*before you read any further...I want to acknowledge that the outline of this sermon is from John Gastons sermon "What if Jesus had never been born"
It's a great word and one that can be adapted to everyone's personal
preferences as I have
I believe it is one that every pastor should read...it's a different perspective on Christmas and one that should be shared.
What Would Christmas Be...With out Christ?
John 15:22 NKJ
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin
I'm sure we all remember the movie it's a wonderful life… That had Jimmy Stewart playing the part of George Bailey who worked at a small town Savings and Loan bank as a loan officer
And George was a great guy, but someone played a trick on him and made it look like he had turned out to be dishonest.
And one thing led to another until George is finally pushed to the point of suicide
But God sends an Angel to him just before he's ready to jump off of a bridge
into the river
The angels name is Clarence… And he begins to tell George it's not so bad and everything will work out alright...but then George proceeds to tell him that it is bad enough that he wishes he had never been born
And George gets what he wishes for...The angel takes him on an incredible journey
to his sleepy little town and what life would've been like without him being in it
George goes back to a town that has been given over to gambling, drinking, and other illicit things… The people he had always known as kind and nice were mean, hard, and rude.
In other words without George involved, the town had went to Hell in a hand-basket
George finally begins to comprehend the incredible difference of what he thought
his miserable life had made on that community and the ones that he loves
and he begs the angel to reverse the terrible request that he made.
George is once again glad to be alive, despite his terrible difficulties, because he can now see the impact for good that his life had upon his town, friends, and family.
And if you don't see the movie this year..I'm sure you just went through it from the memories you have of it.
And that brings me to today's message…
As I was driving around the other night I couldn't help but notice that hardly no one decorates anymore the exteriors of their houses during Christmas season.
Oh you'll see a nice display of lights occasionally here and there…oh and there's always the one house,
you know the way over-the-top house with every thing imaginable except for anything that has to do with the real meaning of Christmas
And the downtown area is just not the same anymore as far as Christmas decorations go… There are few and far in between
In the world we live there are many different groups of people
whose only objective is to try to get rid of anything that pertains
to God or his son Jesus
Prayer has been eradicated from school…
They say that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because of the mention of God…
They're all for the first amendment as long as you don't use it for religious purposes…
You can't even have the nativity scene anymore on the court house square...without fear of having a lawsuit filed against you
And to that I say...I object that you object and if you don't like it...Sue me and I will gladly pay the fine. Amen?
So today's message takes it from the vantage point… What if Jesus had never been born!
If Jesus had never been born…how would we be affected, how would the world be different, what would be our outlook on life?
We live in a world where they are not just trying...
to kill Christians in other countries because of what they stand for...
But "they are" killing them...even this week we hear news of four youths
And they were beheaded...because they wouldn't renounce the name of Jesus
So if Jesus would've never been born…How would the world be different?
Well, for one thing...there would be
NO CHRISTMAS! NO JOY! NO HOPE!
Those groups of people wouldn't have to worry about threatening to sue municipalities relentlessly about...
over the phrase of Merry Christmas and replacing it with happy holidays...
Because there would be no holiday to celebrate at all!
Do they even realize the ramifications of removing Christ from Christmas?
Just imagine for a moment if you will...
No Children’s joy, no singing, no family get-togethers;
gone is all the Christmas food and fabulous desserts
No Christmas shopping. No sales to stimulate the spending urges
No Black Friday sales...no ridiculously good deals…
No incentive by the stores, to even have a good deal!
Just think about ole Santa Claus… Why he'd be out of a job standing in the unemployment line looking for a job
Think of how not only the U.S. economy would crumble...but the whole worlds
Economy, because after all we live in a global economy
And extremely large percentage of businesses...
make their whole years profit at the end of the year...
How would they survive?
There’d be no joy, no hope, no peace, no grace and no forgiveness of sin...
because Jesus would never have come into the world to offer any of them
Illus.
“A CHRISTMAS CONTEMPLATION” POEM
1. “Twas evident God’s gracious plan of salvation
Could only succeed with Christ’s participation.
2. “Had He been unwilling to come down to Earth,
It’s not hard to guess what your soul would be worth.
3. “Just for a moment imagine the worst,
The whole Creation hopelessly cursed.
4. “The wrath of God poured out on every nation,
No way could He temper eternal damnation.
5. A world without joy full of darkness and gloom,
The ravage of unrestrained sin seals its doom.
6. “No Christmas, no Easter, no Thanksgiving either,
& don’t look for peace or goodwill (you’ll find neither).
7. Devoid of significance would be the Cross,
No blood atonement to cover sin’s loss.
8. “No gospel to tell us of God’s divine purchase,
No missionaries, no pastors, not even our churches.
9. “Gone would faith, hope, and charity be too;
For only the wages of sin would accrue.
10. Men’s hearts would be hateful, spiteful, & scornful,
But wait! There’s no reason why you should be mournful!
11. For what I’ve described here can never take place –
The world has received such abundance of Grace!
12. Christ DID come to Earth on that 1st Christmas Day,
So all men could know He’s God’s chosen way!
If Jesus would've never been born… What would impact be on Western civilization?
How would of history been rewritten?
When the Roman Empire fell, there would be no church would hold it together.
No Crusades – the Muslim religion would have dominated Europe and eventually come to America.
