[0:00] Well, we're going to look for a short while this morning at the passage that we read in Matthew chapter 2, Matthew chapter 2, and we're reading at verse 9.
[0:12] So we read again at verse 9 of Matthew chapter 2. So boys and girls, you have to listen, remember? Okay, Matthew chapter 2 at verse 9.
[0:23] 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.
[0:39] And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
[0:53] And particularly those words there, they offered Jesus gifts of gold. What's the other one? Frankincense and myrrh.
[1:05] Okay. So well, good morning, boys and girls. I hope you're all well this morning. It's great to see you all here for our family service. It's great to have you here. The first question is, are you all awake?
[1:18] Are you all awake? Okay, thank you, Archie. You're all awake. Good. Are you all well? Good. You're all well. Did you all have a good week in school? That was very quiet.
[1:31] Was it a good week? Sort of. How many days left in school? Four. We have, what's tomorrow? Monday.
[1:42] School concert tomorrow night. Everybody go. Seven o'clock. Tuesday. Wednesday. And then? Thursday. No Friday this week. And then it's what's after that.
[1:53] What's Friday? You're on holiday. Oh man, guys. Wake up. So you excited? I'm excited. I'm excited for the holidays.
[2:04] I've already been told that you're not going to be doing much work in school anyway this week. So you don't need to worry about school really this week, apart from the school concert tomorrow night. So it's going to be a good week, isn't it? And why are you excited?
[2:17] It's Christmas, isn't it? Is it Christmas? So Christmas is a very exciting time of year. It's great to get excited for Christmas, isn't it? But what is it good for us to remember?
[2:28] Or who is it good to remember about at Christmas? Jesus. Yeah. Jesus. Yeah. So it's always good to remember about who? Do you remember the J on Friday, Ross?
[2:40] Yeah. What's the J? J for Jesus, isn't it? Do you remember the red? Blood of Jesus. I'm just testing you now. Seeing it was in the pulpit with me.
[2:51] What's the white? White as snow. Jesus' blood cleanses us as white as snow. And what's the green for? Grass. Because we are all sheep that follow the?
[3:03] Shepherd. Yeah. And who's the shepherd? Jesus is the shepherd. So remember that. So J for Jesus. And what do we remember about Jesus at this time of year? When he was born.
[3:14] So when Jesus was born. Why was he born? To save us from our sins. Is that right? Is that right, Rachel? Save us from our sins. So it's good for us to remember Jesus.
[3:27] And to remember that Jesus was born to save us from our sins. And there's a lot of excitement at Christmas time. But we can't forget about Jesus. And all that happened.
[3:38] Because Jesus is so important. And as you know, my job as a minister is to tell you all about Jesus. Because Jesus is the most important person in the whole world.
[3:52] Do you believe that? You better believe it. Jesus is the most important person in the whole world. In fact, Jesus is the only person I want everyone. Everyone in here and everyone who isn't in here to know about.
[4:05] Now, as you know, you usually go out to your Sunday school classes. Or you go to the creche during the service. And believe it or not, we all miss you when you go.
[4:16] We do. We miss you when you go. But we're very thankful that today you're in with us. And we're very thankful today that your Sunday school teachers, Margaret, Joan, and Sarah, they're having a little rest over the Christmas holidays.
[4:27] But today, the adults have all the pleasure of you staying in with us for this family service. And it's just lovely that you're here this morning. I just think it's great seeing you all.
[4:39] And it's great that you're part of the congregation. Because I want you always to remember that as children, you're a very important part in the congregation. Whether you are two or going on 20, doesn't matter.
[4:53] You're very important in the congregation. Now, I hope that when you came into church this morning, you picked up one of these. Did you all pick one up? Did some of you miss the box at the door?
[5:04] I mean, I cannot make it any more obvious to you. It's right in front of you. But you'll get one later on, okay? You'll get one later on, okay? Now, do you know what it is? Do you know what these are?
[5:17] Chocolate coins. Are you sure they're chocolate? 100% sure. They're chocolate coins, are they? Are you sure? Did you try them? You did?
[5:28] You've tried it already? Are you sure? Okay, Alice, I believe you. Right. So it's not real money. It's not real gold. Okay.
[5:39] Well, that was the little secret. I was going to tell you a little secret. It's not real money. It's actually just chocolate, okay? So you've got the next best thing to real money. It's chocolate money. And these gold coins, they're chocolate coins.
