Opening Video Illustration: Bluefishtv: “The Greatest Story Ever Told”
Thoughts on video – Is this not a miracle – the repeating over and over of the great story of Jesus birth? Think about it! All over this world people in different languages will read the Christmas Story this week – people will hear the miracle message in about every language telling this great story of Jesus birth. What a miracle!
Series: Christmas Miracles
Scripture Texts for Series:
Revelation 1:8: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
1 John 4:9: "This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him."
Acts 4:12: “Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.”
As I read the Bible, Matthew, Luke and Acts I see the Apostles and disciples of Jesus being used by the Holy Spirit to perform miracles to testify to the authority and the healing power found in the name of Jesus. I see the importance of miracles in verifying that Jesus is who He said He was. Miracles always point to the authenticity and authority of Jesus. When Jesus was born – many miracles surrounded His birth 5 to be exact. These miracles all testify to 3 time frames Who He was (past) - Who He is (present) - and Who He will be (future)!
Thesis: The Bible reveals: Christmas past – Who Jesus was- all the way back to the Beginning and the first Christmas. It reveals Christmas present - who Jesus is present tense – which is Emmanuel - which means the God who is with us right now and the Bible reminds us that Christmas future is coming to this world and Jesus will return in His glory and majesty unlike as a baby in a manger – so we need to be ready and experience now the miracle of Christmas so we are ready.
Introduction:
As we look deeper into Christmas this month and the miracles surrounding this miraculous time of the year we see how it all got started with Jesus birth and many other divine miracles. The unveiling of the messiah was filled with miracles – God in the flesh in a little manger set in motion the salvation of all who believe. But as we continue to live through each Christmas in the present we still should be able to see the miracles of Christmas present – We should see the miracle that God is with us today – We should be able to see the intervention of the Lord in the lives of His people with present day miracles and the continuation of the message of Jesus birth and mission. Yes, God is with us is a key to discovering the current day message and miracles of Christmas. We will learn that Christmas past and it’s miracles signify “God with us” and it should make our present Christmas miraculous. It is important to know that miracles are associated with Christmas and they always point to Jesus as our Messiah. Miracles of Christmas should open our eyes to see into the future and see Jesus clearer. The book of Revelation unveils and reminds us of who Jesus was, is and will be in the future! If you believe then more miracles are on the way!
Miracles:
The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. It’s when God became Man in the flesh. Every other miracle prepares the way for this, or results from this miracle event. This is the key statement of the book Miracles, in which C. S. Lewis shows that a Christian must not only accept but rejoice in miracles as a testimony of the unique personal involvement of God in His creation. Using his characteristic lucidity and wit to develop his argument, Lewis challenges the rationalists, agnostics, and deists on their own grounds and provides a poetic and joyous affirmation that miracles really do occur in our everyday lives.
Christmas according to C.S. Lewis centers on the greatest miracle of which all miracles find their source and root and that is the incarnation of God through baby Jesus and His inception into this world.
“The fitness of the Christian miracles, and their difference from these mythological miracles, lies in the fact that they show invasion by a Power which is not alien. They are what might be expected to happen when she is invaded not simply by a god, but by the God of Nature: by a Power which is outside her jurisdiction not as a foreigner but as a sovereign. They proclaim that He who has come is not merely a king, but the King, her King and ours.” ? C.S. Lewis, Miracles
Dictionary.com defines a miracle as: An effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause. Such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God. A wonder; a marvel.
