Topic: Celebrating Christmas
Text: Math. 2: 11, Lk. 2: 8-20.
By: Pastor Dr. ‘Sola Oni, Houston South Foursquare Church, Houston, TX 77072
Introduction:
Christmas means different things to different people. To some it means a time of giving and receiving, to others, it is a time of decorating, changing homes and ward robes, yet to others it is a time of traveling and being with family members. To the believers it is a time of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
The basic question before us this morning is how does the Lord want mankind to celebrate or observe the Christmas season?
The two scriptures above give us an indication of how God want you and me to celebrate or observe the season. From the two texts, we can see three keys things the Lord wants us to do this season. These are:
1. He wants us to bow down and worship Him:
In Math. 2:11, we read that the Magi or Wise men left their abode in the East to come down to Bethlehem to look for Jesus and when they eventually found him, they did two things:
They bowed down and worshipped him;
The Maggi or Wise men as they called were already wise according to worldly standard, and yet in spite of their wisdom, they still thought it fit to or necessary to worship Jesus. You will agree with me that we bow down to a person of superior authority or power. The Wise men recognized that Jesus Christ has a superior authority or power than themselves or that he has something which they lacked, hence their reason for coming to look for and worship him. Every man or woman has something to receive from Jesus, no matter their wisdom or power or position of authority.
Do you consider yourself wise in your own eyes or people always tell you that you are intelligent and wise, the Lord God of heaven is saying the contrary to you this morning.
In 1 Cor.3: 19 he says” for the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight “, and in 20 “the thought of the wise are futile”. Why not be wise in God’s sight today; go, seek and bow down for Jesus instead of bowing down to those miserable things you call your gods (Gal.4: 9). I therefore encourage you this morning to be like the Wise men and Nichodemus and go and look for and worship him. You will never regret.
2. The second thing the Lord wants us to do this season is that; He wants us to package a gift for him:
Upon seeing Jesus, the Wise men opened their bags and presented to him their precious gifts.
In this season as we present and receive gifts from each other, there is a precious gift every man and woman has and which he wants us to present to him. This precious gift is found in the book of Proverb chapter 23 verse 26 which says; “My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways”.
The Lord wants our hearts and it is the best gift any man or woman can ever give to him. When you give him your heart, he stays there to direct, to lead and control you in all the things you do. And you will for ever be grateful to him you did.
In Revelation 3 verse 20, he says “behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me”.
Why not open the door of your heart to him now, so that he can lead and direct you successfully in the New Year that is approaching and years to come. He is very ready to do this for you.
3. Thirdly, He wants us to go out and spread the good news of glad tidings.
In our second text, Lk.2: 8-20, we were told that after the angel announced the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds, they (Shepherds) went to see if what they heard was true or not and after confirmation, they were overjoyed and went about spreading the good news to others.
In the same way the Lord wants you and me, who have had the opportunity of knowing him to go about spreading the good news of the birth or of his coming to others.
The Shepherds were ordinary men like you and me, busy with their work and yet they were considered worthy to receive a message from the Lord. In the same way you and me are privileged to know and hear about Jesus, let us therefore be like the Shepherds and go out and spread the good news of his coming and tell the world why we are celebrating his birth. He came to preach good news to the poor, to heal the sick, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”.(Isa. 61:1-2).
For those of us who have not had the opportunity of having a relationship with him, this is the time to go and confirm what you have been hearing about him and after confirmation you too can start going about spreading the good news like the Shepherds did.
Conclusion:
Irrespective of your situations and circumstances, the Lord has a message for you at Christmas. The Maggi or Wise men and ordinary Shepherds were part of the Christmas events; you too are parts of the things happening in the kingdom of God. Why not apply yourself to it today? You will never regret your did.
