4 Tickets to Christmas
December 14th and 16th, 2007
A. Christmas is often a story with many different side stories. We are all familiar the basic plot. Christmas is a season of hope. But it also has many different sub settings, scenarios and scenes. It does not matter if we are living at the beginning of the twentieth or the twenty first century. Perhaps that is why we all find Christmas so mysterious. It has the potential to give meaning to us no matter where we might find ourselves.
i. The cry of the human heart is the same. We all have dreams and disappointments. We all have delays. We all have desires to belong. We have the desire for purpose.
ii. Life sometimes let’s us down and other times puts us in the wrong place. Sometimes life breaks down. Relationships disintegrate. Roles are reversed.
iii. At times it brings the fulfillment of a dream or even a destiny. Other times it can lead to dismay.
b. The cast of characters in this year’s Christmas production all have the struggle of some situation that has let them down.
i. The financial pressures of the Richmonds
ii. The inability of Grandpa to read
iii. The displacement from the homeland of Victor
iv. The disharmony between Henry and Chester
v. The longing of a little boy who would rather work the farm than the stage.
c. The one thing that can pull them all together is Christmas and the Christ whom we celebrate this season.
i. The ultimate scenario of Christmas is not whether we will be at home or away. It is not the century we live in. It is not even whether we get together with our relatives.
ii. The plot of Christmas is to bring us back to God. The ultimate displacement in the story is the disharmony between God and man. As Henry and Chester have a disintegrated relationship, so too mankind has been distanced from God the Father. This eternal Father has always longed for his children to come back to the farm.
There is a story in Luke 15 about the displacement between a father and a son. Sometimes dreams must wait. Sometimes plans come late. Sometimes it takes years. There is a God who is waiting. He is longing for you to come to him. He can’t wait for reunion.
iii. Jesus Christ made that reconciliation possible. He came to earth to reconcile mankind with God. We all have gone our own way and strayed from the dream God has for us and the human race.
iv. Somehow we have left God out of the Christmas story. It often becomes about something else.
For some it is only about family, festivities and food.
For some though, it is about following God’s will. It is about finding a love beyond comprehension.
B. The apostle Paul said, “thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15) That indescribable gift is the giving of Jesus to the world for the forgiveness of sins and membership in the family of God. It is about a way where the God of the universe can also be our father.
C. Do you know God in a personal way?
a. It is as simple as asking God to become your father and bring you into the family of God. It is as simple as receiving the free gift of new life in Jesus. This includes our assurance of eternal life. It means so much more. It means we become the means whereby the work of God is accomplished in the world.
b. Today might be your day of destiny. It might be the day you discover the dream of becoming a part of God’s family.
D. We invite you to join us on the journey of discovering the grace of God week to week.
a. We are a fraternity of brothers and sisters learning to love and serve God as well as each other.
b. We would love for you to join us. YOU HAVE A TICKET IN YOUR HAND.
i. Listen to your heart
ii.It is time to come home.
