INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Christmas 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?
• 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?
• As we spend some time examining the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus, I hope that we all realize that Jesus is worthy of our worship because He was NO ORDINARY CHILD!
• Let’s begin be noticing that Jesus had:
• SLIDE #2
SERMON
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.
• My great, great, great, grandparents did not announce the birth of Rachel way before it happened.
• 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!
• SLIDE #4
• Isaiah 7:14(ESV) 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
• We can also see that God used some other impressive ways to let the world know about the birth of His Son!
• SLIDE #5
• Luke 2:8-10(ESV) And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.
• 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’s look at Matthew 1:18
• SLIDE #7
• Matthew 1:18(ESV) 18Now 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.
• We are told specifically in Luke 1:26-27 that Mary was a virgin as well as Isaiah 7:14.
• Joseph must have been wondering what was happening with the wife-to-be that he had not touched!
• Hey Mary, eating too many Crispy Cream Doughnuts!
• Look at Matthew 1:19-20
• SLIDE #8
• Matthew 1:19-20(ESV) 19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But 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.
• Suffice to say, a virgin birth was not normal or ordinary.
• The second thing we want to see is that Jesus had:
• SLIDE #9
II. No ordinary heritage.
• Every human that I know and have ever heard of has an ordinary heritage.
• We may have some exciting people who were a part of our past, maybe we were related to George Washington or something, but we are all ordinary in the fact that we have a HUMAN mother and father! Let’s look at Jesus for a minute.
• SLIDE #10
1. One of His parents was human.
• In Matthew 1:18 among other places we see that Mary was the mother of Jesus.
• This passage tells us that Mary is the mother of Jesus. She is human and she is an ordinary young virgin girl.
• SLIDE #11
• Luke 1:28-29(ESV) 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
• Mary was VERY PERPLEXED. She could not figure out why SHE had found favor with God. Notice she did not run from the job, she did not try to bargain her way out of it. Mary accepted her chosen role from God.
• SLIDE #12
• Next we see:
2. One of His parents was God!
• Mary got pregnant by the Holy Spirit!
• Look at Matthew 1:20
• SLIDE #13
• Matthew 1:20(ESV) 20But 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.
• What is the implication of this extraordinary statement of fact?
• SLIDE #14
3. This makes Him God!
• I am an Anselmi because my father and mother are. Jesus is God because His Father is God!
• Look at what John 1:12 reminds us
• SLIDE #15
• John 1:1(ESV) 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
• SLIDE #16
• Jesus was no ordinary child because he had:
III. No ordinary Mission.
• Jesus was born for a special purpose, it was no ordinary purpose or mission!
• Jesus understood His purpose and mission and worked ot fulfill it.
• SLIDE #17
1. His mission was to save us from our sins!
• Jesus did not just come to be adored. He did not come just so He could see what it was like to live as a man; He came so we could have salvation!
• Look at verse 21 of Matthew 1.
• SLIDE #18
• Matthew 1:21(ESV) 21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
• This is so important because as long as you are still a slave to sin, you cannot be in the presence of God.
• When you come to Jesus, He cleanses you from your sins, and then His grace covers your shortcomings.
• SLIDE #19
• John 8:34 reminds us
• John 8:34(ESV) 34Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
• SLIDE #20
2. Jesus is the door we must go through to be a part of God’s family.
• If you want to go to heaven, you will not do it without Jesus! His mission was to adopt people into God’s family!
• SLIDE #21
• Galatians 4:4-5(ESV) 4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
• In John 14:6 Jesus reminds us…
• SLIDE #22
• John 14:6(ESV) 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• The other part of His extraordinary mission is…
• SLIDE #23
3. Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God!
• No one will fail be following Him counsel!
• Look at Isaiah 9:6
• SLIDE #24
• Isaiah 9:6-7(ESV) 6For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
• What is your child going to be when they grow up? A Doctor, Lawyer, construction worker? How about savior of the world! That is not ordinary mission!
• The final area that we want to examine that makes Jesus on ordinary child is…
• He invokes:
• SLIDE #25
IV. No Ordinary Response
• By His very nature, Jesus does not invoke an ordinary response. First of all…
• SLIDE #26
1. When Jesus was in the manger, He was cute.
• When a person is a baby, they are all cute. Puppies are cute, dogs are not. Kittens are still cute when they are cats
• Many of us can come to the manger and behold the baby Jesus because a baby does not pose a threat to us!
• We can all look into a stroller and look at a cute baby and go on with life.
• But there is something that we all need to realize when it comes to Jesus.
• SLIDE #27
2. Jesus grew up. We are faced with a choice to make that has eternal ramifications!
• You must choose who you are going to serve. Jesus came to give you life, Satan came to lie. Steal and destroy you.
• Jesus was born, He grew up, and He died on the cross for your sins. He rose on the third day to defeat death!
• Do you really think that God will let someone into heaven who rejects the Lordship of His Son whom He sent to die for you?
• The response that Jesus demands is one of total dedication. You are for Him or against Him; there is no middle ground with Jesus!
• Who are you going to rely on to get to heaven? How you chose has an eternal ramification!
CONCLUSION
• As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, just remember, He was no ordinary child. He desires and deserves our worship and devotion!
• The way you can truly celebrate Christmas is to give your life to Jesus and to accept the wonderful gift of salvation that He died on the cross so that you can have it!
