Fireside service on Christmas Eve
December 24, 2025
We are fireside service by way of Florida. And we asked we’re down in Florida. We skipped town Sunday night and had it all the way down Monday. And we’re excited about being down here. It did get up to 82 degrees today. But it’s warming up in Tennessee also, so I’m happy for that. We’re looking forward to coming back and be with you here real soon.
By the way, congratulations to Brother Marlin and the media team doing such a wonderful job. They got over 600 subscriptions today. And the last time I looked, it was 600. Good job, guys. By the way, if you have not subscribed, please do that. That just the more that is, the more gets the word out, helps us on search engines and whatnot. So if you haven’t subscribed, please do that.
I believe we’ve got a couple more shoutouts. Let’s see here. Oh, we’ve got where we at here. John Sharp, I believe was the last one. We’ve got, oh, my goodness, we’ve got some grandchildren on here. Ryan Everley and Sarah say Merry Christmas from Oregon. We’ve got people all over the place. The whole DeVila family is here. That’s Mustang. Wow, good to have the whole family here with us tonight. Awesome. Brother Garrett, he says, what’s happening? Got a sunglasses on there. And grandkids want to shout out. And good job. Grandchildren love you. Great to hear from you tonight. Brother Chip, Miss Tammy, Marlene, Patrick, Gregory, Brianna. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to y’all. I love it. I’m so good to get to know and get to see Brother Gregory’s Bride Sunday night. They were there at church. That was awesome. Pray Lord for a great, godly young couple. Wonderful. Brother Joshua, Ms. Giselle, Merry Christmas from Joshua, Giselle, Lily Rose, Sage, and Zane. What an awesome Christian family. I love them. I love them. That’s just wonderful. And just keep sending those, if you will. We’ll read the rest of them at the end of the night.
But I’m going to try to keep it quick. I know everybody’s busy Christmas time tomorrow. Can you believe it at Christmas Eve? Hopefully all your shopping’s done. It’s too late if you haven’t got it yet and just enjoy it.
But I love the fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. You know, we don’t know exactly what side, but it’s a small town. In Jesus time, we think the population was around 300. Of course, that time, the taxing and the census was happening, and so maybe more at that moment. No place for them in the inn, no room for them in the inn. But we think population around 300 is a small town.
And Bethlehem is known for sheep and shepherds and that’s just what it’s known for and it was prophesied. Micah 5:2 tells us Jesus we’d be born there. You realize Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies just his birth? We think he fulfilled about 27, 28 prophecies. One of those was Bethlehem, he’d be born there, the place, the timing, so much about it. You know, God moved really the world to make and he always makes his word true. It always happens. But he had the right governor there, Quirinius, and he had the right census, so he would have to go where his lineage, of course, from David. That’s another prophecy. And Joseph and Mary traveled down there.
And maybe you want to look over Luke 2. We’re going to be in Luke 2 just briefly, and then in Psalm 23. But Luke 2, verse number 4: “And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David.”
David, we think of David as a king, and of course he became a king. The movie’s out now about David. But before David was a shepherd. And you remember when Samuel came to anoint one of those boys to be king, David was out there as a young man, he was a shepherd. Bethlehem is known for sheep and shepherds. And isn’t that amazing that Jerusalem and then down to Bethlehem and that’s where Jesus was born?
Let me read for you a little bit about it. Look in verse number 8. He would have looked to verse number eight. “And they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”
Now that’s not typical. Typically they would put them in a fold and go into town and get a good night’s rest. We think, most of the study out agree, we think they were out in the abiding in the fields at nighttime because this was the time of year that the sheep were giving birth and all the baby lambs were being born. Now think about that. Town of sheep and shepherds, and out in the countryside the baby lambs were being born, and in town in Bethlehem the Lamb of God was being born. Wow. So much more about it. I love that thought.
But the lamb is also known—many will say this, I don’t know that it can be proven—but a lot of people will say that it was known for sheep and shepherds and even for the Levitical lambs. You see, the Bible tells us that that lamb was a male, one-year-old or under, without blemish. There were special lambs.
Now this is interesting. They say these shepherds would watch with special care if a male lamb was born and it was to be a Levitical lamb. And it was male, it was spotless. They would take that baby lamb and they would wrap it in just a lot of rags and whatnot. Because, you know, when those lambs are trying to stand up for the first time and they’re not, they’re awkward on their feet, they’re not strong and they’re liable to fall over and cut themselves and create a blemish, a scar. And the Levitical lambs had to be spotless. Now think about that.
