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CARING CHRISTMAS TREE
Now through December 12
This Sunday is the last Sunday to select an ornament from the Caring Christmas Tree. We have 13 ornaments left on the Caring Christmas Tree in the lobby. That leaves 11 ornaments online. If you don't find one on the tree, please look online. We want to make sure those kids get Christmas presents as well. Then, bring your gifts back, wrapped with the ornament tied securely to the package by Sunday, Dec. 12th. Presents will be picked up beginning Monday, Dec. 13th. Thank you for making a difference in someone’s life this Christmas! If you have any questions, please contact Barb Siemann at 775-530-1517. You can choose an ornament online at https://thebridgereno.com/caringchristmas

CHRISTMAS CHOIR CONCERT
Sunday, December 12 @ 9:00a, 10:30a & 4:00p
Please join our Christmas Choir as we celebrate the Christmas season through music. The concert will be at 9:00a, 10:30a & 4:00p in the Worship Center.

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICES
Friday, December 24 @ 3:00p & 4:30p
You're invited to the annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Services at The Bridge Church. There will be Christmas music, an inspiring message, and the lighting of hundreds of candles. Join us for family services as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. Service times 3:00p & 4:30p, both in-person & online.

SUPPORT OUR MISSION
You can support our mission using the Give Button in our App or online at https://thebridgereno.com/giving

Message Notes

Songs of Christmas: What Child Is This?

Pastor Bill West
December 5, 2021

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 1:1–4

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. 
John 1:14–18

This Child is the Eternal God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 1:1–4

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 
Colossians 1:15–17

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Hebrews 1:3

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
John 14:8–9

This Child is God in Human Flesh

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”
John 1:14–15

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
1 John 1:1–4

This Child Reveals God to Us
From the fullness of his grace, we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
John 1:16–18

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:23

This “Child” is the Bridge
Between God and Man!

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…
John 1:10–12

Previous Messages Can Be Found Here

Small Groups Talk About It

Watch the Message Summary:

  1. What are some ways people view the Christmas Story and the birth of Jesus?  What are some things about the story of the birth of Jesus that are hardest for people to believe and embrace?
  2. Would do you think about when you hear the word Incarnation? What is the significance of this word?  
  3. Read John 1:1: What are the things that stand out to you?  Why did John choose “word” (logos on the Greek to refer to Jesus)?   What is the significance of saying “in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God?  It may sound confusing, but when you think about it, it’s not.
  4. Read John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:15-17: What other ways did John and Paul describe Jesus in these verses? Why are these important to understand about “this child”?
  5. Read Hebrews 1:3 and John 14:8-9:  What stands out here about these verses that John is trying to get across to us about Jesus?
  6. Read John 1:14:  Compare what John says here with John 1:1. What is this verse significant in helping us understand “this child”?
  7. Read 1 John 1-14: Why does John emphasize both the humanity and deity of this child?
  8. Read John 1:16-18:  How did Jesus reveal grace and truth to us?
  9. Read John 1:10-12:  How does one “receive” this child? Why do so many refuse to see “this child” as the Savior of the world?
  10. Share the names of people you know that you wish would receive this child?  Pray together for them by name.