No Ordinary Child

INTRODUCTION

• What is today supposed to be about? Is it supposed to be about spending more money than we have and seeing weeks worth of shopping and wrapping get destroyed in 10 minutes of fast and furious gift opening? Is it about the trees and decorations we set up in our homes? Is it about the family we will get to see?

• This holiday is supposed to be about Jesus.

• It is Christmas time, a traditional time set aside where celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ!

• Most people take time to celebrate the birthday of the ones you love.

• What is it about Jesus that would make us want to have a holiday to celebrate His birth?

• Wasn’t Jesus just another famous person who has a birthday that we celebrate?

• We celebrate the birth of Presidents and other famous people like Martin Luther King Jr. What is it about Jesus that would deserve our time and effort to celebrate?

• Maybe it is because Jesus is considered a religious leader? Why don’t we have birthdays for other religious leaders? Why don’t we have Buddhamas, Mohammedmas?

• I am sure in the countries where these men are revered their must be some kind of recognition.

• What is so different about Jesus, so different that you are taking the time to be here today?

• Jesus was born just like the rest of us wasn’t He? SLIDE #1

• Today I want us to see that the reason we should celebrate the birth of Jesus is because He was no ordinary child!

• We are going to look at some things about Him that shows us He is no ordinary child and that because of whom He is; He has earned to right to be worshipped by us!

SLIDE #2

SERMON

The Christ-Child had:

I. NO ORDINARY BIRTH

One of the reasons we should celebrate the birth of Jesus is because His birth was no ordinary birth. Let us look at a few things that made His birth one that was not your ordinary run of the mill birth. SLIDE #3

1. The announcement of his birth was not ordinary.

• When we announce the birth of a new child, we usually pass our cigars or candy, we take an ad out in the paper among other things.

• One thing we do not do is have our great-great-great-great Grandparents announce the birth of our child several hundred years before the event happens.

• I did not announce the birth of Rachel when I was in 4th grade.

• SLIDE #4 Isaiah 7:14

• Look at just one of the passages in the Old Testament that was written by Isaiah some 700 plus years BEFORE Jesus was born. Isaiah saw Jesus more clearly than any of the other Old Testament Prophets. That is an impressive announcement!

• We can also se that God used some other impressive ways to let the world know about the birth of His Son! SLIDE #5

• Turn to Luke 1 with me. I will read verses 26-34 and then we will go to Luke 2:8-12

• God is using the Angels to announce the birth of His Son. I know my daughters and grandchildren are VERY special to me, but God did not send the angels down to announce any of their births!

• God used a star to guide the Magi as they looked for the Son of God.

• If God is going to all this trouble to announce the birth of Jesus, He was definitely no ordinary child!

SLIDE #6

2. A virgin birth is was not ordinary.

• Let us look at Luke 1:26-27 for a moment. SLIDE #7

• The Bible tells us that Mary was still a virgin. This is not a normal way human reproduction works. I do not think that one will work if tried today!

• SLIDE #8 We will look more at the significance of this later, but suffice to say, the means of conception was not an ordinary one. Even in the passage in Isaiah that we looked at it stresses the same thing.

• I wonder what Joseph was thinking. Hey Mary, eating too many Crispy Cream Doughnuts! SLIDE #9

• Look with me at Matthew 1:18-20. Joseph must have been wondering what was happening with the wife-to-be that he had not touched! READ PASSAGE

• Suffice to say, a virgin birth was not normal or ordinary.

SLIDE #10

3. The circumstances surrounding His birth were not ordinary.

TIMING

• I want you to think for a moment, you are God and you want to send your Son to the world to save the world. What time period would you choose? I think I would choose to send Him during the reign of David or even early in Solomon’s reign. What about now! Think if the Television and press coverage it would get?