CHRISTMAS CAROL PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE
WE’VE JUST WATCH A TRAILER CHRISTMAS CAROL BY CHARLES DICKENS ADAPTED BY WALT DISNEY STUDIOS STARING JIM CAREY........
• Show Christmas Carol trailer
THE PLOT LINE : A ’ TIMELESS TALE ABOUT EBENEZER SCROOGE S A MISERLY OLD MAN WHO BELIEVES THAT CHRISTMAS IS JUST AN EXCUSE FOR PEOPLE TO MISS WORK AND FOR IDLE PEOPLE TO EXPECT HANDOUTS. HE DOESN’T BELIEVE IN ALL OF THE GOOD CHEER AND CHARITY THAT THE SEASON PROMOTES, AND HE MAKES SURE EVERYONE KNOWS IT.
IN THE NIGHT SCROOGE IS VISITED BY THE GHOST OF HIS FORMER BUSINESS ASSOCIATE , JACOB MARLEY -- A MAN WHO WAS AS GREEDY AND COLD AS SCROOGE IS. MARLEY WARNS SCROOGE THAT IF HE CONTINUES TO LIVE SO SELFISHLY, HE WILL SPEND ETERNITY WEARING THE CHAINS THAT HIS GREED HAS BUILT.
SO THREE SPIRITS VISIT SCROOGE SUCCESSIVELY: THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST, THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT AND THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME. THEY SHOW SCROOGE THE MAN HE USED TO BE, THE HARD TRUTH OF WHAT THE WORLD IS LIKE TODAY AND THE BLEAK PICTURE OF HIS FUTURE LIFE IF HE’S NOT PREPARED TO CHANGE HIS WAYS.
THE GOOD NEWS OF THIS TALE IS THAT SCROOGE AWAKES ON CHRISTMAS MORNING A NEW MAN. HE BECOMES JOLLY AND CHARITABLE, AND TRULY TURNS INTO THE MAN HE PROMISED THE SPIRITS HE WOULD BECOME. HE CARRIES THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS WITH HIM ALL THE YEAR ROUND. EBENEZER SCROOGE BECOMES A CHANGED MAN.
THE MORAL ELEMENT OF THIS TIMELESS TALE IS A STORY OF REDEMPTION, THIS STORY HAS MUCH IN COMMON WITH THE FIRST CHRISTMAS STORY WHEN THE CHRIST CHILD WAS BORN INTO THE WORLD HE CAME AND VISITED HUMANITY TO REDEEM US – TO AWAKEN US TO OUR CURRENT STATE WITHOUT GOD AND WITH HOPE IN THE WORLD, THE COMING OF JESUS IS A MESSAGE OF REDEMPTION WHEREBY GOD THROUGH JESUS DESIRES TO BRING LASTING CHANGE INTO ALL OUR LIVES.
• “ARE WE PREPARED TO BE CHANGED OR IS IT ALL SIMPLY BAH HUMBUG!”
YOU SEE JUST AS THE THREE SPIRITS OF PAST - PRESENT AND FUTURE SHOWED EBENEEZER THE PREDICAMENT OF HIS LIFE SET ON ITS CURRENT COURSE SO TONIGHT THE SPIRIT OF JESUS WILL SHOW YOU YOUR PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE THAT IF LEFT UNCHECKED WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU IN THE END!
1. THE PROBLEM OF OUR PAST.
THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PAST FIRST SHOWS SCROOGE....
• HIS OLD BOARDING SCHOOL WHERE HE WAS DESERTED BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
• THEN HE WAS SHOWN THE DAY WHEN HIS BELOVED, YOUNGER SISTER FAN PICKED HIM UP FROM THERE AFTER REPEATEDLY ASKING THEIR FATHER IF HE COULD COME BACK HOME.
• NEXT, SCROOGE WAS SHOWN AN EPISODE FROM HIS TIME AS AN APPRENTICE TO MR. FEZZIWIG.
• THE SPIRIT ALSO SHOWED SCROOGE THE DAY WHEN, AS A YOUNG MAN, HE LEFT BELLE, HIS FIANCÉE, AS HE HAD DEVELOPED MORE INTEREST IN MONEY THAN IN HER.
• FINALLY, THE SPIRIT SHOWED HIM HOW SHE MARRIED AND FOUND TRUE HAPPINESS WITH ANOTHER MAN. AFTER THIS VISION, SCROOGE, OUT OF ANGER, EXTINGUISHED THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST WITH HIS CAP AND FOUND HIMSELF BACK IN HIS BEDROOM.