[5:52] And do you all like chocolate? Do you? You don't. Yeah, you do. Okay, calm. Right, that's good. So you all love chocolate. I love chocolate.
[6:02] And I love chocolate coins. I really love chocolate. In fact, I have two bags up with me. That's just for later on, in case I get hungry. But you know, when I was your age, I used to get lots of chocolate coins at Christmas time.
[6:15] I used to get lots and lots of chocolate coins. And I'm sure you're going to get them too. You can get them today. For those of you who didn't pick them up, get them on the way out. But have you ever wondered where chocolate coins come from?
[6:27] Have you ever wondered why we have chocolate coins at Christmas? Christmas chocolate coins. You ever wondered? Probably not. Do you wonder about these things? No, you don't. But it actually dates back a long, long, long, long time ago.
[6:42] Now, I want to test your memory first of all. Do you remember last week what we had in the pulpit for the kids' talk? Tinsel. So we had some tinsel, yeah? And okay, here's testing your memory even more.
[6:55] Where did tinsel originally come from? Germany. When was it made, first of all? Campbell Boys.
[7:05] Be quiet for a minute. Where did it come from? What year? 1610. 1610. In Germany.
[7:17] So that's about 400 years ago. Do you remember the French name? Well done, Kate. S. Tinsel. Okay. Which means to what? Shine or sparkle.
[7:28] So we're to shine and sparkle by loving Jesus and living like Jesus. Okay. So tinsel was dated back 400 years. 400 years ago. Okay. So we'll say that's 400 years, right?
[7:42] Gold coins. Much, much, much, much further back. Any ideas how far back? Now, not, they weren't chocolate. Okay. I'll add that. Finley, right?
[7:55] No. How many? So 400. Maybe 5, 6, 7, 8. No. 9, 10. 9, 9, 9, 9. More than that.
[8:08] More than 1,000. Not affinity. Good guess there, Ross. We'll be here forever then. How long do you think?
[8:20] 1,700 years ago that this idea of the bag of gold coins came from. And it dates all the way back to a Christian minister called Nicholas.
[8:32] What was his name? Nicholas. What was his name? What's his name? Nicholas. Okay, so Nicholas was a Christian minister. And what was amazing about Nicholas was that he loved Jesus and he loved people.
[8:46] He loved Jesus and he loved people. And every Christmas, Nicholas would give away little bags of gold coins. Now, Nicholas, when he would give away the bags of gold coins, he didn't want people to think that the gold coins were from him.
[9:03] So he made it very secret. Okay? He wanted people to see that the gift was actually not from him, but from God. Because the Bible tells us that God is the greatest giver, doesn't it?
[9:17] God is the one who gives us every good and perfect gift. Because God gave who? God gave Jesus. Yeah, God gave Jesus.
[9:28] The Bible tells us, John 3, 16, you know it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
[9:42] And so that's where chocolate coins come from. They come from this Christian minister called Nicholas. Okay. They come from a Christian minister called Nicholas.
[9:52] Nicholas. Gold coins.
[10:23] To people. To people. And you know, if you were to open your door and find gold coins at your door, would you be thankful? Do you think you'd say thankful? Say thank you.
[10:34] Would you, Kate? So when you open your Christmas presents on Christmas Day, are you going to be thankful? Are you going to say thank you? Are you, Alice?
[10:45] You promise? Yes. Okay, good. But you know, that's the thing about Christmas, isn't it? And Christmas presents. It's about being thankful. But here's a question for you, okay?
[10:56] You're listening. Here's a question. Do you pay for your Christmas presents? No. Do you not? No. You do? No.
[11:07] Do you? No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
[11:17] No. No. Dr. No. No. No. No. No.
[11:31] No. No. Yah. Just like Nicholas who used to drop off the coins. It was a free gift to everybody who received them.
[11:43] And you know, that's what the Bible tells us about salvation and eternal life. It says that eternal life is a free gift. How much does it cost? Nothing.
[11:55] How much is it? It's a free gift. A free gift. And you know, the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
[12:10] And isn't that amazing? That eternal life is what? How much is eternal life? How much is eternal life? Free. And I want everybody to remember that.
