Christmas Special 2023 – Lawson and Barbara Perdue

Welcome, friends, to our broadcast. We’re so glad that you’re with us on this Christmas Day, celebrating one of the greatest events in all of history, the birth of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. I have my wife, Barbara with me. We’re gonna be sharing the Christmas story, and we want to wish everyone watching a very Merry Christmas, blessings. Thank you so much for being with us. Friends, it’s so good to have you with us, and we’re celebrating one of the greatest days in all of history, and that is the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s gift to us. So we thought we would just have a special program today, and we’re gonna go to the Christmas story in Luke, chapter two. Barbara, you can begin to read and read Luke chapter two and verse one through verse four.

Okay, great. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. The census first took place while Quirinius was governor or governing Syria. So, all went to be registered, everyone’s his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.

So, Jesus was born first of all in Bethlehem. There are many, many prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament and he fulfilled about a third of them, when he came the first time as a lamb, as the savior of the world. And in Micah, chapter five, verse two, the scripture actually says this. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you will he come forth unto me, who is to be ruler in Israel, who’s goings forth have been from of old and from everlasting. So, here’s a prophecy of Jesus being born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem means the house of bread. Jesus said in John chapter six, verse 35, I am the bread of life. Praise God.

That’s awesome, isn’t it, that it was prophesied, and then being born there. And then what it says in the New Testament too who Jesus is.

And when you look at these prophecies in the life of Jesus, it’s way less than one in a million that any person could fulfill these, way, way less. So, here it is, one of the first prophecies of Jesus and he’s from Nazareth, but Caesar Augustus sent out this decree that the whole world should be taxed. So they were headed to Bethlehem, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the house of bread. He is the bread of life. Whoever believes on him, praise God, never has to hunger, never has to thirst and has eternal life. And when we read that scripture there in Micah chapter five, two, it says, he will come forth even though Bethlehem’s a really small place, who is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been of old. He is the eternal everlasting God from everlasting. So here is Jesus being born in Bethlehem.

Well, I want to just stop a minute because you said something really powerful. You talked about Jesus being the bread of life so you’ll never have to hunger again, but I think it’s so important to bring out, a lot of times people really miss it, when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, the bread of life, we don’t have to experience or wake up and just see lack all the time or feel lonely or forlorn because the Lord is with us. Like I said, when we receive him as our personal Lord and Christ, this is something we really emphasize while we’re raising our children. When we come to the table, whether it was at breakfast or at dinner, we would talk about all the amazing things that the Lord had for us, how the scripture is full of the word, full of his truth.

Amen.

And when we get the word in us and know who Jesus is, you see that really thing, it’s unlimited. It takes the limits off. The world, the culture of the world is always trying to capitalize on fear and need. That’s called marketing. They want you to feel like you need something, that you’re missing something so you’re by their product. But Jesus fulfills it all.

Right. And he satisfies our every desire, our most basic needs in life. It says here in John 8:35, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes on me will never thirst. So he satisfies our most basic needs in life. He also satisfies our most intrinsic needs in life. So life is found in Jesus. And God really gave us the greatest of all gifts when he gave us Jesus. Now, go on, Barbara, and read here in verse five through verse seven of Luke, chapter two.

Okay. So we’re back at the Christmas story. I love this. So in verse five it says, they had went to the house of lineage of David, but to be registered with Mary, his betroth wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered, and she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end.