IT WAS EBENEZER’S PAST WHICH HAD SHAPED AND MOLDED THE MAN HE WAS IN THE PRESENT AND AS HE LOOKED BACK HE WAS FILLED WITH REGRETS AND REMORSE.
GOD SEES ALL OUR PAST – PRESENT AND FUTURE - OUR PAST SHAPES AND MOULD US INTO THE PEOPLE WE ARE TODAY. THE PROBLEM OF OUR PAST - WE MUST BE TAKEN BACK TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND OUR ANCESTORS AND THEIR DISOBEDIENCE AGAINST GOD, THEY WERE IN A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BUT THEY CHOSE TO DISOBEY GOD AND GO THERE OWN WAY - AND WE AS A HUMAN RACE HAVE FOLLOWED IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS EVER SINCE.
AS YOU LOOK BACK OVER YOUR LIFE THERE WILL BE MAJOR INCIDENTS WHICH HAVE SHAPED AND MOLDED YOU INTO WHO YOU ARE NOW, IF YOU COULD TURN BACK THE CLOCK YOU WOULD CHANGE - WE HAVE ALL SINNED - CONSIDER YOUR PAST LOOK BACK OVER YOUR LIFE - COULD YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SAY YOU’VE NEVER SINNED? WHO HASN’T GOT SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET – THEY WOULD SOONER FORGET - NOBODY IS IMMUNE FROM PAST SINS WHICH WE MAY EVEN BE CARRYING RIGHT INTO THE PRESENT.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT JESUS WAS BORN INTO THIS WORLD OF SIN TO DEAL WITH HUMANITIES PROBLEM OF SIN. THE ANGEL APPEARED TO JOSEPH IN A DREAM AND SAID, DO NOT BE AFRAID TO TAKE MARY AS YOUR WIFE BECAUSE MATT 1:21 “ SHE WILL GIVE BIRTH TO A SON , AND YOU ARE TO GIVE HIM THE NAME JESUS, BECAUSE HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. JESUS ALONE IS ABLE TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM OF OUR SINS BY DYING UPON A CROSS HE WAS ABLE TO REDEEM US FROM THE PENALTY OUR SINS DESERVE.
2. THE PROBLEM OF OUR PRESENT.
THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT SHOWS EBENEZER WHAT HE HAD BECOME IN THE PRESENT A MISERABLE OLD MISER IN LOVE WITH MONEY AND INHUMAN TOWARDS THOSE AROUND HIM , HE CARED FOR HIMSELF ALONE AND HIS PRESENT LIFE WAS ONE OF MISERY NOT ONLY FOR HIMSELF BUT FOR THOSE AROUND HIM FOR INSTANCE THE FAMILY OF TINY TIM WHO IMPENDING DEATH WOULD BE HASTENED/HALTED BY HIS IMPENDING ACTIONS IN THE FUTURE .
EBENEZER’S PRESENT LIFE WAS ONE OF MISERY WHOSE ONLY PURPOSE WAS SELFISH GAIN AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS.
• WHAT IS TRUE FOR EBENEZER IS TRUE FOR OUR WORLD TODAY ...... ITS A WORLD GRIPPED BY IT OWN SELF INDULGENCE (RECENTLY WE HAD THE CREDIT CRUNCH. THIS WEEK IN COPENHAGEN THE RICHEST NATIONS CANNOT EVEN AGREE UPON SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURE OF THIS PLANET, BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN INTERESTS THEY RAISE THE AMOUNT OF POLLUTION TO 2% CAP .
• ON A PERSONAL LEVEL WE LIVE IN A “I WANT, GET’S” CULTURE . WHETHER THATS SEEN IN THE INCREASING CONSUMER CULTURE AND THE SHIFTING MORAL VALUES IN OUR NATION. PEOPLE LIVE INCREASINGLY AS THEY PLEASE – PUSHING BOUNDARIES LIKE A BABY WHOSE LOST ITS RATTLE WE SCREAM UNTIL WE GET WHAT WE WANT!
ITS OUR PAST WHICH HAS SHAPED OUR PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES. WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.........FOR INSTANCE....
• A PERSON WHO EXPERIENCES ABUSE AND NEGLECT - IS OFTEN FACED WITH HUGE RELATIONAL PROBLEMS IN THE PRESENT.