T.S. - Let’s recall the 5 miracles of the first Christmas from my sermon last week Christmas Miracles - Past (Summary of sermon 1)
1. The miracle of Mary’s Supernatural Pregnancy and Jesus birth and mission being proclaimed by Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38):
2. An angel from God appears to Joseph a Nazarene Carpenter to clarify this miracle of inception (Matthew 1:18-25):
3. Angels appear to the Shepherds outside of Jerusalem to announce the birth of their Savior (Luke 2:8-20):
4. A miraculous star moves across the sky to draw and guide three wise men to the king of kings Jesus (Matthew 2: 1-11).
5. An angel appears to the three Wise Men/to Joseph (separately but corporately to warn them of Herod - and where to go for safety) (Matthew 2:12-23):
T.S. - Brad Steiger states, “Since the story of Christmas is founded on the five miracles of the first Christmas listed above, there can be little wonder that miracles of faith and love continue to occur during a holiday season that has been held sacred for over 2,000 years” (Page 47, Christmas Miracles).
Sermon: Christmas Miracles - present
Scripture Texts to read from handout: Hebrews 2-3:19; Matthew 19:26; Mark 9:23; Mark 10:27:
Hebrews 2:1-4:
1 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Questions to ponder:
1. Have you considered praying for a Christmas miracle this year? If not what would you ask for this year from the Lord?
2. In looking at Christmas past and the miraculous birth of Jesus what does that tell you about the power and the spirit of Christmas today?
3. Do you believe Jesus wants to use you to see miracles come forth this Christmas season. If so what is the Lord encouraging you to do to be part of one of His miracles?
Scripture Text for message:
Romans 1:16-17: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Romans 10:16-17: But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
1. Observation One: Jesus talked about Israel missing their visitation from God and the reality today is many are missing the visitation from God today too – let’s not be one of the ones who miss a visitation from the Lord in the here and now.
a. We need to pay attention to what we have heard each Christmas season and from the text of the first Christmas.
b. We cannot ignore our great salvation through this baby Jesus.
c. The miracles, the signs, the wonders, the gifts of the Spirit all point to Jesus - who He was - who He is - who He will be!
d. We cannot miss the Spirit of Christmas! We need to believe in the real Spirit of Christmas.
i. MISSING THE "TIME OF THEIR VISITATION" from http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n2255.cfm:
1. The question could be asked: Why did Israel's spiritual leaders miss the prophecy (The birth of their Messiah), when the pagan Magi did not. The answer is really quite simple. Several hundred years before Christ was born, Jewish leaders began to believe and propagate two grievously erroneous teachings. First, they taught that the sacred Scriptures could not be taken literally because they were not totally inspired by God, and thus contained errors. Secondly, they taught that prophecies were not to be taken literally, but spiritually. Prophetic books such as Daniel were not even taught anymore because they contained so much prophecy. After several generations had come and gone, each believing this nonsense, spiritual leaders of Jesus' day were completely unaware of this prophecy. Thus, they were unaware of the "time of their visitation".
e. Do you feel these same two mistakes are happening today in the church world?
2. Observation Two: The Christmas story of the past is filled with miracles all of which point to who Jesus was, is and will be. The first Christmas and many since have been run on the currency of faith not money. But today it seems as if the Christmas Story is run on the currency of money and not faith.
a. Do you think something has gone wrong with the Spirit of Christmas?
i. The focus is money not faith.
ii. The focus is greed not sacrifice.
iii. The focus is selfishness not selflessness.
b. Faith is what brings the miracles of Christmas to light – faith is the missing element of today’s Christmas message and celebrations for many today!
i. Many have lost their way and in the process lost their faith and belief in the true Spirit of Christmas!
ii. Hebrews warned us of drifting away from the message and the truth.
iii. When you lose faith you lose miracles.
