'the Most Unthinkable Event In Human History'

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). The message is Reliable.

(2). The message is Universal.

(3). The message is Personal.

(4). The message is Invitational.

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• We’ve all probably done it,

• Purchased a very small gift and wrapped it in a very big box,

• Or maybe a series of boxes.

• The idea being to disguise the gift,

• Especially if the receiver is one of those who prods and feels the present,

• Trying to guess what the gift is, if it is left under the Christmas tree.

• TRANSITION: Surely by now we have learned,

• That the size of the package can be very misleading.

• You can easily disguise a small diamond ring in a very big box.

Joke:

• Talking about jewelry,

• Penny my wife has been leaving jewelry catalogues lying around the house,

• So, I took the hint and did what any astute husband would do.

• I hope she will be pleased with her magazine rack,

• Should keep all those jewelry catalogues nice and tidy!

Ill:

• I am not a fan of Dr Who,

• It is a top seller,

• Doctor Who is currently BBC Worldwide's biggest selling TV show around the world.

• For me the best Dr was John Pertwee,

• But I think it all depends on the Dr at the time you started to watch it!

• The Dr of course has a TARDIS:

• The acronym stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space,

• And this is The Doctor's chosen mode of transport for travelling through time.

• Question: Why a police box?

• Answer:

• The Doctor's TARDIS has a broken "Chameleon circuit."

• The TARDIS were supposed to disguise itself to blend into any environment.

• e.g. in ancient Rome, it might look like a Roman pillar or statue from the outside.

• e.g. in ancient Egypt, it might look like an Egyptian monument on the outside...

• However, in the first ever episode called, ‘An Unearthly Child’,

• We discover that the circuit is broken,

• And the TARDIS is stuck in the shape of a police box.

• Now, here is my point – A TARDIS is bigger on the inside than on the outside.

• On the outside it is small but, on the inside, it is very big.

• TRANSITION: 2,000 years ago,

• A stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.

• Veiled in flesh and lying in a manger was the creator of the universe!

• The term that the theologians use for this grand miracle is incarnation.

• Incarnation literally means ‘to take on flesh’.

• For Christians, the incarnation shows that Jesus was fully God and fully human.

Ill:

• On Thursday evening we enjoyed a meal of Chili con carne.

• (This dish is made from minced meat, vegetables, and powdered or fresh chilies.)

• Chili con carne is a Spanish word that means “chili with meat - flesh,”

• Implying not only the spices used in the dish, but also it contains meat.

• TRANSITION: Jesus became ‘Con carne’ – that is ‘With flesh.’

• The apostle John in his gospel put it this way (chapter 1 verse 14),

• NIV: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

• GNB: “The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us.”

Ill:

• Because the Bible of the Great Britain for 1,000 years was the Latin Vulgate,

• That Latin expression, ‘incarnate’ stuck.

• ‘Incarnate’ comes from the Ecclesiastical Latin term ‘incarnatus’,

• This term is derived from ‘in-’ and ‘caro’, which translates to ‘flesh’ in Latin.

• TRANSITION: Christmas is celebrating the enfleshment of the Creator.

• Which as to be, ‘The most unthinkable event in human history.’

• In short what happened was ‘unbelievable’ – history changing!

Ill:

• Many people have tried to express their wonder.

• St. Augustine of the third century tried:

• "He it is by whom all things are made, who was made one of all things.

• The Maker of the sun made under the sun.

• Author of the heavens and the earth sprung under the heavens out of the earth,

• utterly wise in his wisdom, a babe without utterance."

I.e.:

• Charles Wesley of the eighteenth century tried:

• "Veiled in flesh the godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity,

• Pleased as man with us to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel."

I.e.:

• CS Lewis of the twentieth century tried in his Chronicles of Narnia:

• "In our world, too, a stable once had something in it bigger than the whole world."

I.e.:

• Musicians Keith Getty and Stuart Townend have tried:

• "Hands that set each star in place shape the earth in darkness,