So it’s important that we know that Jesus was born of the virgin. So he went with Mary, his wife, who was betrothed to him, they were engaged, but they were not officially married yet. Now, the Bible tells us in Luke, chapter one how this happened. It tells us that Mary had this vision and this angel came to her and told her she’d found favor with God. This is Luke chapter one, verse 30. And he said in verse 31, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. He will be great and be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David. So Mary, you’re gonna bring forth the Messiah. So he had a purpose for her life, but she had to believe this to receive it. It goes on and says, he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom, there will be no end. So here is the eternal ruler of the nation of Israel, the eternal ruler of God’s kingdom. Mary has been chosen, right, to bring forth this savior of the world. Mary said, how is this gonna be saying, I know not a man, how can this be possible? And then the angel of the Lord tells her, in verse 35, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the highest will overshadow you, and that holy thing, which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God. So we see that Trinity is all involved in the incarnation. The Holy Spirit came on her, the power of God overshadowed her and the Son of God, the seed of God went into her womb, and Jesus was the seed of God. He was the son of God. And he goes on to tell her, behold your cousin Elizabeth, she has conceived a son in her old age. This is the sixth month with her who was called Barren. So this was a miracle. So if God could work that miracle, he says, hey, he can do this. Nothing’s impossible with God. But it was important that Mary had to believe that word to receive it. So Mary said, behold the handmaiden of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word, and the angel departed from her. Now, this was a fulfillment of scripture. And actually, when Mary was found pregnant with Jesus, Joseph was thinking of breaking off the engagement. You can read about it in Luke chapter one. And then the angel of the Lord came to him and spoke to him, fear not to take Mary, your espoused wife to you. He said, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And then he quotes Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14, for it’s written in the scripture, a virgin will conceive and bring forth a son and will call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. So the angel of the Lord speaks first to Mary and she has to believe it to receive it. Then he speaks to Joseph. But when we see these promises coming to pass, Jesus is the promised seed. In Genesis three, verse 15, the first promise of the Messiah, the first promise of a savior is the seed of woman will crush the serpent’s head. And then we see later it’s the seed of Abraham, and then later the seed of David. As prophecy goes along, and as it’s developed, we begin to get a greater picture of what God is doing for us. And this is how God works in our lives a lot of times. He gives you a little bit and then he shows you a little bit more, but it’s not just one person, right? The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are involved. Mary’s involved, the angel of the Lord’s involved, Joseph is involved, and the prophets are all involved, and all these prophecies are being fulfilled in this one person.

I really like what you brought out though too. And they shall call him Emmanuel. God with us.

Yes.

You know, a lot of times the way, we were raised in a very religious, traditional setting, they always taught and made us feel that God was real far away, he was clear up in heaven somewhere far away and removed from us, and that is a false teaching, that is not even true. We see this in these scriptures that you just shared. God is with us through Jesus Christ, our relationship with him.

Yes. And when we have a relationship with Jesus, Jesus told his disciples, hey, I’m gonna leave you, but I’m not gonna leave you as orphans in John chapter 14. I’m not gonna leave you comfortless in the King James, but the Greek word there in John 14 is orphanus. I’m not gonna leave you on your own. I’m gonna send the comforter, I’m gonna send the Holy Spirit, your advocate and your helper, and he’s gonna help you. So God ultimately gave us the greatest gift, which is Jesus. But then Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit. And as we were teaching last week, the Holy Spirit gives us gifts. So we’re not alone. So many people feel alone at this time of year, but you don’t have to feel alone because God is with us in the person of Jesus.

That’s right, I love that.

As we read on down in verse seven, we read, it says, she brought forth, Mary brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, or that means strips of cloth, and laid him in a manger. Now, this is one reason that the Jews as a whole missed the Messiah because they were looking for him to come back in power. And there are many prophecies of that. And Jesus will come again one day in power, but he came as a lamb, he came as a little baby. He wasn’t born with a king. He was born in a stall.

In a manger .

So I grew up filling mangers with hay. And we had horses and we had livestock and we would feed them. So I know all about this. There was no room for him even in the motel in the end.

With all of them coming back to be registered for the census, everything was filled up, but like you said, they were all looking for a king and not a baby who would come in such a humble way or humble beginnings. We’ve talked about this. Jesus, who did Jesus come for? Everyone.

Yeah, it’s powerful. So we see these truths. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He is the bread of life. Jesus was born of a virgin fulfilling. Genesis 3:15, Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14, Mary had to believe it to receive it. Joseph, God confirmed that to him. And there was a number of people, Elizabeth, when Mary went to her, she prophesied over Mary in different things. So there’s all these… And he came as a little baby, as a little humble child. And this humble beginning yet has great connotations for all of humanity. And we’re gonna come back and talk about just after this short break, about God’s promises to all of humanity being fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. So stay tuned. We’ll be back right after a short break. Thanks for being with us this very special day. Blessings.

I’ve been serving really hard, serving the Lord, running my carpet cleaning business, just going above and beyond, and I’m feeling a little fatigued. I’m healthy, I’m whole in the name of Jesus, but I just wanted to reach out. I’m feeling a little tired coming in today, but right now my whole body feels tingling, I’m feeling good, I feel healing power running through my body right now. And I’m healed in the name of Jesus.