Now look at verse number 12 of Luke 2. Look to verse number 12, would you please? There notice what it says, and this should be a sign talking to these shepherds. They understood this, and this will be a sign unto you: “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.”
Well, they knew what it meant for a lamb to be wrapped in swaddling clothes. That’s going to be a little bit of—that’s going to be a sacrificial lamb. Not just a lamb as that one time a year they would offer it, or daily some of these. But this is the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world, once for all, Hebrews says. And so they understood that sign. He’s wrapped in swaddling clothes; He’s the Lamb of God. John the Baptist had just said, “Hey, he’s coming.” Later on, he points to him. That’s it—the Lamb of God.
And Jesus was born in the city of David, sheep and shepherds. And he was the true, the true sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. I love it. The first one that the news reached about the birth of the Messiah was just the common people, shepherds. They’re out there watching these sheep and they thought, “Wow, the sheep, the lamb is born.” And they made haste, and they got to Bethlehem to see Jesus.
Now let’s change just a touch here. He is a Lamb of God. He’s the sacrificial lamb, but is also the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd. Look, if you will, over in Psalm 23, if we’re going to talk about sheep and shepherds. This psalm is just, it’s the psalm, if you will.
And it’s interesting, this psalm can be tough to memorize because it’s got so many little phrases in it. Several years back, I was talking with one of the men of our church, a good, good man, he’s in heaven now. And I said, “You know, I don’t know that I have Psalm 23 memorized. It’s tough with all these lines.” And I thought he was going to give me a pass, good man, very encouraging to me. And he didn’t give me a pass. And he said, “Well, man, Pastor, you ought to have that memorized.” And I thought, “You’re right.” And so I’ve worked at it. Now, that’s been a couple years ago, so don’t hold me to it at the moment here.
But over there in Psalm 23, look at it. I want you to notice here. Of course, the first verse is just, it’s just known: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” But then there’s four lines, four phrases I want you to notice. Watch if you will. Here’s the first one: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.”
Here’s what I’m looking at. Here it is: “He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Now here’s the thing: because he is the Lamb of God, he—boy, we sing it Sunday night, or Sunday, excuse me, I think it’s Sunday morning—“Born to die upon Calvary.”
And because he did shed his blood, and because of that, I’m redeemed. I’ll never give account of my sins. Jesus took the judgment of my sin. Shed his blood, just like that sacrificial lamb. They would shed the blood of that lamb. Jesus shed his blood. Without the shedding of blood, there’s no remission of sin. He shed his blood. I’m forgiven. I’m cleansed. I stand redeemed because of the blood of the Lamb.
Now that in turn causes something inside of us. If you’re born a Christian, it ought to create this in you: I want to serve him. I want my life to count for Jesus. You know, as preachers sometimes talk about the, you know, on the tombstone, the grave headstone there: Born in 1985—that’s for me. Well, okay, I was born a little before that time—but 1969. And whenever I pass or you pass would go home, the Lord tarries, and that little dash—you’ve heard it said—what is that dash? Are you doing anything for Christ in that dash? “Only one life, so soon will pass; only what’s done for Christ will last.”
That’s a godly desire. That’s a desire from God. The Holy Spirit plants that in our hearts. And for this, “God was working within you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” That will, that desire is from God. That’s a great desire. But can I say this? Sometimes the devil, and our impatience and our lack of wisdom comparing, will use that against us. It’ll create this thing in us where I’ve got to make it happen.
And friend, you can’t make it happen. You look and say, “Well, they’ve got somebody in their class,” or “they’ve got this great podcast,” or “they’ve got so many in their bus route,” or “they’re doing all this,” and we think, “I’ve got to get back, I’ve got to get there.” And no, no, no, no, no. Notice what he said. He said, he said, “He leadeth them in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” He leads him.
Friend, the honest truth is, all you have to do is follow. You can’t make it happen. You just—you know, even when it comes to soul-winning, he’s talking to his apostles at the beginning of their ministry and it says, “Hey, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” We’re talking about eternal soul-winning. It’s wonderful. But even in that area, he says, “No, no, no.” He said, “Just follow. Just follow.” Boy, I want to make a difference for the Lord Jesus Christ. And sometimes that pressure can discourage and defeat us. Hey, don’t worry about making it happen. Just follow. “Where he leads me, I will follow.” That’s all you got to do.
