Sermon Central
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Christmas Treasures
Contributed by Glenn Pease on Apr 8, 2021 (message contributor)
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1. His Wondrous Name
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
This most important child ever born on this planet was named by his true Father in heaven. Gabriel came to Mary and said to her in Luke 1:31, "you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus."
Corrie Ten Boom is one of the best known names in the 20th century. But many do not know that Corrie had more than one name. In 1977 a group of several hundred Christian Indians honored her in Flagstaff, Arizona, by giving her an Indian name. Tom Claus, a Mohawk and president of the group, ...read more
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2. Waiting For Christmas
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
We need to remember, Christmas is a celebration, not of what might be or of what we hope to see happen, it is a celebration of a sure thing that has already happened. God has come down to man to dwell with him.
In 563 BC, a son was born to a ruler in India. The local astrologers predicted he would either be a great ruler or a world renowned ascetic. His father wanted to prevent that, so he sheltered his child from all contact with suffering of any kind. The little prince was to never see life's ...read more
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3. Christmas Secrets
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
The secret of the star is based on the fact that the more precious the gift the greater the secrecy connected with it. A precious gift is meant to be a surprise and so it is kept secret.
C.S. Lewis is one of the most read and most quoted Christian scholars of the 20th century, but he had to endure the burden of a very heavy secret in his life. He fell in love with a divorced woman and his church, the church of England, forbid marriage to one who was divorced. Joy Davidman, the ...read more
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4. His Wonderful Name
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
The name of this baby was so important to God that God himself selected it. He chose the name that He would honor above all names. God left most naming of people, creatures and things to man but He wanted to name this special child Himself.
Some people are born risk-takers. Such was the case with Dr. John Haldane who was born in Scotland in 1860. His professional life was spent in seeing how close he could come to dying without actually ending up dead. He wanted to learn why it is that carbon monoxide kills people. So he got himself ...read more
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5. Angelic Host
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
Angels were the primary messengers of that first Christmas. The Star of Bethlehem was their only competitor, and it reached only the wise men. All others were reached by angels.
Before the turn of the century, a Bishop was paying his annual visit to a church related college. He was the guest of one of the professors, and was stating to his host, that now since man knows all about nature, and all inventions have been discovered, we must be on the verge of the millennium. ...read more
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6. The Enjoyment Of God
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This is also the chief end of Christmas. The way to have a merry Christmas is to do what all the characters did on that first Christmas-they enjoyed God and they praised Him..
One of the biggest attractions in all of history was the smallest man alive-General Tom Thumb. He was only 25 inches tall and weighed only 15 pounds. Over 20 million people paid to see him sing and dance. He charms his way into the hearts of the greatest people of his day-Queen Victoria of ...read more
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7. The Babe And The Bell
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
It is no wonder that bells have become a symbol of Christmas, for God chose the bell to be a symbol of joy and victory in His presence. There are numerous types of bells, but all of them have some positive value, and thus, have something in common with the Babe of Bethlehem.
Bells are one of the common symbols of Christmas, because all through history, bells have been used to play the role of the angels on that first Christmas. Bells ring forth the message of joy. The bell and the babe of Bethlehem are linked in many ways. Nowhere is this more evident, than when you ...read more
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8. Christmas Expectations
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
There is no other holiday like Christmas, where expectation is so much a part of it's celebration. We look forward to Christmas, longer, and with greater anticipation, then all other holidays combined.
Henry McCushy, of the Texas Employment Commission, said they had a hard time getting men to be department store Santa Clauses, one year. The reason was, the high percentage of children who were kicking Santa in the shins for not coming through the year before. They expected Santa to live up to ...read more
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9. Paradoxes Of Christmas
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
John says not only did the Word become flesh but He dwelt among us. He not only became one of us, He became one with us. Christmas is not only the celebration of birth but of relationship.
Little Hattie, determined to give her hero the highest image and magnify his achievements, wrote the following in her history examination-"Abraham Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809, in a log cabin which he built himself." Lincoln was indeed a great man but historians, I think, are ...read more
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10. The True Light
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
Every dawn is a wonder but never has there been a more wondrous dawn than that on which the sun arose for the first time on this planet when it's creator was one of the inhabitants. Through Him all things were made and now He is a part of His own creation.
A young man went from paper to paper trying to get a job as a cartoonist, but he was rejected and told he had no talent. Finally, a pastor hired him to draw advertising for the church events. It was a poor paying job and he had no place to stay and so he was allowed to sleep in the old church ...read more
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11. The Foolishness Of Christmas
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
Let's look at the foolishness of Christmas and see just how wise it really is. The foolishness of God is very simply the foolishness of love. True love tends to be foolish for it takes risks.
A large number of life's greatest blessings start out as stupid, moronic foolishness in the eyes of many people. This was the case with Samuel Morse, a pastor's son and an artist who left his art for a new idea. He thought that a message could be sent by means of electricity. He labored ...read more
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12. Where Does Christmas Come From?
