wise men to go and find Christ.

I find that humorous. That God, not only in Christ was able to escape Herod's wrath, because he's going to call for the liquidation of all these innocent children in the same chapter. But he actually uses Herod to give directions to the wise men to find Christ so that they can worship him. There's a verse in the Psalms that says that even the wrath of man praises him. And that's a great example here of that truth.

But we come now and we're introduced to these interesting individuals called the wise men. In the Greek, they're called the Magi. And the Old Testament tells us about these these interesting fellows called the Magi. Historically, they come from the Medo Persian Empire. They were very active in the days of Daniel.

They were an advisory board to many kings. They were very intelligent. They they they were experts in science and math and they even tapped into the occult. Kings would frequently seek their advice when it came to the interpretation of dreams or other things that they experienced. And for some reason, though we read of them in the days of Daniel, they make an appearance in the New Testament.

And I think there is a great clue here that Daniel, who was exiled into Babylon and remained there for the rest of his life, had an influence on these influential men. That as he grew in prominence in Babylon, Daniel taught these Magi of the true God. Daniel broke down prophecies and their presence. Remember, Daniel was highly respected in Babylon and the succeeding kingdoms. And that just warms my heart because on Fridays, as you know, we're studying the book of Ezra where the exiles return and we're praising them.

God praises them for returning, but not everybody went back to Jerusalem. One of those who did stay back was Daniel. I have a hunch that he was old, and he thought, there's no point for me to go back now. But I also believe that Daniel understood that he can influence a nation. And I think we see the fruit of it here.

That these Magi took Daniel's teaching and from generation to generation passed them down until they realized that he has come. Prophecies being fulfilled. Now these Magi, we don't know much about them. We're not told how many of them came to Jerusalem. Contrary to culture, there were more than three because they made a ruckus in Jerusalem.

I don't think you can do that with just three. There was more than three but not an exact number. We're not told their names, but all we do have is an illustration of their persistence in worship. They have come to find the Christ to do what? The sole thing to worship him.

And we can learn a few things about worship. Let me say this, these Magi showcased to us that worship is costly. It's costly. You gotta remember the distance that they're traveling. We're talking about weeks upon weeks of riding on a camel or a mule of some sort.

All the dangers of weather, all the fears of bandits and and robbers that can that can interrupt them and even harm them. And just the fact of the unknown, they are coming into a territory that they've never explored before. They're going to be investigating something with little information and yet, they want to do all of this to find the Christ and worship Him. In fact, you find something interesting here in verse two. It says, saying, once they arrived in Jerusalem, where is he who has been born King of the Jews?

For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. That word saying there implies consistency. They didn't give up after asking two or three people, hey, hey, where's the Christ? They continued until they received an answer. And notice their question, they didn't just say, we heard here that there might be a king born to the Jews.

Nothing of the sort. They were actually convinced that Jesus was born. Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? They already believed it. I think think there's a lesson here even with these Magi about how we achieve spiritual success.

You can't give up so easily. You can't stop asking. You can't stop inquiring. You can't stop pursuing. It only comes the reward of spiritual revelation only comes to those who are willing to pay a price for it.

And unfortunately, if we look out to Christendom today, costly worship has been replaced by convenient worship. Especially in in our country where we have the freedom to do this without having to look over our shoulders or look underneath our pews. We have a sheltered building. We we have, most of us, warm cars to arrive here, and yet more and more it seems with all these advancements and privileges, that costly worship is becoming a rarity and is becoming more and more convenience. Well, that's not what we find with these men.

They're inquiring, they're seeking. And here's what's so interesting, we read this. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Now that is a strange comment, but it makes sense. See, Herod had no issue with people have wishful thinking about prophecy in the Bible, like many people today.

Some people are not bothered by Christians. Yeah. You go to your church services and you study that ancient book, and you believe in it, do your thing. But once people like Herod begin to meditate on the implications of the truths that we sing about and believe and live by, then it begins to invoke some emotion. And that's what we have here with Herod, because he understands that if there really is a king of the Jews, then I'm in trouble.

Then there's a rival. And so he begins to make some moves out of the place of envy, anger, jealousy, and fear. And I wanna propose to you today that there are many people who also understand the implications of the gospel message, and they are disturbed by it. They are disturbed by it because they understand the implications of it. And the implications is this, that Christ alone must sit on the throne of our lives.