c. Case in point: Story from Miracles of Christmas: Brad Steiger remembers a Christmas story from his childhood that his parents told him about a man’s rebirth of spirit during the holidays. As his parents recalled the story, it took place in the early 1940s during a lovely, but very cold, white Christmas in Iowa. A thirteen-year-old farmboy we’ll call Marlin Sheldahl was very excited to be playing one of the three wise men who would bring gifts to the Baby Jesus during the Sunday school Christmas pageant. Every Sunday afternoon since the week before Thanksgiving, Marlin and two of his classmates, Gary and Roger, had been practicing singing “We Three Kings of Orient Are” and walking solemnly before the crèche that sheltered Elaine, who was portraying Mary, and Lowell, enacting the role of Joseph. A rubber doll wrapped in “swaddling clothes” had the important, but mute, role of the Baby Jesus. For several nights before the pageant, Marlin was barely able to sleep. He went over and over his solo part in his mind, visualizing just the way he would approach the manger and kneel with his gift before the Christ Child. But on the evening of the big performance, disaster struck the Sheldahl home. Marlin’s four-year-old brother, Jake, started running a high fever, so his mother said that she was terribly sorry, but she would not be able to attend the Christmas pageant. She would have to stay home and look after little Jake. Although Marlin was disappointed that she would not be seated in one of the front pews appreciating every note of his solo—and telling him afterward how good he sounded—Dad would be there. As Dad went out to warm up the car, Mom put the finishing touches on his costume. Days before she had dyed an old towel purple, and now she wrapped it skillfully around his head and pinned one of her rhinestone brooches in the middle of his turban. She festooned his robe with braided curtain strings and bright ribbons. Marlin was certain he looked like a genuine ancient Asian king. The other kings of the Orient would probably be jealous of the authenticity of his costume. Then Dad came in, rubbing his hands to warm them, and Marlin could tell by the expression on his face that something was wrong. “Car won’t start,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and emitting a deep, defeated sigh. “Battery’s dead. It’s this darn cold. Must be ten degrees below zero out there. Car won’t even turn over. Sorry, Marlin. We won’t be able to go to the pageant.” “Sorry” was simply not acceptable. He was one of the three wise men for Pete’s sake! He had been practicing the song with Gary and Roger and his solo part for weeks. This wasn’t Broadway. There were no understudies waiting to go on if for any reason he didn’t show up. He had to be there at the Sunday school Christmas pageant! His dad tried to reason with Marlin. There was nothing to be done about it. They lived two miles out in the country. It was bitter and freezing outside. What was Marlin going to do? Walk? “I’ve got no choice,” Marlin said, fighting back the tears. “I can’t let the Sunday school teachers down. I can’t let the other kids down. I can’t disappoint the audience. What would they think if there were only two wise men up there? I’ll walk to church.” “Come on, Marlin,” his father protested, “you’ll freeze! Probably get pneumonia.” “I’ll have two kids with high fevers to sit up all night with,” his mother added. Marlin started to reach for his heavy woolen coat, then hesitated. If he struggled into his winter coat, he would mash his marvelous costume. He would just walk as fast as he could the two miles to town and the church. “Wait,” Dad sighed. “You’re as stubborn as your Uncle Charlie. I’ll put the charger on the battery and we’ll have the car started in maybe forty-five minutes or so.” Marlin shook his head. He was supposed to be at the church in thirty minutes. The pageant would begin in fifty minutes. “So?” Dad asked. “We’ll get there just in time.” Marlin argued that that would be cutting it too close. He had walked to town lots of times. He knew he could be there in thirty minutes. “You’ve walked to town in the summer, spring, and fall,” Mom said. “Not when it is below freezing.” Marlin could not be dissuaded. He would start out walking. If Dad got the car started in a few minutes, he could pick him up. If the car didn’t start for an hour, he would see him at the church and ride home with him. And with that, the king from the Orient went out into the night, following the Christmas star that would lead him to the Sunday school pageant. Marlin had barely walked down their lane when he realized how foolish it had been to leave behind his heavy woolen coat. The air was so cold that it burned his lungs and stung his nostrils. Although his royal robes had seemed warm enough in the kitchen of their farmhouse, it seemed now as though he was practically naked. And the pointed-toe slippers his mother had made him