[12:20] Eternal life is free. It doesn't cost you anything. Absolutely free. But how do you receive it? Here's the question. How do you receive it? How do you receive it?
[12:31] Very, very simple. So if I was to give you this, how would you receive it? What would you do? You'd put out your hand and take it, wouldn't you?
[12:43] Very simple, isn't it? And the gift of eternal life, Jesus says, all you need to do is ask and you shall receive. Very simple, isn't it?
[12:55] Jesus says it's very simple. Ask for it and you shall receive. And you know, that's why Jesus was born into the world. Jesus was born so that we would believe in him, but also that we would receive eternal life from Jesus.
[13:10] We would receive the gift of eternal life. But you know, we read earlier in the Bible that there were some men who brought gifts to Jesus. They gave gifts to Jesus.
[13:22] Now, as I said, I wanted to test you. So were you all listening? Were you all listening? Yes? Okay. What were these men called?
[13:34] Wise men. Okay, they were wise men. Yeah? Where did they come from? Where did they come from? Which direction did they come from? North, south, east or west?
[13:46] Any ideas? They came from the east, didn't they? They came from the east. Okay. So there were wise men who came from the east. Who did they come to see? Came to see Jesus.
[13:57] Yeah. Came to see Jesus. Okay. The wise men came from the east to see Jesus. How were they directed there? By a star, wasn't it? By a star.
[14:08] So there were wise men came from the east to see Jesus because they were directed by a star. Where were they directed to? What town were they directed to? Any ideas?
[14:19] Campbell boys, be quiet. Where? Bethlehem, Anna. Well done. Bethlehem. So there were wise men came from the east to see Jesus because they were directed by a star to Bethlehem.
[14:31] And what did the wise men do when they saw Jesus? What was the first thing they did? They, it says in the Bible, going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him.
[14:50] That's the first thing they did. Before they did the gifts, they worshipped him. And that's what we should do with Jesus. We should worship Jesus. We should worship Jesus. And so there were wise men came from the east to see Jesus because they were directed by a star to what town?
[15:08] Bethlehem. And when they saw Jesus, they worshipped him. But as we said, the wise men, they brought gifts to Jesus. They gave gifts to Jesus. And what gifts did they bring?
[15:19] Three of them. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Okay. So they brought gold, which was probably like gold coins.
[15:31] They would have brought gold coins. Not chocolate coins, but real gold coins. And frankincense and myrrh. Any ideas what that is? Do you like your mum's perfumes?
[15:43] Yeah, you do. Do you, Kate? Do you put them on? Sometimes. Yeah, you do. Well, frankincense and myrrh were really nice perfumes. We'll say that that's what they were like. They were really expensive fragrances.
[15:55] That smell really nice. So they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And they're all gifts that are fit for a king, aren't they? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
[16:06] Gifts that are fit for a king. Why did they bring them to Jesus then? A little baby and a manger. Why do you think? He's the king.
[16:17] Jesus is the king. He's the king of kings. And the lord of lords. So we're to worship Jesus because Jesus is what? He's the king, isn't he?
[16:28] Jesus is the king. And that's what Christmas is all about, isn't it? Christmas is all about who? Jesus. Yeah. And you know, boys and girls, there are lots of stories in the Bible about coins.
[16:42] About gold coins. So they brought gold to Jesus at his birth, yeah? They brought gold coins. But there's also lots of stories in the Bible about coins. And I want to share three stories with you, okay?
[16:54] So listen to these stories because I'm going to test you at the end. Coming to church is just a test, really. Testing you all the time. So there was this story about a poor widow. A poor widow, she had no money.
[17:08] She was completely poor. But all she had was two coins. How many coins did she have? She was a poor widow with two coins. And she had these two coins.
[17:19] And do you know what she did with them? Do you know what she did with those two coins? She didn't eat them. She gave them to the Lord.
[17:30] She put those two coins into the church. And she gave all... The Bible says, Jesus tells the story that she gave all that she had to the Lord. Because she loved the Lord.
[17:41] And Jesus said that although she was poor in this life, she was rich in the kingdom of heaven. There's another story. This is one of my favorite Bible stories.
[17:52] So listen to this one, right? Listen to this Bible story. My favorite Bible story. So when I was your age, about seven, eight, nine, I was your age. And I used to listen to this Bible story in a book.
