How to Celebrate Christmas
Scripture: Luke 2:120
Introduction: During this season of shopping and entertaining, let's remember why Christmas is celebrated in the first place. We decorate our homes, send out cards, visit friends, buy presents, and go caroling.
There are a lot of stores that would go broke if it wasn’t for the Christmas season. Some people celebrate a portion of Christmas Day watching football games. (Personally I am not in that club) But for some, it's a time for drinking and partying. (not in that club either)
Studies show that cases of depression, drunk driving accidents, suicide, even domestic violence all increase during the holiday period. Many of these are tied to alcohol and drug abuse typically engaged by people who are trying to cope with holiday stress. Every alcohol treatment center I have worked in the census goes up after the holidays.
Although Christmas is meant to be a happy and joyful time, this isn't how everyone feels at this time of the year. Christmas can be a stressful and depressing time for many people. But on the other side. What a great time for Christians to share God’s love
Deuteronomy 31:8 “… It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 32:10: In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.
Psalms 34:17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all there trouble
Some people find that the Christmas spirit can be undermined by:
Financial and time pressures
The expense of gifts and food, the pressure of shopping and the expectations of the season can make Christmas an extremely stressful time.
Isolation
Some people find themselves alone at Christmas time. This may be due to relocation to a city far from relatives, a marital break-up, or family estrangement. The emphasis on family, friends and shared good times during the 'festive season' can make these people feel depressed and unloved
Family tensions
All families experience tension to some degree. Part of the reason why Christmas time can be so stressful is the unrealistic expectation of coming together as a happy family on this one day of the year.
Separation or divorce
It can be hard for a 'fractured' family to face its first Christmas. Perhaps the parents have separated or divorced, or a family member is overseas and unable to attend the traditional celebrations. \
Step-families
Around four per cent of Australian families are step-families, while blended families (partners who each have children from prior relationships) account for about three per cent. In some cases, Christmas for these families can be extremely difficult.
Looking back without joy
The close of another year often prompts people to reflect on their achievements – or disappointments – over the previous 12 months. Some people mourn the loss of another year of their lives.
But this is a holiday to honor the fact that God sent His Son to be born in a manger and to become our Savior. As Christians, we should celebrate in a unique way. I'd like to suggest four responses to the birthday of Christ based on today's passage
1. By Witnessing About Christ (v. 17). The shepherds "made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child." We're to make Him known to those around us and help them understand that He came as a Savior.
There are many opportunities available during Christmas. We can witness through the cards we send out. We witness by how we decorate our homes. We witness through the seasonal music we sing.
And we witness by inviting people to attend church services with us. Many will come at this season of the year that would never darken our doors otherwise. Be intentional about sharing Christ this Christmas.
2. By Wondering at Christ (v. 18). Those who heard the shepherds wondered at the things told them. I was reminded this week of a word seldom used today: muse. It means sit back, meditate, and think.
The word amuse adds the negative prefix which means "to not muse." Amusements are those things that keep us from thinking seriously about anything. Christmas is a wonderful time for amusement, yet when those in Luke 2 heard about Jesus they mused on Him.
Think about it! Here is a story of purity wrapped up in the birth of a Child born to a young mother. Here is joy amidst seeming tragedy. Here is a great announcement to a lowly group of shepherds.
Here is a Baby born to die. Here is a King born in stable to poor parents, yet was God manifest in flesh. G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "In the presence of such a holy miracle, there can be no fitting attitude of the human intellect save that of acceptance of the truth without any attempt to explain the mystery."
By Waiting Before Christ (v. 19). We also celebrate Christmas by waiting before Christ, even as Mary pondered all these things in her heart. You say, "Isn't that what you were just saying?" Well, the word ponder is even more intense than wonder.
It means to delve beneath the surface and to contemplate, trying to understand. Mary pondered and treasured them up. She committed them to memory. She was a woman who thought deeply about what was happening in her life.
It's easy to become so busy between Thanksgiving and Christmas that we don't spend time in personal Bible study and prayer. We can let the outward celebrations of the holiday take us away from the one thing that could mean the most to us as Christians. We have to make time for waiting before God.
4. By Worshiping Christ (v. 20). The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God. I believe Christmas affords tremendous opportunities for glorifying God as we sing our wonderful carols, as we pray personally, quietly praise Him, and publicly worship.
Oh, to celebrate Christmas as Christians, we've got to take a step back from the busyness of the season and the materialism of the world and focus on Him! Here is a poem I found on sermon central that pretty well describes Christmas today.
What Really Matters
It was two weeks before Christmas and it began to start. Everyone was scrambling and rushing to get to Wal-Mart. Their credit cards were in the orange and checking account in the red in hopes that their rich uncle would soon be dead.
Old Saint Nick sitting high on a mountain top watching, waiting with a smile because, he knows the sales will bring shivers and grins to the rich folks in just a little while.
Mommies and Daddies go to cocktail parties and Daddy drinks away the pain. While their teenage kids take drugs to do the same.
A homeless man is cold and holding up a sign, “I lost my job would you kindly spare a dime. I’ve got a wife and little boy who always depended on me but, all seems hopeless so we had to turn to charity.”
Our leaders gave our jobs to the foreign lands to make the economy strong so we could still stand but, we depended on God in the past for wrongs and what’s right but, now it seems God gets farther from our site.
It seems it’s going to take more than just knock some buildings down and take over three thousand lives to turn to a Saviour who can turn our lives and country around.
It was little baby Jesus who was born over two thousand years ago the one wrapped in rags in a stable the free gift of life not with a fancy bow.
It was God in the flesh who grew into a man to die for all who would believe in His plan.
Salvation is paid for by way of the cross by a man name Jesus its God’s love for the lost.
So stop and think when in the Christmas rush, what really matters to all of us. It’s not Old Saint Nick or the man in the suit of red, its Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead.
Poem was written by Ronnie Miller year 2004
Conclusion: Years ago in a European country, a christening took place for a baby who had been born to royalty. As the guests arrived, a servant met them at the door and took their wraps. Eventually someone asked, "Where's the baby?"
The nurse was sent to fetch him, but she couldn't find him. Finally, a guest recalled having seen the baby in the bed where the coats had been placed. The parents were horrified to find there the lifeless form of their son who had been smothered under the pile of coats. What irony.
The real purpose of the gathering had been forgotten and the one to be honored was killed. I wonder if that isn't true for many at this time of year. Jesus is our celebration. He is our Honored One.
He is our King. This year let's honor Him by witnessing, wondering, waiting before Him and worshiping Him!
