Celebrating The Birth Of Jesus

Introduction:

A. Good morning! I’m so thankful to be here this morning to worship Jesus, our Savior and Lord!

1. If you are visiting with us this morning, we are so happy you are here, and we pray that you have a very uplifting experience with us today.

2. May God bless you with hope and joy because of Jesus’ birth.

B. I thought we might start with something that might give us a little chuckle.

1. Children are so precious, and the things they misunderstand often are so cute.

2. For instance, three small boys were in a Christmas play at school.

a. They represented the three wise men and they were to give their gifts to baby Jesus.

b. The first boy stepped forward, held out the gift in his hands and said, “Gold.”

c. The second boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said, “Myrrh.”

d. The third boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said, “Frank sent this.”

3. There’s a story of a boy who drew a manger scene in his Sunday school class.

a. When he showed it to the teacher, she looked it over saying, “There’s Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the animals, the shepherds…and who is the chubby boy sitting by baby Jesus?”

b. He replied, “That’s round John Virgin.”

4. Let’s finish our silliness with a Top Ten List – Top 10 Reasons why there was no room for Joseph and Mary in the Inn.

10. The Roman Government’s “Buy one night, get a second free” promotion was a bit too successful.

9. The only room left was by the ice machine.

8. The Nazareth Shriners tore up the place the night before.

7. The innkeeper didn’t accept the Judean Express Card.

6. It was the weekend of the Caesar Impersonators convention.

5. The last pregnant lady riding a donkey took all their towels.

4. The health department had shut them down because of an E. coli outbreak.

3. The innkeeper’s wife wouldn’t let him take olive wood carvings as payment anymore.

2. The front desk was closed early so the innkeeper and his family could go outside and watch the unique star.

1. No last names; no service.

C. How many of you enjoy the classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” as much as I do? I just love that movie! It gets me every time!

1. As you probably remember, Jimmy Stewart plays a character named George Bailey who had aspirations of greatness, but was stuck running the old family business called “The Bailey Building and Loan,” after his father’s sudden death.

2. The business had never really made any money, but it had helped many hard-working families achieve their dreams of owning a home.

3. When the stock market crashed in October of 1929, the Bailey Building and Loan barely survived.

4. But the real crisis occurred when George Bailey’s absentminded uncle misplaced 8 thousand dollars.

5. Knowing that he was ruined and would likely go to jail, George Bailey, decided he was worth more dead than alive, so he went to a bridge and contemplated committing suicide.

6. Just before he jumped into the icy waters, another man jumped in ahead of him, and George saved that man’s life.

7. The man turned out to be an angel named Clarence Oddbody, who was trying to earn his wings.

8. George declared to Clarence that he wishes he had never been born, and in an effort to help George see the value of his life, Clarence, the angel, showed George what the world would be like if he had never been born.

9. Throughout the rest of the movie the viewer discovers that George Bailey had actually lived a wonderful life, and had made a significant impact on his family, friends, and the whole community.

10. The movie wonderfully points out the difference that one person can make.

D. As we think today about the birth of Jesus, let’s consider this question: What if Jesus had never been born? Can we even conceive of that?

1. What if there was no virgin birth?

2. What if there was no baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger?

3. No angels, then, would have announced his birth to the shepherds.

4. The shepherds would not have made that nocturnal trip to the stable in Bethlehem.

5. Imagine the last 2000 years of life on this earth without the influence of the life of Jesus.

E. I believe Jesus has made an incredible impact on the world.

1. I wish I were an angel who could lead us through a virtual reality experience so that we could see what this world would be like, and what each of our lives would be like if Jesus had never been born.