Friends, the scripture says, if you will continue in the word of God, you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. If you go to our website at CharisChristianCenter.com, you can get all of our materials there on the website as you watch them, as you listen, absolutely free of charge. And we’ve done that just to be a blessing to you. And I believe that the word that has freed me will free you. Blessings. Friends, I’m so glad that you stayed with us. We’ve been sharing from the Christmas story, what a wonderful time that we can celebrate God’s gift to us, the gift of Jesus Christ. And we’re right here in Luke chapter two, we’re gonna go ahead and Barbara, you can read from Luke chapter two, verse eight, read on down through verse 14.

That sounds great. And I love this. It says, now, there were in the same country, shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. So you could say they were working the night shift. And you think about what it means to work a night shift, usually you hope things are gonna be calm and uneventful, and this was an amazing night. Like I said, I just pictured the sheep out there resting and everything’s kind of quiet, but the events get pretty exciting here on the night shift. And it said in verse nine, and behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. It went from probably a dark starry night to all of a sudden there’s this supernatural light and it says glory, and then in verse 10, it says, then the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. I love that. I am bringing you good tidings of great joy, and that’s what we need to get in our heart and soul today. This is great joy.

Yeah, good news.

Good news.

The gospel is the good news. And the reason the gospel is the good news, the gospel is the good news because it’s talking about what God did for us, apart from ourselves, in the person of Jesus. And the good news today is that Jesus has already come, he’s already lived on this earth. He lived a sinless, holy, perfect, pure life. He died on the cross and took our sins, paid for all of our sins, and brought us back into relationship with God. And when we come into relationship with God, then we can begin to receive his provision for our life, which is forgiveness for our sin, peace for our mind, healing for our body, and a provision for every need. So he says, I bring you good news of great joy. It’s great joy. This is a time to celebrate. This is a time to rejoice. This is not a time to be sad and to be sorrowful. If you’re sad and sorrowful, it’s because you’re looking at what you don’t have instead of looking at what God’s given you. So look at what God’s given you. Look at the person of Jesus. And he says, this is for everybody. Everybody everywhere is invited into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And I know I went on a mission trip, right? When I got out of high school and I went to Jamaica. And it amazed me that these people who had so little physically or financially were so happy. And the people there who knew Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, I mean they didn’t have running water. A lot of them carried water on a five gallon bucket. Some of them on their head. If they had electricity, their houses were smaller than our chicken shed. And they might’ve had one outlet in the whole house, if they had electricity at all. And yet they were so happy. And I thought, why is this? In America we’re not happy unless we’ve got a three car garage and three cars to go in it and five televisions, and these people had almost nothing and yet they were so happy. So good news of great joy to all people. And thank God we have received that great joy in the person of… And if you’re born again, did you know the Bible says, therefore with joy, you’ll draw water out of the wells of salvation? And you can rejoice because what you’ve been given in Jesus.

That’s right.

And I noticed this huge difference when I went to Jamaica of the people who really believed in Jesus and the people who didn’t. And praise God, when you know Jesus, you can be joyful no matter what your outward circumstance or situation.

That’s right.

So let’s go ahead and read there verse 11 through 14.

So it goes on and says, for there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord, and this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God and the highest and on earth peace, goodwill to award men. I love that. The heavens opened up and they got to join in with a heavenly choir, praising and worshiping.

