TITLE: What Some Folks Don't Know About Christmas
TEXT: Galatians 4:4-5
INTRO: For 74 years, Russia had no official Christmas holiday. The Communists replaced the Bethlehem star with the red star. They banned Christmas trees and turned Christmas into a holiday celebrating Father Frost. Then, in 1992, Christmas once again became a holiday. The entire nation embarked on a search for a feast, a tradition, a heritage that had been lost to them for so long.
Today, America is in danger of losing all consciousness of God, and many folks don't know about the real meaning of Christmas.
I. THEY DON'T KNOW WHY WE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS
A. Why We Give Gifts on Christmas
1. It Recognizes the true Spirit of Christmas
-As Paul wrote: "I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Act 20:35)
# Recently, we went with a bus load of people to Charlotte, NC to help sort shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. In a huge warehouse there were thousands of shoe boxes, filled with gifts for children around the world. Many of them have never heard of Christmas or received any kind of gift. This year, for the first time, because of Operation Christmas Child, they will receive Christmas gifts and hear of Jesus for the first time.
2. Because God first gave to us [John 3:16]
3. Because Jesus gave His life to save us
"...the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Mat 20:28)
B. Why We Sing Christmas Carols
1. Because a chorus of angels announced Jesus' Birth
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luk 2:13-14)
2. Christmas carols go back a long way
-In AD 129, a Roman Bishop said that a song called "Angel's Hymn" should be sung at a Christmas service in Rome
3. Because there's a song in our hearts
(Eph 5:19) Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord
II. THEY DON'T KNOW WHO JESUS WAS
A. That He Was God Wrapped in Human Flesh
"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him" (Col 1:16)
"Who is He in yonder stall
At Whose feet the shepherds fall?
’Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!
’Tis the Lord! the King of glory!"
B. That He Didn't Remain a Baby
1. He grew up into manhood, and He walked on water,
-He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear,
the dead to live again;
the lame to leap, the dumb to speak
the praises of the lamb
2. He is the great "I Am,"
the King of Kings, and the Lord of Glory
C. That He Died on a Cross for Our Sins
(1Pe 2:24) "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
III. THEY DON'T KNOW THAT HE IS COMING AGAIN
A. The Bible Prophesied His First and His Second Coming
1. The NT refers to His return 321 times
2. He Promised (Joh 14:3) "...I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
B. His Coming Will be in Two Phases
1. Before the Tribulation....to Rapture His Saints
(1 Thes. 4:16) "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first"
2. Following the Tribulation, He will come to Judge
CONCL: A mother decided to let her kids make their own decision about faith. When her teenage daughter was invited to a Christmas concert by a friend, she came home and said, "Mom you wouldn't believe it. Those people talked about Jesus like he was real!"
Is He real to you, today?
1. Christmas is not about the innocence of small children,
or the joys of family get-togethers
2. It is about believing & receiving Jesus into your heart & life
Amen