That he alone is the the King of kings and the ruler of all things. And by that, he demands joyful surrender on our part. Surrender of your self righteousness and mine. Surrender of our sinfulness. Surrender of our subjective reasoning and our world views that assault the truth of the Bible.

Surrender. Herod did not want to surrender. He could not fathom the thought. And so he does interesting, something interesting. In verse four, he assembles the chief priest and the scribes, and he asks them, listen, can you search the scrolls and the archives of the ancient prophets and figure out for me where the Christ is to be born?

That seems like a noble thing. But this is actually the beginnings of an assassination plot. What a contrast. Here you have Herod who is who is preparing to go to war with Christ, and here you have the Magi who are doing all that they can to worship him. And it may sound extreme, but I wanna let you know today that that is really the two options in how man responds to Christ.

You either are wanting to worship him or you are going to war with him. Now you're saying, no no no no no. I I I wanna take more of a neutral position. But I wanna tell you something, a neutral position does not exist in the bible. It doesn't.

Even Christ himself said it. He says, if they are not for me, they are what? Against me. If they are not gathering, they are doing what? They're scattering.

This is Jesus who said that, the same Jesus that we're celebrating tonight. So in reality, we only have two options here, and we can present it in the way that it's here in this text. We are either set on worshiping Christ, or we are waging war against him. And if you're in that latter position, I pray that even this sweet time of fellowship and meditation would draw your heart to become an ally of Christ. And to understand that this king is not just demanding worship, he paid a price to win your heart, and to redeem you, and to renew you, and to adopt you, and to promise you a future that you cannot even imagine, but it's true because he said it's true.

Well, let me give you a final observation. In verse five, the chief priests and the scribes give him the answer. They reach into the prophet Micah and they quote the passage that you just heard. And you, oh Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. This is what makes us celebrating the birth of Christ every year so important.

We do derive lessons and truths for our own worship and our own living for the Lord, but there there's also the reminder that we have a book filled with truth. And that when Christ came, he came to fulfill ancient prophecies, very specific predictions that are incomparable with any other historical document. Even today, there there are many people who claim to be prophets. There are many false teachers who try to convince others that they can they can predict the future. But I've noticed something about modern prophets, they're very vague.

Have you noticed that? I've met some of them. And they're very general because they have to be. Because the more specific you are, the more you put yourself at risk of being wrong. And if you're wrong enough, maybe even just once, you're disqualified in people's eyes.

And so they're they're very generic, very just broad, but the bible doesn't speak like that. In fact, I wanna give you one example in this very prophecy. We know that Christ was born in Bethlehem, but notice how surgically specific Micah was by the spirit. And you, oh Bethlehem, in the land of Judah. Now why would he say that?

Why Why would he say, oh Bethlehem in the land of Judah? Let me give you one reason why. If you are willing to read things like list of cities and names and genealogies, this would be more powerful. In Joshua nineteen fifteen, we learned that in the land of Zebulun, a different tribe, there is a Bethlehem. There is a Bethlehem in Zebulun.

And so if he had just said, oh Bethlehem, then it could have been perhaps the one in Zebulun, but he doesn't do that. The spirit of God tells Micah, make sure that you mention that it's in the land of Judah. So that nobody would be confused with any other option. So we're gathered here tonight to understand that what Christ did two thousand years ago was predicted even further back. That he fulfilled many, many more predictions, validating to us that what we have here in our bibles is trustworthy.

It's trustworthy. Christ actually came, and he actually succeeded with the spirit of God laid out for us to even examine for ourselves. And I wonder today if somebody who is sitting here, hearing this for the first time, maybe leading up to this moment, never ever thought about these truths, would reconsider their stance on Christ. Why did Christ come into the world? Why did he enter into this world?

Not just to show his might, not just to to give us maxim and proverbs and principles for life. He came to take on flesh, so that as he would grow up to be a man, he would live a perfect life. I mean absolutely perfect, internally, externally, no fault, no blemish, no error, no nothing. In fact, even when it came to Jesus's trial, they had to get false witnesses to come up with accusations. Imagine living such a life where nobody can find anything on your record.

