From The Cradle To The Cross, A Christmas Day Lord's Supper Service

From the Cradle to the Cross

A Christmas Day Lord's Supper Service

Luke 2:8-20, Isaiah 9:6, Romans 12:1, 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

(Initial reading: Luke 2:1-20)

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared April 6, 2025)

INTRODUCTION:

*Welcome to worship today, as we go all the way from the cradle to the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This Lord’s Supper Service will help us worship our Lord, and remember why Jesus came to earth on the first Christmas Day.

Hymn 305 "You Are My King"

Hymn 402 "A Communion Hymn for Christmas"

PRAYER

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MUSIC:

MESSAGE:

*I remember Christmas as a little kid. I know it’s hard to picture me in little footie P.J.'s, but I can remember those years. We were so excited about Christmas morning that we would be up before the crack of dawn, just chomping at the bit for Dad and Mom to wake up too.

*We were overjoyed about the Christmas gifts we would receive. But the greatest Christmas gift is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! As we read in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

*The greatest Christmas gift of all is Jesus Christ! -- What should we do with God's gift?

1. FIRST: LET JESUS SAVE YOU FROM YOUR SINS.

*God gave His greatest gift to save us from our sins. That's what the angel was talking about in vs. 8-12:

8. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

10. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

11. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

*Jesus Christ was born on the first Christmas Day to be our Savior. He was born to save us from our sins! Jesus was born on earth so we could be born again. The eternal Son of God was born on earth, so that we could be re-born for Heaven. Not re-born physically, but born again spiritually to live forever! Given this new birth by the Holy Spirit of God.

*You must be born again in order to have eternal life. You must be born again to live forever in Heaven. Please listen to the way Jesus put it in John 3:3-6:

3. . . "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.''

4. Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?''

5. Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

*You must be born again. This is also why John 1:12-13 says:

12. But as many as received Him (that is Jesus Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name:

13. who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

*When we open our heart to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, His Holy Spirit comes to live in us, and we are born again. Just think about it: The Virgin Mary carried the Lord for 9 months, until the day Jesus was born. But there was another time the Lord came to live in her. It was in Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit came in a brand-new way on the Day of Pentecost. That time the Lord came to live in her forever!

*And now the same Holy Spirit of God comes to live in us, when we trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That’s how we are born again. And Jesus was born so that we might be born again.

*But on Christmas Day, we must not only think of Jesus's birth. We must also remember the Lord's death. On Christmas Day and every day, we must remember the price that Jesus paid to be our Savior. We must remember the price that the Lord paid on the cross to save us from our sins. The cross can get quickly lost in the pile of presents and paper around our trees.