Isaiah 9:6 Christmas: Everlasting Father Series

ISAIAH 9:6 CHRISTMAS: EVERLASTING FATHER

ISAIAH 9:6

#isaiah96christmas

INTRODUCTION… Cool Gifts for Christmas 2021 (p)

Christmas, more than any other time of year, is a season of giving gifts. It is part of what we do and what makes this time of year special. I am a full-service pastor so we are going to begin today in this ‘season of giving’ with some cool gift suggestions to get you warmed up to giving gifts and give you some good ideas. I have given you, thus far, fantastic ideas for gifts which I understand some of you have purchased. Today, we are very very close to Christmas. If you haven’t purchased gifts by now, let’s be honest, you are in trouble. I am here to help!

#1 Ziploc Bags: It’s more than a bag! From mealtime to snack time to home organization, storage needs are never the same. Since you have waited so long… I would suggest getting one box of each of the six kinds of Ziploc bags and then spring for a specialty bag like the ‘zip ‘n steam.’ And since you are up against a wall… go for the name brand and not the store brand.

#2 Sauce’s Choice. Go to the sauce aisle of any store and get one of each of the kinds of sauce that you find there. 1 ketchup. 1 mustard. 1 ranch dressing. 1 teryaki sauce. Go crazy. Then arrange the sauces in some kind of container and call it the ‘essential cooking kit.’ You are welcome.

#3 Piñata: I did some digging and Dollar General has piñatas. This item gets 5 stars from 1 review and the review says: “Best thing ever. Really big really cheap, can hold lots of candy.” Then go over to the other aisles and get pop tarts, candy, some pens and pencils, and fill the piñata up. They get gifts, it’s already wrapped, and it is a smashing fun activity as well. Win. Win. Win.

#4 Library Shenanigans. Go to the library and check out a few books. Take the book covers off very gently. Wrap the books and include in the books a ‘reading challenge’: ‘you must read these books in 2 weeks.’ The key is you don’t tell them that the books are from the library. In a few weeks, when the books are just laying around because they didn’t read them, put the covers back on and return them to the library. The person won’t ask you about them because embarrassingly they hadn’t read the books and think they lost them. The gift of literacy is a valuable gift.

Like I said… Full. Service. Pastor.

THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS

Gift giving is definitely part of Christmas, but the reason that we celebrate and give gifts is because of the birth of Jesus. We who believe in Jesus make sure each year that we observe and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus because He is the greatest gift that the world has ever received! Jesus is worthy of being celebrated and we celebrate everything about Jesus… even His birth!

We celebrate the birth of Jesus because…

… the birth of Jesus is a supernatural event where God becomes flesh and dwells with us

… the birth of Jesus looks forward to all the magnificent miracles He would do

… the birth of Jesus looks forward to all that He would teach us and His life example

… the birth of Jesus looks forward to His meaningful death

READ MATTHEW 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with Child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son, and you shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His Name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a Son. And he called His Name Jesus.

Jesus is so important and so grand that even before His birth He had a nickname! His nickname in this passage from Matthew was “Immanuel” which is a significant name which means “God with us.” That nickname came from an Old Testament prophecy from Isaiah about the coming of the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ which means He is the plan for salvation that people were waiting on.