And why did he live that perfect life? Well, yes, he is God, but also because he was performing something on our behalf. That every step Christ took, every deed that he performed, every law that he obeyed was being prepared to be transferred to the accounts of any sinner who'd recognized their need for his righteousness. But more than that, the scriptures tells us that a body was prepared for him, so that it would die. That he would actually lay his life down and drink the wrath of God on our behalf.

And in that body, he absorbed the sin of the world. I want you to imagine this. Think of your own sin. Just your sin. All the thoughts that you thought that you would never share with people.

Maybe the things that you've allowed your eyes to see that you're embarrassed about. Things that you've done with your hands that you're ashamed of. Places that you've gone with your feet that you would never revisit again. Consider every single thing, things that you've even forgotten and just imagine that weight alone. And yet, from Adam till the last man, Christ took into account every sin.

And on that cross, he absorbed every drop of God's wrath. And then he goes into the tomb, and then he raises from that tomb, and that's God's declaration of approval. He exalts him, and he tells us that that sacrifice has been approved. And what's demanded of you and I is to realize this is the Christmas message, that I am a sinner. He's the savior.

He took my sin, and I have his righteousness if I believe on that truth. And today, you can receive the greatest gift imaginable. In fact, Paul the Apostle says, it is an inexpressible gift. Inexpressible. Where you can come to Christ directly, and you can open your heart and tell him, Lord, I ask for your forgiveness.

I realized that I have rebelled against you. But I was reminded at a random concert at a church that I've never been to to before, and I was told and informed according to the authority of this book that I can be your child. And if you come in sincerity, if you come willing to remove yourself from the throne of your life, you will be saved. You will be transformed, and you will know new life. That is what we have to offer you today.

We have lovely music, lovely people, lovely food, but more importantly, we have a lovely Christ, and he wants to be your lord and savior. Oh, this is the wonderful thing. Even at this moment, you can bend your heart towards him, and he hears you. Allow me to pray for us before we sing a couple more songs and close this time together. Father, we thank you that another year has come where we get to gather together and meditate on the glories of the gospel.

And, Lord, we pray that for the person here who has maybe heard it but denied it time and time again, that tonight would be the turning point. Lord, we have done all that we can humanly speaking, but only you can convict the heart. Only you can knock on a person's heart loud enough for them to open it and receive you. We pray that that would be the fruit of this evening. And Lord, for the the believers who do love you and are coming to just give you the worship that you deserve, deliver us from convenience.

Deliver us from indifference. May we be reminded that you are everything, and that you deserve worship, not just this time of the year, but all the days of our lives. Bless the rest of this time now together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen.

For we under a new and glorious when Christ was born. More to be our friend. The Lord

Well, by the grace of God, we have adored him tonight. And by his grace, may we continue to live our lives in adoration of the King of Kings. I'm gonna pray in a moment, but I would love for us to show our appreciation to this praise team who have worked so many hours to make this night possible. Can we show that appreciation? They do it from their hearts and it shows.

And we're just so blessed to have such talented people, part of this church family. And I want to thank you for joining with your voices that makes things like this extra special. There are many things I can say, but I would love for us to pray, and I will give final announcements before we close. Lord, we thank you. Thank you for this family gathering.

Thank you for bringing us to to just simply sing and hear these truths, because we are people of truth. We thank you for saving us. Help us feel that truth again. Help us never lose sight of the wonder of the gospel. And, Lord, we pray that we would leave here that much more energetic to serve You with the rest of our lives.

May the remainder weeks of 2025 be meaningful. And Lord, prepare us for the new year, should You tarry. Lord, we thank You for this family again, and for those in this season or perhaps going to homes that are not loving or maybe a little emptier than they usually are. There will be vacant seats this year at the dinner table, that that there will be those who have gone on to be with you forever ever, not joining us here. We pray for your special comfort.

We pray for the nearness of your presence to be extra true and experiential. We pray that they would know your loving embrace, and that they would rest in you. Lord, again, thank you for what you've done. Thank you for 2025, and we believe that you have more for us in the year to come. Go before us now in the rest of this evening.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen and Amen. Well don't leave just yet, because I heard some rumors that downstairs beneath our feet, there are a bunch of treats from different cultures that have been prepared for us. So you don't want to miss it. I pray that you would encourage others who might be visiting to join us as well.

We'd love to see you downstairs. If you're not here with us tonight, we'll see you next week, God willing. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Take care now. Bye bye.

Yes. It's okay.