• THE CASUAL HEROIN USER LATER BECOMES - THE ADDICT WHO DIES IN AN ABANDONED SQUAT.
• MEN/WOMEN WITH NO MORALITY WHO SIMPLY SLEEP AROUND WITH MEN/WOMEN - BECOMES THE MIDDLE AGED VICTIM OF HIV .
• THE BUSINESS WOMAN WHO HAS MADE HER LIFE GOAL MONEY AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS IS LEFT ISOLATED, A MISER AND ALL ALONE IN THE PRESENT.
• THE MEN /WOMEN WHOSE SIMPLY LIVE A LIFE DEVOID OF GOD ARE LEFT ASKING THE QUESTION AT THE END OF THEIR DAYS, “WHAT’S LIFE ALL ABOUT.”
• THE RELIGIOUS PERSON WHO HAS STRIVED ALL THEIR LIVES TO PLEASE GOD – AND YET IS LEFT WITH OVERWHELMING DOUBT AND GUILT IN THE PRESENT .
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT JESUS CAME TO SET US FREE FROM THE PROBLEM OF OUR PRESENT LIVES – HE CAME TO GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY NOT ONLY TO DEAL WITH OUR PAST SINS WHICH HINDER US IN THE PRESENT BUT THEN TO MOVE US ON TO THE NEXT LEVEL TO GIVE US NEW BIRTH (JHN 3:3. TO BE BORN AGAIN) JESUS IS ABLE TO RADICALLY TRANSFORM OUR LIVES IN THE PRESENT - SO WHATEVER HINDERS YOU TODAY CAN BE REMOVED. “ANYBODY WHO BELIEVES IN JESUS CHRIST BECOMES A BRAND NEW CREATION!” “THE OLD PASSES AWAY AND ALL THINGS BECOME NEW!”
YOU SEE THE WONDERFUL NEWS OF THE INCARNATION IS THAT “GOD IS WITH US” IN THE PRESENT ‘IMMANUEL’ WE ARE NO LONGER ALONE . BY GODS POWER WE CAN OVERCOME THOSE THINGS IN OUR LIVES THAT WOULD WANT TO KEEP US FROM LIVING A LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY JHN.10:10 . YOU SEE SIN LEFT UNCHECKED DESTROYS LIVES, BUT JESUS EMPOWERS LIVES AND DESTROYS SIN IN THE PRESENT!
• SO THE PERSON HAS FACED NEGLECT AND ABUSE IS ABLE TO FORGIVE AND ENTER INTO MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS ONCE AGAIN. (BECAUSE GOD IS WITH THEM IN THE PRESENT)
• THE YOUNG HEROIN ADDICT WHO’S SUDDENLY CONVERTED AND TRANSFORMED BECOMES CLEAN OF THE DRUGS THAT BOUND HIM IN THE PAST. (BECAUSE GOD IS WITH THEM IN THE PRESENT)
• THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO LIVE IMMORAL LIVES ARE TRANSFORMED AND LIVE MORAL LIVES WHICH PLEASE GOD. (BECAUSE GOD IS WITH THEM IN THE PRESENT)
• THE BUSINESS WOMAN WHO EMBRACES JESUS , SEES THE REAL POINT OF LIFE AND USES HER MONEY FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS TO GODS GLORY. (BECAUSE GOD IS WITH THEM IN THE PRESENT)
• MEN AND WOMEN WHO ONCE LIVE LIVES DEVOID OF GOD BEGIN TO LIVE LIVES WITH GOD OVERFLOWING OUT OF THEIR LIVES EVERYDAY . (BECAUSE GOD IS WITH THEM IN THE PRESENT)
• AND RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ONCE FILLED WITH DOUBTS AND GUILT ARE RELEASED FROM GUILT AND ASSURED THAT JESUS HAS SET THEM FREE TO REALLY LIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME! (BECAUSE GOD IS WITH THEM IN THE PRESENT)
• MATT 1:23 “THE VIRGIN WILL BE WITH CHILD AND WILL GIVE BIRTH TO A SON , AND THEY WILL CALL HIM IMMANUEL – WHICH MEANS GOD WITH US”
THE FACT THAT GOD IS WITH US MEANS WE ALL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE IN THE PRESENT WE NO LONGER HAVE TO ACCEPT THE STATUS QUO WE CAN BEGIN TO LIVE ANEW LIFE BECAUSE HE IS WITH US.