really looked like something out the Arabian Nights, but on the snow-covered gravel road they provided little protection and warmth. And now the viewpoint of our story shifts to the perspective of Emil Gunderson, the older gentleman who had the farm next to the Sheldahls’. Gunderson, in his late sixties, had a reputation among the children of the rural community for being a grouch who seemed perpetually angry at life in general and kids in particular. He was known to have a vocabulary of cuss and curse words that topped anyone’s in the entire county, and the only time that anyone could remember seeing him smile was when he threatened to take a switch to some boys who tried to steal some apples from his orchard. Emil Gunderson was listening to news on the radio when he happened to glance out of his living room’s south window and saw something on the road that caused him to set down his beer bottle and focus his complete attention on whatever was slowly moving into the circle of illumination cast by his yard light. It appeared to be someone dressed in clothing of biblical times, complete with flowing robes, turban, and those strange pointy-toed slippers. Emil hadn’t been to church in fifteen years. He hadn’t set one foot inside its doors since the double funeral of his wife and daughter. He had once been considered a very religious man, but God had betrayed his years of faithful attendance in church and nightly prayers by snuffing out his loved ones in an automobile accident. And his attitude toward Christmas was far beyond a simple “bah, humbug!” On his desk were three Christmas cards from his two sisters and one brother in Washington State. Those were the only cards that he had received, except for the obligatory ones mailed out by the bank, Bill’s service station, and the Farmer’s Co-op Elevator. He hadn’t sent any cards in fifteen years. He couldn’t take his eyes off the strange figure walking on the road past his farmhouse. And as much as he tried to fight off the peculiar sensations that were provoking long-dormant memories, the robed entity seemed to be triggering emotions that he had long considered decayed and forgotten. And then the robed being was coming toward his house. Emil felt his heart quicken. When he was a boy, he had heard his grandmother speak of having seen a robed figure enter a neighbor’s house the very night that the man died. She had always believed that she had witnessed the Angel of Death come to take the old man home to the other side. When he heard the feeble knocking, Emil hesitated for a few moments before he answered the door. But he had never been afraid of man nor beast, so he wasn’t about to start now. He swung open the door and was astonished to recognize the older son of his neighbors. “Mr. Gunderson, please,” the boy was saying. “I’m freezing to death. May I please come in? Just for a little while?” He stepped aside, asking the boy his name and wanting to know why he was dressed up like somebody from the Bible. “I’m Marlin, Mr. Gunderson. And I’m one of the kings of the Orient, you know, one of the wise men who followed the star and brought gifts to the Baby Jesus in his manger,” the boy exclaimed, all in a rush. “And I’ve got to get to the Sunday school pageant. Our car wouldn’t start, so I have to walk. I’m going to be late.” Emil shook his head in silent appreciation of the kid’s spunk and determination. “You’re half frozen to death, boy.” Marlin nodded agreement. “Just please let me warm up for a minute, then I’ve got to be getting going. I’m going to be late.” “You’re only halfway there, Marlin,” Emil said. “You’ll be a walking icicle if you try to walk there tonight in this below-zero cold. If it means that much to you, I’ll take you there. Let me get the keys to my pickup.” At first the boy protested gamely, but he soon converted his objections to offering profuse thanks. Emil stopped by his bathroom to rinse with mouthwash to cover the beer breath. Within a few minutes, he was dropping Marlin at the side door of the church where the young actors and singers of the evening’s pageant were to enter. “Won’t you please come in and see our pageant, Mr. Gunderson?” the boy asked. Emil grumbled something about having other plans, but almost as if another force was guiding him, he found himself parking in the church lot and finding a place in one of the back pews. He tried to ignore the heads that were turning to look at him, but when he glanced up from the program an usher had handed him, he saw that there were only warm smiles of welcome. By the time that the Sunday school program had begun, several friends had stopped by his pew to wish him a Merry Christmas. And when Marlin and the two other boys stood up to sing “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” it was as if he had been transported to another Christmas far back in time, when he was thirteen and he, Max Olson, and Dick Larson had impersonated the three wise men