Christmas 365 Series

INTRODUCTION

I wish you a blessed and happy Christmas. Praise God for the wonderful love, joy, peace, and eternal life that Jesus Christ brought to all mankind on the first Christmas. Let us also remember, that we need to celebrate Christmas 365 which means daily.

I want to draw your attention to the nativity scene. Mary and Joseph have been to Bethlehem for the census. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son, Jesus Christ. She wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger. Soon the angels proclaimed the good news to the shepherds who came and saw Jesus. Wise men came from the east, bowed down, and worshipped Jesus.

Most people end their Christmas with just the birth of Christ and have kept the celebrations for just one day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we started practicing the things we hear and sing about at Christmastime? Wouldn’t it be great if we could take Christmas with us all the way through the New Year?

I want to bring out the true message of Christmas and further, we will look into how we can apply this message every day in our lives. This will make us celebrate Christmas 365. It is also appropriate to title my message ‘Jingle all the way.’

ILLUSTRATION

Someone has compared Christmas to the giant wheel experience. It is like that sense of joy and excitement you feel when you are on that wheel and are free-falling through the air. You feel the wind on your face and can see the beauty of God’s world for miles around. But very soon you come to reality, and you get back to the ground. For a few brief moments, you feel great joy and then you are on the ground, facing reality once again, back to the humdrum of everyday life.

Is it how we celebrate Christmas 365? All jingle today and face-to-face with reality tomorrow? What is the message of Christmas? Can take this jingle all the way to next year?

THE CHRISTMAS 365 MESSAGE

A) GOD WITH US

Matthew 1:23

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

The message of Christmas 365 is that God sent His Son for us who is willing to be with us in every moment of our life. Jesus is with us not only on Christmas, but he has promised to be with us until the end of the world. I want to exhort you that God is with you. He knows your condition today. He loves you and if given a chance He can come with you to every area of your life and give you Christmas 365.

ILLUSTRATION

An atheist’s son used to go to Sunday School and learn about Jesus. The father somehow wanted to persuade his son with his philosophy. One Sunday as the boy went to Sunday School the father prepared this beautiful wall hanger and placed it in the entrance of his house which read, “God is nowhere.” When the boy got home from Sunday School that day he saw the plaque he was excited. He said to his father, “Why that’s exactly what my Sunday School teacher has been teaching me all along! GOD IS NOW HERE!”

Christmas 365 is God’s to be with us all the time.

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

Isaiah 43:2

When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

B. GIFT – CHRISTMAS 365

God gifted us His Son.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The wise men presented Jesus with gifts.

Matthew 2:11

Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

C. JOY – CHRISTMAS 365

Luke 1:39-44

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.