Columbus, who acted under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would not have discovered the New World.
The Pilgrims would've never ventured to Plymouth Rock to have freedom of religion...
because they would not have been seeking out a place that they could worship
God and His Son Jesus...the way they wanted to, if He didn't exist..
No Thanksgiving...without Jesus Grace would have never replaced condemnation
So what would there even be to be thankful for?
Slavery would still continue. The leaders of the “abolition” movement were all Christians.
Women worldwide would be 2nd class citizens, not able to drive a car or vote...
Required to cover every part of their body except for their eyes…
With no rights at all...
There would be no freedom of speech or first amendment...
or any other amendment of the Constitution…
Because there would be no America as we know it or constitution needed to go by...
THE MARK OF CHRISTIANITY IS ON EVERYTHING!!
Matt13:31-32
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches”
Evolution is based on the idea that everything just evolved from nothing and no outside he'll help from anyone or anything
But when you look around you can see Jesus fingerprint on everything and anything that exist… it's everywhere!
And and no matter how much you try to deny it…there's no denying it
What about science?
1. In history, many/ most scientists were Christians. Often times they claimed their inventions were the product of an inspiration from God. Ex., Samuel Morse claimed that the idea of the telegraph was given him by God
Johan Kepler, astronomer..
sir Isaac Newton, Physics
Albert Einstein, theory of relativity
Four Men who claim to be Christians…
Four of the most important discoveries of all time...
I don't know about you but thats just one of those things
that makes me go Hmmm?
Oh yes we can't forget Charles Darwin Who discovered evolution...
He wasn't a Christian when he discovered it…
But The story goes…when his life was ending he became a Christian and as he lay Ill...told his young son "he said boy, your mother was right" do what your mother tells you
Thank God for praying mothers!!
Illus.
“ONE SOLITARY LIFE”
1. He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. He never wrote a book, He never held an office, He never went to college, He never visited a big city, He never travelled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things usually associated with greatness. He had no credentials but himself.
2. He was only thirty three. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
3. Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today Jesus is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress.
4. All the armies that have ever marched, All the navies that have ever sailed, All the parliaments that have ever sat, All the kings that ever reigned put together -- have not affected the life of mankind on earth as powerfully as that
one solitary life.
What about all the great Christian institutions, music, art and architecture…
There would be no beautiful Cathedrals
No 16th Chapel Beautiful murals to paint and Michelangelo The artist, would've probably been no more than a house painter
There would be no Catholic hospitals to take care of hurting sick people…
No saint E, no saint Jude's
Because there would be no Catholic Church, no Pope
and without Jesus…NO HOPE EITHER!
For that matter…there probably wouldn't be any churches at all, because without Jesus there would be no need for a church to go learn about him
and how He changed the world...
There would be no Salvation Army...
or any of the other hundreds of Christian organizations....
to clothe, feed and comfort millions upon millions of people each and every year...because there would be no salvation, or calling for them to do that sort of thing
Sometimes we like to think that maybe those who are calling for Christ to be removed from Christmas… Really don't know what they're doing
And for the sake of argument maybe they don't… But I can tell you the one who is behind the whole idea...definitely knows what he's doing
Or at least thinks he knows what he's doing, BECAUSE...he's been doing it for a long time…
Ever since he was kicked out of heaven for thinking that he could even be in the same league as Jesus
John 10:7-10 NKJ
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
That verse pretty much sums it up...
A life without Jesus is a life stolen, killed and destroyed
A life with Jesus in it, it's a life to be experienced in His abundance
The biggest uncertainty that would be questioned if they're never would have been a Jesus… Is the uncertainty of life after death
But God the father never wanted or intended on us experiencing
life without his son in it!
John 3:16-17 NKJ
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
A life without Jesus and it would have been a life full of condemnation, a life of sin and death with no hope whatsoever of salvation
But instead God sent his son, his one and only son Jesus
So that whoever would believe on him, would not have to face the condemnation of the accuser or the world...but could experience eternal life.
The Msg says it this way..
He came so they could have real and eternal life, a more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
I think I would call that "A wonderful life"!!!!!! Amen?
Illus
A boy and his father read a devotional just before bedtime. It was a scripture where Jesus said, “If I had not come…” John 15:22.
When he awoke (he thought) Christmas morning, there were no stocking on the fireplace of Christmas tree.
He went for a walk and found the factory down the street bustling with activity; no one was off work.
He went by the orphanage, but found it only a vacant lot. He went to his church and found a for sale sign reading, “If I had not come…”
The hospital was not on the hill dominating the city. Only a billboard reading, “If I had not come…”
Panic-stricken, he ran home and picked up his Bible, but all the last part (N.T.) of it, the pages were blank!
He woke up in a sweat and to his relief, it was just a dream! Are you surprised he slipped down to his knees and said, “Dear Jesus, I’m so grateful you DID come! Help me to tell others about you!
That should be our prayer this Christmas season and every season…
To share the gift..to share the story of how a little boy forever changed the world,
How He brought hope, peace, love and forgiveness
And a way of salvation…for everyone who would believe
Do you know Jesus today as your personal Lord and Savior?
If not you can, and if not… Why not do it today
Why not ask him in your heart right now?
And now why don't we all make it a point
to tell someone about Jesus and help keep Christ in Christmas.
Amen?
Let's Pray
