Christmas Eve Message

It’s Christmas Eve and we are grateful you are with us tonight to celebrate. I am grateful for our string quartet leading us tonight. Where would we be without the music of Christmas?

Christmas is the biggest holiday in American culture. The average American is expected to spend more than $1,000 on gifts and decorations in 2018 alone. Many cities will decorate their streets with images of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Grinch, and Jack Frost, while town squares will display marquees of “Noel,” “Happy Holidays,” and “Merry Christmas,” in anticipation of the season’s festivities. Most everyone will take at least one day off from work in hopes of celebrating together with family. Literally, millions of passengers will fill airports and cram themselves into tiny seats on planes in order to be with loved ones. Beyond our country’s borders, the holiday’s popularity is so widespread that even largely Muslim countries that spend most of the year ignoring the Son of God will pause to celebrate his birth. Imagine Islamic women wearing the hijab decorating Christmas trees and you get an idea of just how popular this holiday is around the globe.

Tonight’s Scripture

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-39).

In the next few moments, I want to encourage really celebrate Christmas. On the night before Christ, here are three ways God has worked to increase your happiness through his work at Christmas.

1) God Is For Us and Not Against Us

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)?

Christmas marks the entry of the Son of God into human affairs. He descended into the mess and the hurt of all that makes us human. Christmas tells us that God is not a neutral observer to our pain and problems. Instead, he made himself vulnerable for our sake. The God who controls all things will wield all of his power on our behalf. He will work out every detail in life for good to those who love his Son (Romans 8:28). The baby born in the manager is tremendous news that brings us great joy.

Keep in mind that Romans 8 is not traditionally a Scripture text associated with Christmas. Yet, it speaks to the reasons Jesus came into the world. Notice how all these Scriptures are questions.

Recent Billboard charts for the most popular holiday songs in 2018 listed only two songs in the top fifty that were centered on the birth of Jesus. Many this season will know nothing about Jesus. Instead, they will simply have a nostalgic hope of peace on earth along with some eggnog. All over the world, people recognize the power of Christmas. The reason why Christmas is “The Most Wonderful Time of The Year” is because God Himself arrives.

Pause and think about how hopeless life would be if God were against you. Envision your life and the lives of those closest to you not benefiting from all that Jesus did on the cross. Imagine the unmitigated fury of an all-sovereign God reigning down his rightful wrath on you for all of eternity if Jesus were not born. Now open your eyes to the realization that the deepest trouble you face cannot snuff out the hope you possess in Jesus Christ. The God who controls all things will wield all His power on your behalf. He will work out every detail in life for good to those who love His Son (Romans 8:28). God brings all the infinite resources at His disposal combined with all His omniscient wisdom to work for you and not against you. Yes, the baby born in the manager is tremendous news that brings us great joy. Burst forth in singing for Jesus is born!