An Adventure Of A Lifetime - Unwrapping Christmas Series

An Adventure of a Lifetime –Unwrapping Christmas

Scripture: Matthew 2: 1-3 Date: 13 December 2009

Purpose: To invite the listener to take a spiritual journey which will change his/her life?

My brother’s 40th birthday was earlier this month. He received a present that he didn’t have to unwrap at all. His wife is took him on an adventure, she took him to see a show and they stayed at a fancy hotel in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is definitely an adventure, maybe not a good one but none the less, it is an Adventure.

The greatest adventure of my life was not a trip at all, but a truth I came to know. It was when I met Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. That is when the adventure of my lifetime began and it continues to this day.

Some people I know are world travelers. They have been to the beautiful capitals of Europe, sailed the high seas and vacationed on lush tropical islands, but for many of these, the excitement of their journeys appears to diminish with each trip. As the next trip needs to be bigger and better than the one they have just returned from.

But the adventure I began with Jesus years ago is a adventure that has never diminished – never lost its appeal.

It is a journey that moves me from one place of spiritual growth to another. I love a good adventure and Jesus is the adventure of a life time.

This month we are UNWRAPPING CHRISTMAS, digging into the truths of Christmas and today we unwrap it to see that Christmas is an Adventure of a Lifetime!

Faith, my friends is the Adventure of a life time and this morning if you have not started that adventure I would like to invite you to come join me. Or maybe you did start some time ago but something happened and you got hung up somewhere. Your faith stalled and you haven’t moved since. Christmas is upon us let us get refueled and pack our bags for an awesome never ending Adventure.

- Please stand with me this morning for the reading of God’s truth.

Matthew 2: 1-3 1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east[b] and have come to worship him."

3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

I. Faith, first of all is a journey!

A. In verses 1 and 2 we read of the Wise men who arrived from the east following a bright star of all things!

1. Everybody follows something because there is within each one of us a need for a belief to follow. It’s a thing you’re born with and you couldn’t change it even if you wanted to.

2. God wrapped that need to believe in something greater than ourselves. The sad truth is that many, many people have, do and will follow the wrong things and the wrong people in this world.

3. Someone this morning did not leave the house without first consulting their sign, your horoscope.

4.What are you following this morning? I think it would be safe to say that life

is a journey and either we are moving toward God or we are moving away

from Him. And the direction we take is ours to make.

5. The Wise men journeyed to find answers to life’s many questions. All of us are seeking answers about life, about God.

6. Faith is that personal journey each one of us takes to try to find the meaning and purpose of life.

7. This morning who or what are you following? Have you ever been lost? Followed someone or something that promised you more but delivered less.

Illustration: My eldest daughter’s senior year was a year of much learning and growing in many areas. Jade was becoming more independent and with independence comes responsibilities. She had a car that she was paying the bills on. She did well paying the bills but she did poorly with the up keep of the vehicle. During the first year of having her car, she blew the motor out and had to get a new one put in. She had a few flats and one dead battery.

She wanted to go and spend some time with her grandparents that year for Christmas. They lived about three hours south of us and I figured this would be a great opportunity for Jade to experience some distance driving. She assured me she could do it and even knew the directions. I made sure she had a map, just in case, and sent her on her way.