3. THE PROBLEM OF OUR FUTURE.
HEB 9:27. IT IS DESTINED FOR MAN ONCE TO DIE , AND THEN AFTER THAT TO FACE THE JUDGEMENT.
THE THIRD CHRISTMAS SPIRIT THAT CAME TO VISIT EBENEZER WAS THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME THE MOST FEARSOME OF THE SPIRITS A FIGURE ENTIRELY MUFFLED IN A BLACK HOODED ROBE, EXCEPT FOR A SINGLE GAUNT HAND WITH WHICH HE POINTS. THIS SPIRITS APPEAREANCE IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GRIM REAPER. HE SHOWS SCROOGE.....
1. THREE WEALTHY GENTLEMEN MAKING LIGHT OF A RECENT DEATH, WHO REMARK THAT IT WILL BE A CHEAP FUNERAL, AND THEY WOULD ONLY GO IF LUNCH IS PROVIDED.
2. SCROOGE IS SHOWN THE SAME DEAD PERSON’S BELONGINGS BEING STOLEN AND SOLD TO A RECEIVER OF STOLEN GOODS CALLED OLD JOE. HE ALSO SEES A SHROUDED CORPSE, WHICH HE IMPLORES THE SPIRIT NOT TO UNMASK, AND A POOR, DEBTOR FAMILY REJOICING THAT SOMEONE TO WHOM THEY OWED MONEY IS DEAD.
3. AFTER PLEADING TO THE SPIRIT TO SEE SOME TENDERNESS CONNECTED WITH DEATH, SCROOGE IS SHOWN BOB CRATCHIT AND HIS FAMILY MOURNING THE PASSING OF TINY TIM.
4. FINALLY SCROOGE IS THEN TAKEN TO AN UNKEMPT GRAVEYARD, WHERE HE IS SHOWN HIS OWN GRAVE, AND REALIZES THAT THE DEAD MAN OF WHOM THE OTHERS SPOKE ILL WAS HIMSELF.
WHERE SCROOGRE ASKS ..... “BEFORE I DRAW NEARER TO THAT STONE TO WHICH YOU POINT, ANSWER ME ONE QUESTION. ARE THESE THE SHADOWS OF THE THINGS THAT WILL BE, OR ARE THEY SHADOWS OF THINGS THAT MAY BE, ONLY?”
STILL THE SPIRIT POINTED DOWNWARD TO THE GRAVE BY WHICH IT STOOD. “MEN’S COURSES WILL FORESHADOW CERTAIN ENDS, TO WHICH, IF PERSEVERED IN, THEY MUST LEAD,” SAID SCROOGE. “BUT IF THE COURSES BE DEPARTED FROM, THE ENDS WILL CHANGE. SAY IT IS THUS WITH WHAT YOU SHOW ME!”
AND IN AN EPIPHANY MOMENT SCROOGE UNDERSTANDS THE CHANGES THAT THE VISITS OF THE THREE SPIRITS HAVE WROUGHT IN HIM, SCROOGE EXCLAIMS: "I AM NOT THE MAN I WAS, I WILL NOT BE THE MAN I MUST HAVE BEEN BUT FOR THIS INTERCOURSE. WHY SHOW ME THIS, IF I AM PAST ALL HOPE! I WILL HONOUR CHRISTMAS IN MY HEART, AND TRY TO KEEP IT ALL THE YEAR. I WILL LIVE IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE. THE SPIRITS OF ALL THREE SHALL STRIVE WITHIN ME. I WILL NOT SHUT OUT THE LESSONS THAT THEY TEACH. OH, TELL ME I MAY SPONGE AWAY THE WRITING ON THIS STONE!”
FRIENDS JESUS GIVES US THE SIMILAR LESSONS TO LEARN AND OPPORTUNITIES TO CHANGE OUR PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE ( JOHN 3:16 – 18) . MUST READ THE TEXT.
TODAY THE SPIRIT OF JESUS HAS SHOWN YOU YOUR PAST - YOUR PRESENT AND YOUR FUTURE WHAT WILL YOURS BE? WILL YOU HAVE A MOMENT OF REDEMPTION? WILL YOU BE A CHANGED PERSON? FORGIVEN OF ALL YOUR SINS, A TRANSFORMED LIFE IN THE PRESENT WITH TE GUARANTEE OF AND ETERNAL LIFE FOR THE FUTURE IN THE GLORY OF HEAVEN OR AN ETERNITY IN HELL?
• DO YOU BELIEVE OR IS IT ALL BAH HUMBUG?’ AMEN