[18:05] And I used to read it all the time and look at the pictures of it. And I read it again and again. It's a story of when Jesus was asked to pay taxes. So he was asked to pay coins.
[18:16] But Jesus didn't have any money on him. And so do you know what Jesus did? Jesus went and told one of his disciples. Can you guess which disciple it was? Peter.
[18:28] Good guess. So he told Peter. Told Peter to go and get his fishing rod. Can you believe this? Told Peter, go and get his fishing rod. And go down to the lake.
[18:39] And cast your rod into the lake. And reel in a fish. And the first fish that you catch will have what in its mouth? A coin.
[18:50] That's why I love the story. Great story. And do you know what Peter did? Do you think Peter did it? Peter took his rod. He went down to the lake. The lake of Galilee.
[19:01] He cast his rod in with a hook. And he caught a fish. And he reeled it in. And when he got the fish. When he opened the fish's mouth. When he had to stand on the fish and open its mouth.
[19:11] What do you think he saw? A coin. Took the coin. Gave it to Jesus. And Jesus paid his taxes with it. Now. When I first heard that story.
[19:23] I was young. And I loved fishing. So do you know what I did? What do you think I did? I went fishing. So we have rocks over in Melbos.
[19:35] That's where I was. That's where I grew up. And I go down to the rocks. And I throw it in. Throw in the hook. Try to catch it. And do you know. Well I tried. I. First fish I caught.
[19:46] Stood on it. Opened its mouth. Do you think there was a coin in it? No. Why do you think that was? Why was there a coin in Peter's fish.
[19:57] And not mine? It was a miracle. Yeah. The coin in the fish's mouth. Was a miracle. Great story. I love that Bible story.
[20:09] The coin in the fish's mouth. Was a miracle. Okay. So there's one more story I want to tell you about. One more story in the Bible. And it's a parable. You've all heard of parables.
[20:20] The parable of the lost. Parable of the lost coin. Jesus said there was this woman. A woman who had. Does anybody know how many coins she had?
[20:33] Nope. How many coins do you have in your bag? Have you counted them yet? Or have you eaten them all yet? Nope. Nope. Count them. One. Two.
[20:44] Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Have you eaten them all Ross? Have you not eaten them all yet? I can't wait to tuck into mine. So.
[20:55] There's eight coins in our bag. But this lady. She had ten. She had ten coins. Ten coins. So how many did she have? But she lost. She lost one.
[21:05] How many would that leave? Well done Archie. She had. She lost one coin out of her ten. Now do you lose anything? Do you ever lose things? Do you?
[21:16] You never lose things. Do you? You lost your key. Did you? You found it. Did you? Okay. Do you lose socks? Do you lose socks?
[21:28] Some people in our house lose socks. They lose them everywhere. Or gloves. Okay. So this woman. She had how many coins? She had ten coins.
[21:39] And she lost. One. She lost one coin. Now. How many did that leave left? How many did she have left? Nine. She had nine coins left. So do you think the woman just thought.
[21:50] Well it's only one coin. What does it matter? It doesn't matter. Just. Forget it. What did she do? Yeah. She went looking for it. So she didn't think that this one coin was unimportant.
[22:03] She thought it was really important. She thought that the coin was precious. Really precious. That's what she thought. And so what did she do? She went to clean her whole house.
[22:15] Imagine doing that. Cleaning the whole house looking for one coin. So she swept the floors. She cleaned all the work surfaces. She then took a lamp or a torch. And she looked inside all the cupboards.
[22:27] She looked under her bed. She even looked in all her wardrobes. She looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked. And then she. She found it. She found the lost coin.
[22:38] And when she found her coin. Do you think she was happy or sad? Do you think she was happy? Delighted. She was so happy. The Bible says. That she called all her friends together for a big party.
[22:51] She called all her friends together. And this is what the Bible says. She said rejoice with me. For I have found the coin that I lost. I have found my precious coin.
[23:03] And you know what Jesus says about this parable. He said. I tell you there is joy in heaven. Among the angels of God. Over one sinner. Just one sinner.
[23:14] Who repents. So boys and girls. Jesus told the parable of the lost coin. Because he wants to tell us a story. He wants to tell us. That we are like the lost coin.
[23:24] We are like the lost coin. We are lost because of what? Because of sin. We are lost because of sin. But the good news is that Jesus was born into this world.