Yes, amen. And again, Jesus is fulfilling all these prophecies. Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah chapter nine, verse six and verse seven. This is 600 to 700 years earlier. Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. Jesus is the savior of the world. I want to go back to Isaiah’s prophecy and read this. He says, for unto us a child is born. When we read this in Isaiah chapter nine, verse six, a child, this speaks of the humanity of Jesus. Jesus was the son of man. Jesus, when he died on the cross, he looked at Mary and said, behold your son. And he was known as the son of man. So first of all, he is the son of man and he understands our need because he’s the son of man. He was tempted like we are, yet without sin, the scripture says. But then he says, unto us, a son is given. Not only is Jesus the son of man, he is the son of God. And he’s born of a virgin. A virgin will conceive. He said this in Isaiah seven, verse 14. And bring forth the son and they’ll call his name Emanuel. The angel shared that message with Joseph. This is what I say the prophet said. And then he says, the government shall be upon his shoulder. Jesus is the son of man. Jesus is the son of God. Jesus is our coming king. He goes on and says, his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace. Of the increase of his government in peace, there will be no end. Now, we live in a world where there’s a lot of turmoil. There’s always different uprisings. In fact, Jesus prophesied this. He said in Matthew chapter 24, kingdom will rise against kingdom, nation against nation. There will be wars, famines, distress, all these different things. But there is a coming king and we can have our hope in this coming king, Jesus. Praise God. And he says, of the increase of his government, in peace, there will be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom. You say, when is there gonna be peace in Israel? When we started in the ministry 35 years ago, they invited me and Kit Carson over to a lady’s Christmas tea and asked me to share because I’d been to Israel, and they asked me this question, when do you think there will be peace in Israel? I don’t think there’s gonna be lasting peace in Israel until Jesus Christ comes again. The antichrist is gonna give a false peace for about three and a half years if I’m reading the scriptures correctly. But there, when Jesus comes and reigns on the throne of his father, David, this prophecy, there’s gonna be peace, there’s gonna be a 1000 years of peace. And then Satan’s gonna be loose for a little season, and after that we’re gonna go into a new heaven, a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness, and we’re gonna live in eternal peace with Jesus. He says he will establish this kingdom with judgment and justice from now on forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So the first time Jesus came as a lamb, he came as a savior, he came as this little baby, non intimidating. But when he comes again, he’s gonna come as a lion. He’s gonna come to rule and to reign. So what good news they’re bringing. So this angel first announced it, one angel. And then like you said, the heavens opened up and there’s an army of multitude

Amen.

of heavenly armies praising God, and these shepherds are out there taking care of their flock in the pastures, and they get to hear, they’re the first people to hear this great announcement that the savior’s born. And it says suddenly there’s with the angel, a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill to men. Did you know what? We can receive the goodwill of God today because Jesus has made peace between God and man. He shed his blood for our sin and we can come into a relationship with God. And it says in verse 15, it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven. The shepherd said one to another, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that’s come to pass. Let’s go see what God has made known to us. You need to experience what God has made available to you.

That’s right.

If you have never received Jesus, we invite you to pray today and say, heavenly Father, I ask you to come in and in Jesus, I ask you to come and forgive me for all my sins and be my Lord and I’ll serve you as you give me the strength. Receive God’s greatest gift to us, the gift of Jesus. So it says, they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger and when they’d seen it, they made known abroad the… They went and told it. When they saw it, they told it. Hallelujah. This was see and tell, praise God. And all they who heard wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds, but Mary kept these things in her heart and pondered them. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as was told to them. Have you heard and seen what God made known to you? Barbara, before we go off today, I want you to pray a special prayer for the people that are watching today.

Well, dear Heavenly Father, we come to you in the precious name of Jesus, rejoicing for this gift that you have given to all of us. And Lord, I pray for a special blessing on everyone who is watching right now, that they would just open their hearts and receive all the amazing things that you have for them as your personal Lord and Savior, but there’s so many more things. You have wonderful plans for them, Lord God, and I just thank you for a peace that surpasses all understanding and a joy that just resonates. Hallelujah.

I want to thank you again for being with us today. And you know, it’s Christmas Day, so there’s no one in the office right now to receive your calls, but you can get on our website. We have have lots and lots of free materials that are available there, literally hundreds of hours of downloadable video, downloadable audio, and we make it all available to you free of charge. Have a blessed day.

Mark Hankins was already talking. I heard him mention that joy is a serious business of heaven, and all of a sudden I heard the Holy Spirit tell me that the burden of heaviness has been lifted from you. So just going into that service and just hearing that and having the Holy Spirit active and the anointing active in the service, lifted it just like that.

Friends, I certainly hope that you’ve enjoyed the program today and it’s ministering to you to move into that which God has for you. And I want to say a great big thank you to all of our partners for helping us share this gospel across the United States and across the world. It’s because of our partners that we can take this message of grace and faith around the world. If you would like to join our partners and receive that blessing, give us a call today. Blessings.

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