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
This is not a mere seasonal question. It is a supreme question for all time-where does Christmas come from? The answer can guide us through confusion and uncertainty back to home base, in the very heart of God.
An aviator trainer told of how he would take students up in plane, and deliberately fly in all directions to confuse them. Then he would turn the controls over to the student and say, "Now take us home." It was the job of the student to learn how to find the radar beam, and stay one it ...read more
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13. The Approachable God
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
To find the Child-that was the goal. Anything that takes us off the path that leads to Christ is not part of God's plan. The job of the angels and the star was finished when the shepherds and the wise men bowed before the Christ-child.
Lucy is expounding on the meaning of Christmas and she says, "this is the time of the year that we show kindness and good will, when we accept others and welcome them into our home." Charlie Brown says, "why can't we be kind and accepting all through the year and not just at ...read more
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14. Christmas Babies
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
Jesus is the only person in history who chose to be a baby. This tells us just how important the baby centeredness of Christmas is to Him. The message of Christmas is not that the angels came; that the shepherds came, or that the wise men came, but that the baby came.
Elenor Cicok had a three year old daughter who developed an emotional block and ceased to talk. She never said a word, not even mama when she wanted her mother. It was a terrible ordeal as she went month after month in silence. Her mother taught her about God and prayer, and read to her about ...read more
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15. Christmas Is Contagious
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
The fastest way to get infected with the spirit of Christmas is to start praising God for what He has done for you through His Son. This sort of praise is very contagious. If you let it start coming out of your mouth, before you know it, it has infected your heart.
Celestine Sibley tells of her father saying to her mother one grayish December morning, "the lumber business is going badly. It looks like a poor Christmas this year." She cried out, "A poor Christmas-shame on you! There is no such thing as a poor Christmas! Times can be hard and ...read more
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16. A Savior Is Born
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
Christmas is still the good news that unto you is born a Savior. It is still a message of hope, joy, and peace that causes men to glorify and praise God.
When I was a shoeshine boy back in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1945, I remember being down town when suddenly horns began to blow, bells ring, whistles shriek, and people everywhere in the streets, and stores began to sing, hug, laugh, and shout. Paper began flying from the windows all over ...read more
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17. The Season For Seeing
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
God made the message of Christmas a visual message to appeal to the eyes. Christmas from day one has always been a season for seeing. By His coming into the world Jesus changed how men see reality. He changed how man sees God and history, and how he sees the role of man and the goal of God.
Mr. and Mrs. Nudelman were on a 50th wedding anniversary trip to Paris where they visited the Louvre. As they slowly walked past the masterpieces of the ages, Mrs. Nudelman stopped in front of a huge Renaissance painting called, The Child In The Manger. As she stood there, Mr Nudelman asked her ...read more
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18. The Sights Of Christmas
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
The challenge for all of us is to go into this Christmas season determined to see in the sights of Christmas that which makes us praise God and want to be part of His light in this dark world. Let your prayer be, open my eyes Lord, I want to see Jesus.
Hal Bowser said, "the most exciting gift I've ever received was the microscope my parents gave me for Christmas when I was eleven." The first thing he did on that Christmas day was to go out in the back yard and get some water from a rain puddle. He put a drop under his microscope ...read more
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19. Christmas Silence And Song
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
Christmas was both a night of silence and a night of song. If you read through the Christmas hymns in a hymnal you will see these two themes stand out often, some with a focus on the silence and others with a focus on the song.
Paradox is simply the recognition that opposites can both be true. The Christmas story is loaded with paradoxes. The most profound revolving around the Christ-Child Himself: The eternal Son born into time and the Infinite Spirit embodied in finite flesh. The creator of all space having no room in ...read more
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20. Christmas Stuff
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
Jesus created all of the stuff of this material universe, and in His Incarnation He became personally involved with the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdom. His goal is to redeem all of His creation from the effects of the fall, so that even stuff is a part of the plan of salvation.
Back in October of 1948, a young pastor and his wife took on the challenge of repairing and restoring an old church. Their goal was to have it done by Christmas Eve. But just two days before Christmas a storm dumped over an inch of rain, and the roof leaked, and right in front of the church the ...read more
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21. Christmas Trivia
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
We are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, but sometimes they seem so trivial we tend to ignore them. Christmas trivia is a good example. Dr. Luke was a man of detail, and he records for us a number of things that can be called Christmas trivia.
One of the great paradoxes of Christmas is that almost everything the Bible tells us about this most sacred event, is secular in nature. It is filled with what is temporal rather than eternal; physical rather than spiritual; and world oriented rather than heaven oriented. Christmas is really a ...read more
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22. The Wonder Of Christmas
Contributed on Apr 8, 2021
Just scratching the surface of a match can cause it to burst into flame and though that is all we can do with Luke's record, scratch the surface, it is hoped that this will kindle a flame of wonder in our hearts for Christmas.
Typical of last minute Christmas shoppers, a mother was running furiously from store to store. Suddenly she became aware that the pudgy little hand of her three year old son was no longer clutched in hers. In a panic she retraced her steps and found him standing with his little nose pressed ...read more