Christmas Love Everyday
Luke 2:1-2:16
Here we are it is Christmas morning!
Some of you have opened some presents already.
Some are waiting till after the service. For most, it will be a day of giving and expressing your love for those that are close to you.
I would hope, especially Christmas morning, that you have taken the time to express your love for Jesus.
The greatest showing of love was Jesus Christ coming to mankind and providing a way of salvation.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
James Erwin
“There is something more important than man walking on the moon, and that is God, walking on the earth.”
You take away hope and anticipation and you would have nothing left that is meaningful.
Despair is the opposite of hope.
Without God’s hope and His love, man is incomplete.
I want you for a moment to try to comprehend God’s love.
If you have never loved someone, you could not understand.
If you have nothing to compare it to, you would not know what it is.
Unless your heart has been broken, you will not know the worth of love and whether you would want to take a chance on love.
God’s love is not learned-God’s love is discovered. (Repeat)
The shepherds said- “let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
The verse we have been looking at several services.
In our busyness and our independence, I think it is sad that we are raising a generation that will not hear the Christmas story. They will know more about Frosty the Snowman than the heart of Christianity.
At the heart of Christianity is the invitation to come see what God has done and to pursue Him with all our hearts.
Discovery means that you are willing to go looking for something that is worthwhile and seek it out.
We make a big deal about discovering God, but truth is, if He did not want to be found, we would not be able to find Him.
Every year we battle to maintain Christmas manger scenes and Christmas plays. I want you to understand that if they were priorities in our life, we would not give them up so easily.
God tells us how much He loves us, He shows us every day by desiring to be a part of our lives and interact with us.
Do we show Him the love back? Where does He fit into our lives?
We send out over 2 billion Christmas cards each year. Hallmark and other card companies make billions of dollars and most people do not look at the words that are inside, they just look to see if there is money in them.
The birth of Jesus Christ is foretold- He came in the flesh, “made His dwelling among us.”
To those shepherds, to those that were willing to go look, they experienced the glory of God!
We have to experience that by faith!
We need the Holy Spirit of God to reveal those truths to us.
We cannot live by the faith of others.
We cannot experience the love of God without realizing what He has done for us and seek Him out.
It is our responsibility to discover His love for ourselves.
Until you have a personal experience with God, you will never really understand His love for you.
“lets go see this thing that has happened.”
Isaiah 55:3-
“Come to me, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”
Christ came for each one of us- when He says “all” He means all.
Kings to Shepherds, each one matters to God.
Rich or poor, black, white, Asian, in that manger and soon after the cross is diversity, He came for all, He died for all and He cares for all who would take the time to seek Him out.
Jesus made another invitation in Matthew 11:28-
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Come… those who are tired and maybe need to rediscovery the love that God has for us.
Where life has taken us out of the game for awhile. He says come to Him.
We worry about whether Jesus will forgive and receive us
“Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away.”
If the shepherds had delayed, they would have missed it. If the wise men had not pursued the Christ-child by following the star, they would not have experienced Him in His fullest.
Illustration- Shared before
His name was Bill, a college student. He had unruly hair, wore a t-shirt with holes in it, old jeans, and shoes with no socks and he had just become a Christian. Located next to the campus was a well to do church that wanted to develop a ministry to students but didn’t know how to go about it. One day Bill decided to go to church there. He walked in late, wearing his everyday wardrobe, and couldn’t find a seat because the church was full. People noticed him walking down the center aisle and became uncomfortable. Seeing no seats anywhere, when Bill got to the front, he just sat down right on the floor. While this was acceptable at a college fellowship, this wasn’t done in church. The congregation became uptight, tension filled the air. Then people noticed an elderly deacon in his eighties making his way to Bill. As he made his way, the congregation was relieved and most thought to themselves, “I’m glad somebody is going to tell that kid he can’t sit there! All eyes were focused on the man with the cane and the three piece suit. When he finally reached the kid, he dropped his cane and with great difficulty he lowered himself to the floor and asked, “May I sit with you”
Jesus was sent to this world and He wants to sit down in relationship with us!
You see Jesus is hard to ignore, but very easy to miss!
Don’t let Christmas be missed opportunities.
Have you ever missed opportunities?
Missed opportunity to make positive difference in someone’s life?
Missed opportunity to be a blessing to someone hurting?
Missed opportunity to be a witness?
Has opportunity knocked but you were so caught up with other things, you did not go to the door?
Don’t let Jesus get away! Don’t force Him to take a back seat in your life.
How do most miss the savior?
To busy with life
Preoccupied
Did not respond to Jesus.
“He was in the world and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him.”
“He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.”
Isaiah 9:6
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And His name will be called wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
We all have to respond- how will you respond?
Inn keeper- busy making money, no time for Jesus.
Religious leaders- always trying to disprove Him. Caught up in religion instead of a relationship.
Herod- intimidated by Jesus. Afraid that Jesus will take away your power and authority and you will do anything to prevent that from happening.
Shepherds- “let’s go see this thing that has just happened.
Magi- “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him.”
Let this sink in-
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The great truth that motivated God’s plan of salvation- “God so loved the world”
John 1:1-5 (read from Bible)
Jesus is the light and love of God shown to mankind. He is the wonderful hope for humanity.
Closing
Jesus invites us first to the manger. To experience the love that God has for each one of us. He asks us by faith to believe what He has done on the cross was enough to draw us close to God again.
The invitation is to all!
“So that who so ever believes in Him”
The shepherds were close to Christmas, but still needed to journey to Jesus!
You have to make the discovery that will change your life forever!
Jeremiah 29:13-14
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord.”
Cost to you- Stop what you are doing and check it out
Meet the Jesus of Christmas!
I would like everyone to bow their heads for a moment. I did this last night and I will do again this morning. Give you time to make things right between you and your God. If you have never asked Jesus Christ to be Lord of your life, I would invite you to do that this morning. Please join me in this prayer with me.
Thank you Jesus for inviting me to come. I don’t understand how you can accept me when I don’t measure up, but I am glad you do. I confess that I am a sinner and want to turn from the way I’ve been living. I trust what you have done on the cross is my forgiveness and I surrender my life to you now. From this day forward, show me what I need to do to live for you. Help me be the person you want me to be. In Jesus name, Amen.