He brings the increase. Whether it’s this great thing I want or not, that’s not the thing. The results are up to God. Just follow the Shepherd. You know, if sheep get in front of the shepherd, they’re liable to take the wrong path. They’re liable to get in danger. No, no, no, just follow. That’s all.
He wants to use you. He’s got a master plan. He knows where and when and what time. We’re staying at an Airbnb and it’s got a map of the world on the wall. I thought about doing the fireside service in front of that, but my wife said it’s a fireside service. And of course, of course, yeah, learn it, learn it. Yes, ma’am, that’s it, you know.
You see where we’re having service at—my wife’s smiling back there. But I looked at the map today and I thought, “Wow, we’re to go into all the world and preach your gospel to every creature.” How in the world am I supposed to know where and what part? How am I supposed to be? That’s such a huge—I get lost in that picture. And yet, what did it say there? “He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Oh, friend, that’s all you do. Just follow him. “Lord, I want to follow every little inclination. Anything you—I just want to follow you.” That’s what you do. He’ll take care of all the rest of that. He laid his me and paths of righteousness for his name’s name.
You know, one of the men came to me Sunday night. And praise the Lord, some folk were saved Sunday night, Christmas cantata, and the one saved Saturday, his grandpa led the Lord. And the man came to me Sunday night. He said, “Hey, we had a couple saved at night.” And then the boy, he said, but he said, “You know, Pastor, there’s another one.” He said, “I was at BJ’s, and he said, I got to lead a man to the Lord.” I said, “Brother Bill, my dad’s awesome. Good for you. Your wedding soul. That’s awesome.” And he said, “Man, Pastor,” he said, he said, “it’s just like God brought them there. They were so ready.” It’s that God just laid it in my lap.
All you got to do is follow. Now, yes, that man had been following. He was prepared, preparation of the gospel of peace. He had been practicing giving the plan of salvation, and he’s been working at all that. But he just followed. God brings the increase. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Now, here’s the interesting thing. The phrase before that: “He restores my soul.” I like it that he doesn’t lead us in paths of righteousness until after he restores our soul. He’s such a good, wonderful leader. He doesn’t drive us. Oh, no. Good shepherds—shepherds don’t push and drive. They lead.
And he restores. They say that restore has to do with a—typically shepherds will call it a sheep being cast. It’s where a sheep, maybe they’re laying in the grass, and there’s a rut behind, they don’t realize it, and they kind of roll over, and they’re all over on their back, and all fours are just flopping. They can’t get up. And if they stay like that for days or hours, a long, long time, they’ll actually die.
And sometimes their wool needs to be sheared, or it’s wet, and it’s got all kind of dirty, and it’s just heavy, and they’ll roll over. Or maybe they’re sick. And they say the shepherd will come along and find him rolled over on his back, upside down, so they can’t digest. They’re going to die. And the shepherd will come over, and he’ll kind of straddle them. And he’ll put his hands down on the sheep, and so gently, he picks the sheep up, just slowly, very gently. They’re hurting.
And it puts them on all fours, their legs. And the blood’s not circulating through their legs. So he’ll hold on to them with one arm and he’ll start rubbing their legs, bringing the blood flow back in their legs. “He restores my soul.” I’m so glad. All of us, all of us from time to time work cast. “And he restoreth my soul.” And then he said, “Now let me lead you in paths of righteousness.”
Now, watch the last line there, last couple words, excuse me, of that line. He leads me in paths of righteousness for what? For his name’s sake. Not about our names. Oh, no, oh no. It’s about Christ. Jesus. What about that song? Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. It’s all about Jesus, friend. His namesake.
It’s been a wonderful year. So many good, good things God’s done for us at Rutherford County Baptist Church. We’re so blessed. It’s just all God’s grace, but there are so many of them. But one of the monetary ones is just we can give God glory over so easily.
We had someone email us and I thought, well, that’s just probably another scam out there. And it was from a wealth management company, but then they called. And they knew Pastor Paul. And I thought, well, okay, maybe something’s up with this. And so we called back. And the lady answered, she told us who’d asked for. And she said, “We’ve got someone that wants to give RCBC some stocks.”