[23:37] Jesus was born as king. In order to seek. And to search. And to save. Us who are lost. Jesus was born.
[23:48] To seek. And to search. And to save. Lost sinners. Why? Why has Jesus sought us out? Why does Jesus seek and search and save?
[23:59] What was interesting. What was special about this coin? It was precious. The coin was precious. And what Jesus reminds us in the parable.
[24:10] Is that we are precious. We are so precious. So precious. That Jesus would not only be born into this world. Jesus would die in this world.
[24:21] To save us from our sins. That's how precious we are to Jesus. And I want you all to know that. That you're all precious to Jesus.
[24:32] Okay? So we remember this. That you're all precious to Jesus. Okay? So precious. That Jesus would not only be born. To seek and to search for you.
[24:43] But also he would die. In order to save us from our sins. So will you remember these chocolate coins? Will you pick them up on the way out Archie? Do you promise?
[24:54] Will you take them home? So last few questions. Okay? Just to make sure you're listening. What was the name of the minister who gave away the chocolate. Not the chocolate coins.
[25:04] Gave away the gold coins. Ross. Nicholas. Well done. Okay. Why did the wise men from the east bring gold coins to Jesus? Because Jesus is a?
[25:16] He's a king. He's the king. The king of kings. How many coins did the widow give to the Lord? How many? Two. Okay.
[25:27] Where did Peter find the coin? Where was it? In the? In the? In the fish's mouth. Wasn't it? Amazing story.
[25:38] And why did the woman, why did the woman search everywhere for her coin? Because it was precious. The coin was precious. And Jesus says about you.
[25:49] What does Jesus say about you? You are precious. You are precious in God's sight. And although we're like the lost coin, although we're lost because of our sin, the good news is that Jesus has come to search for us, to seek for us, and to save us from our sin.
[26:10] He's come to save us from our sin. That's why we need to trust in Jesus with all our heart. Okay? So Christmas is all about who?
[26:22] Jesus. Good. You are listening. Okay. Well done for listening. You're very, very good at listening. So what we're going to do is we're going to clasp our hands and we're going to close our eyes and we're going to say the Lord's Prayer together.
[26:33] Okay? Are we ready? Clasp our hands, close our eyes, and we'll say the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[26:44] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
[26:55] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Well, boys and girls, thank you so much for listening.
[27:08] You're very, very good at listening, aren't you? Very good at listening, Joshua James. Very good at listening, aren't you? Very good. So after the service, so after we do our last psalm and our benediction, after the benediction, I've got some, don't tell anyone, right?
[27:26] I've got selection boxes and tubes of sweeties for all the children, okay? So if you're allowed to have, are you allowed to have it? No. You're not allowed to have it?
[27:37] Yes. Oh, that's fine, okay. I'll just keep them myself. Yes. Yes? You're not allowed them, are you? Yes. Okay, okay. So after the service, there's tea and coffee in the hall.
[27:49] Please do stay behind if you can. There's tea, coffee, mince pies, and biscuits and all that. So please do stay if you can. Don't rush home. We finished early today, so you have plenty of time. So please do stay if you can, and we'll hand out the selection boxes as well.
[28:05] But we're going to bring our service to a conclusion. We're going to sing in Psalm 23. Psalm 23, it's in the Scottish Psalter. So page 229.
[28:24] Psalm 23. We're going to sing the whole Psalm. And who is Psalm 23 about? It's about the shepherd.
[28:36] Jesus is the good shepherd. Yes? Okay. Psalm 23. We're singing from the beginning. The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. He makes me down to lie.
[28:47] In pastures green he leadeth me. The quiet waters by. My soul he doth restore again. And me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness.
[28:58] E'en for his own name's sake. And we'll sing down to the end of the Psalm of Psalm 23. And we'll stand to sing, if you're able, to God's praise. Amen. Amen.
[29:36] about the truth of our crowd. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[29:47] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Restore again And me to walk the pain Within the path of righteousness In for His own name's sake Yea, though I walk in that dark will Yet will I fear none ill
[30:49] For Thou art with me on Thy road And staff me comfort still My table Thou hast furnished In presence of my foes My head Thou dost with oil anoint And my cup overflows
[31:50] Goodness and mercy all my life Shall surely follow me And in the times forevermore My dwelling place shall be The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God the Father And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you all Now and forevermore Amen