Preparing for Christmas
Introduction-
As we get closer to Christmas, the key to preparing for Christmas is staying focused on Jesus.
All the distractions only put Jesus on the outside looking in on our Christmas instead of us looking in on Jesus and the true reason for Christmas.
We as Christians say Jesus is the reason for Christmas, but our actions and our words have to line up.
Jesus coming to this earth was the greatest gift of kindness and offered hope to a world that is hopelessly heading to their destruction.
Biblical hope is more than wishy-washy “hope everything is okay.”
Hope in the Bible is not an action, it is a person. That person is Jesus Christ.
You take Jesus out of Christmas and all you have is mass chaos of present buying and business.
What will make this Christmas different?
I said about random acts of kindness. Doing something you don’t normally do.
Why? Because it changes our normal actions, attitude, and the way we do things.
So again, I ask you, what will be different? Deciding if you are going to change your attitude and actions to line up with what you know to be right.
1 Peter 1:3-1:7 Read from Bible
Jesus in the manger, the birth of Jesus Christ, the announcement to the shepherds of God showing up in the fields as they tended their sheep are more than stories we tell our children a few days before Christmas.
It was the starting point of a God who loved us enough to leave all of heaven to redeem mankind because of a love we can only imagine.
I cannot separate the two, the birth of Jesus, and the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus at Easter time. Christmas (His birth)and Easter (His death, burial, resurrection) is what hope we have for all of eternity.
Because we have this inheritance as a believer, it is our hope for all of eternity. It cannot perish, spoil, it is result of faith in Jesus Christ. That baby! God Almighty, coming to redeem mankind.
Peter encourages us here- The Christmas Story, Luke 2, Jesus coming as a baby to a hopeless world, encourages us to look past our present trials to a future glory in Christ.
Believers then, as well as today face many trials, including false accusations, health suffering, people doing you wrong, hateful comments, all point back to a God that hurt for us, not only I hope everything is okay, but hurt enough for us to come to this polluted world to offer redemption.
Every year we battle people to maintain Christmas mangers, Christmas plays, saying Merry Christmas instead of a generic Happy Holidays. The store people may not be able to say Merry Christmas but God’s people should be able.
At Christmas time more than ever, our text, preparing for Christmas, should become more alive to us as we look to Christ at Christmas.
I have come to a conclusion, maybe you too, that I don’t need to be politically correct, I just need to be correct, correct in God’s eyes.
Romans 5:8-
“But God showed his great love for us sending Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners.”
In that manger was God expressing His love to mankind. Though they tried to stop it, His love for us was put into motion to become a plan of salvation.
John 3:16-17 Read from Bible
The love of God is so deep that we cannot fathom its depth.
It is hard for us to imagine a God who could love us that much when we live in a world that is filled with hate.
Acts of kindness are getting rarer and rarer, that why I encouraged you to be different.
If you are convinced that God hates you, it will be hard for you to trust him with your life.
But the Bible teaches us and shows us that God does love us that much and has a plan for each of our lives.
The goal of God’s redemptive plan was not to express his anger at the world but his love and intent was to save those that would trust him.
He desires for us to live in freedom not fear.
John the Baptist was a forerunner of Christ- Jesus had a plan and John was to announce it and prepare the way.
The followers of John the Baptist saw Jesus and Jesus followers baptizing people and they were confused and a bit jealous.
I like the way the New Living Translation puts it.
John 3:27-3:36- Read from New Living Translation
Do you see what was happening here?
John’s followers were concerned that Jesus and his followers had rising popularity and would eclipse that of the teacher.
John was reminding them of the plan. John was the forerunner, and Jesus was the reason.
He was the one sent by God the Father, He speaks God’s words, He has the Spirit, and God has placed the redemption of mankind on the works of Jesus.
John 3:11-3:15- NIV Reading
You will speak what you have learned also what you believe)
You will act out what you believe (To accept Christ is more than words, it starts there , because you have to profess, but it has to be lived out in your life.
You people- do not accept the testimony of God
You people- those that struggle with the born again experience.
It is more than words. It is more than a baby in a manger.
It is the acceptance that God loves you that much that He would leave heaven so that you might have the opportunity to live eternally with him.
The struggle
That Christ came into this world to redeem mankind.
That God could come in the flesh.
“That whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
“God so loved the world”- that love was the motivation for our plan of salvation.
Jesus voluntarily came to this world for you and I and assumed a human body.
God incarnate- God in the flesh. To show us how much He loves us.
Don Skinner
‘God did not send Christ to us; God came to us in Christ.” Fully God and fully Man.
A theologian described it this way-
“God must be able to come over to our side without leaving his own side.”
That is good stuff!
James Erwin
Astronaut who walked on the moon. We think of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, but actually 12 men walked on the moon.
James Erwin
“There is something more important than man walking on the moon, and that is God, walking on the earth.”
“For God so loved the world that He gave”…
That was the most meaningful and life changing gift that God could give.
it trumps any gift we could possibly give or receive.
It was the ultimate act of love.
It was the most sacrificial gift ever given.
Chorus
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There is something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms
Will all pass away
But there is something about that name.
Apostle Paul captures the incarnate Christ
“Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.”
“Salvation is found in no one else”
“For there is no other name under heaven given to men by whom we must be saved.”
Jesus is great! He is exceedingly mighty. Spectacular. He is King over all the earth.
He is the Most High God!
“Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord!”
The angel said-
“ I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
Praise the Lord!
If that is not love, I do not know what is.
God’s love is not based upon spiritual condition-though the longer we serve Him we should be changing.
God love is not based upon behavior- or attitude, but the more we are with Him, the more the love of God should be given to others.
God’s love is unconditional-He loves everyone of us.
He came in the flesh, died on the cross, was resurrected and is now sitting on the right hand side of the Father- For us! That is love!
All we have to do is believe!
“That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Believe is an action word-present tense-believe, not believed, not once believed, now… faith in tact-believers!
Jesus has to be Lord! He has to be shepherd of your life.
John Piper
If you took all the greatest thinkers of every country and put them in a room with Jesus, they would shut their mouths and listen to the greatness of His wisdom. All the generals would listen to His strategy; all the greatest musicians would listen to His music theory and His performance on every instrument.
There is nothing that Jesus cannot do a 1000 times better than the person you admire most in any area of human endeavor.
Can you grasp that Jesus Christ loves you!
There is two ways that you grasp these words of love.
You are a believer- action speaks louder than words. Today you again will decide to serve God wherever and however He desires to use you.
Your gift back to God this morning is Servanthood and Obedience.
You voluntarily want to serve Him as He leads you. You radically commit to do what He tells you. That is your love back to God, your gift to Him.
The second way that you grasp these words is today you get how much He loves you and you are honest and you are not sure what to do with that.
The first thing you need to realize is that God loves you! You make it personal.
The best gift that you can give back to God is yourself.
You don’t clean up first
you don’t quit doing certain things first.
God loves you just the way you are, but too much to leave you that way.
Christmas is a time of miracles- “for nothing is impossible with God.”
Are you overwhelmed this morning?
Do you fell lost and lonely?
Are you tired?
Are you faced with something bigger than you are?
Nothing is impossible with God
There are two kinds of gifts that God wants exchanged this morning-
(1) The gift that He gives – He is hoping that you will take it this morning.
(2)The other gift is He is waiting for you to give yourself to Him.
Amen.