Well, I thought, amen. My name is Jimmy. I’ll take what you give me. Amen. And she began to tell us about it. And the course of my mind was, who was it? I didn’t want to ask, but she said this. She said, “Well, the individual wants to remain anonymous.” Anonymous. Nobody knows who it is.
And I said, well, you know, a little bit in my fleshly side, I said, “I want to ask.” I want to ask who that is. Oh, no, it’s so much better this way. To this day, we don’t know who it is. It’s not about their name. That individual is so wise. It’s not about my name. It’s about His name. But I did ask the less, “Well, let me ask you this: What do you think if we’re to, you know, just to sell these stocks and, you know, liquidate these? How much would that be?” And she said, “All around $40,000.” And I thought, “Hey, whoever that individual is, they’re going to get rewarded in heaven.” They’re a wise individual. Because it is for His name’s sake. That’s what it’s all about.
We used to sing this song. I think Lesterloff used to sing it a lot. I love it. It’s a great song. If you know it, I want you to sing it. We can’t hear you anyway. Your spouse has heard you sing. They know you can’t sing. So sing out wherever you are, your living room, wherever it is. But here’s a song. It goes like this: “My Lord knows the way through the wilderness; all I have to do is follow. Strength for today is mine all the way, and all that I need for tomorrow. My Lord knows the way through the wilderness; all I have to do is follow.”
That’s all you got to do. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. You don’t have to make it happen.
Hey, just, just let the pressure just go. I’m not going to worry about that. That’s God’s business. All I can do is follow Him. Well, I’m not a great leader. You don’t have to be a great leader. You just got to be a great follower. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name.
God bless you, friend. I’m so glad you’re with us tonight. I’m going to look, I believe, out of the corner of my eye—oh my goodness—I believe we’ve got a lot of shoutouts. Let me see if we can get them all in here. I’m trying to remember the last one we had a moment ago. I believe it was the Joshua and Giselle, the Gonzalez family, a great, great family. This is Laurie Johnson. Good to hear from me, Laurie Johnson. That’s wonderful. Merry Christmas. Walt and Christie Potter. So great to hear from them from Georgia. Merry Christmas. I love it. Love you guys. Terry—oh, good to hear from Terry. Merry Christmas from Terry and Will Daughtry. They’re great. Terry’s just always so faithful, Sunday morning, Sunday school, everything.
Philip Rouse, boy, I like that. Good to hear from you, Brother Rouse, over there doing a great job down there in Spring Hill, pastoring. They’re doing a wonderful job there. He just says, “Amen.” That’s a preacher talking right there, for sure. Walt Potter, “Amen.” “Serve Him.” Amen. I like that.
Miss Johnny, Johnny and Brian, that live down the street, Seminary Road. Merry Christmas, everyone, from John and Brian Baranough. Walt Potter, he’s preaching here a little bit. Amen, that’s all right. Amen. He does the heavy lifting. You’re right.
And Larry and Cindy Gray watching from Arkansas. Wow, I like that. Thank you, Pastor Paul. Merry Christmas. That’s wonderful. The Nyland family here. Merry Christmas. The Simons are watching down there in Murfreesboro. Good deal. Merry Christmas to all. And did a great job hosting at the couple’s progressive dinner.
Walt Potter, that’s just God’s blessing, RCBC. God is so good. He is so good. And, oh, this is the McCoy fan, “A great sermon just in time.” Merry Christmas from the McCoy and Campanelli tribe. And they’re great, bring such a great, great spirit with them. All our folks, just God’s blessed us, so many good, good people. And we love you. Thank you so much for joining tonight. God bless you. We miss you. We’re just—we’ll be back, be back Saturday afternoon, but we already miss you. I hope you get your family together and just have a wonderful time and enjoy the blessings of our Savior, the Lamb of God, born in Bethlehem. First—the first one to know about the birth was the shepherds over there. And you’ll find this sign wrapped in swaddling clothes. We’ve got one more. Got to get it in there. And you said this is going on all night long. Let’s see who this is. Marie Strickland, Merry Christmas. I like it, Pastor and Tammy, from Marie Strickland. And just awesome, awesome people. God bless your folks.
Original File: 2025-12-24 - RCBC Fireside Service with Pastor Chisgar 12⧸23⧸25