and had sung that very same song. In fact, he and Marlin had even had the same solo part and had probably even walked to the manger with the same old “incense burner” from the Sunday school prop department, the domed pot that symbolically held the frankincense brought by the travelers from afar. With a soft chuckle prompted by his nostalgia, Emil recalled fondly how after each Sunday school pageant, the church deacons would hand out bags of hard candy and peanuts to each of the participants in the performance and to all the kids in the audience. How exciting it was to open those bags and look to see if yours contained a small toy, such as a tin whistle, a miniature Santa, or a decoration that you could put on your Christmas tree at home. As he allowed the music and memories to carry him back to earlier, happier Christmas times, he saw himself no longer as a thirteen-year-old, but as a high school student, listening with open adoration as Rachel, the girl he would one day marry, sang a solo rendition of “Come, O Come Immanuel” for her part in the Sunday school pageant. And then he moved ahead in time to another Christmas, when Rachel and he sat with pride as their daughter Connie stood before the altar with the other ten-year-olds and sang, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Soon tears were streaming down his cheeks, and since he hadn’t brought a handkerchief, he had to get up and walk out of the church to get a tissue from the men’s room in the basement. He had seen Marlin’s father squeeze into a back pew just a few minutes before the three wise men sang, so he guessed he finally got the car started and Marlin would have a ride home. Emil Gunderson sat in his pickup in the parking lot for several minutes before he turned the key, started the motor, and headed for home. He would call his sisters and his brothers in Washington state that next day and wish them a Merry Christmas. And he would discuss plans to visit them that spring before fieldwork started. A thirteen-year-old boy in his Sunday school costume of kingly robes and turban, half-frozen in the December cold as he tried to walk to the church pageant, had rekindled the warm glow of Christmas in a heart that had forsaken the mystery of the season and exchanged it for the misery of a grief that had been nurtured for far too long. Just as the Christmas story tells of three wise men from afar who brought gifts to the newborn Prince of Peace, so did a little “wise man” prompt a gift of renewal to a reborn soul. Steiger, Brad; Steiger, Sherry Hansen (2008-08-17). Christmas Miracles: Inspirational True Stories of Holiday Magic (p. 26). F+W Media, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
i. Our true story reminds us how we can allow our grief, hurts, and pains of life to choke out the miracle and the Spirit of Christmas.
ii. It reminds us how we can drift away from the Spirit of Christmas.
iii. This story reminds me of another famous story told this time of year as well.
d. The Scrooge Story – “A Christmas Carol”: A Christmas Carol is about the dark side of Christmas. Scrooge hates Christmas. To love Christmas, he has to change and, like most of us, Scrooge does not want to change his ways. A few years ago a new book and play came out called the "Gospel According To Scrooge" – it became a play and it runs in many churches this time of the year. But it is based off “A Christmas Carol.” It tells the story of how a man rediscovered the miracle power of Christmas and was spiritually reborn. His soul was healed revived and renewed and it changed the way he looked at the present Christmas in front of Him.
e. Video Illustration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYkgC8Ev5sA
f. A Christmas Carol:
i. Scene One "Marley's Ghost", original illustration by John Leech from A Christmas Carol. The tale begins on a "cold, bleak, biting" Christmas Eve exactly seven years after the death of Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley. Scrooge, an old miser, is established within the first stave as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!" He hates Christmas, calling it "humbug"; he refuses his nephew Fred's Christmas dinner invitation, and rudely turns away two gentlemen who seek a donation from him to provide a Christmas dinner for the poor. His only "Christmas gift" is allowing his overworked, underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off with pay – which he does only to keep with social custom, Scrooge considering it "a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December!" At home that night, Scrooge is visited by Marley's ghost, who is forever cursed to wander the earth dragging a network of heavy chains, forged during a lifetime of greed and selfishness. Dickens describes the apparition thus: "Marley's face ... had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar." Marley has a bandage under his chin, tied at the top of his head; "... how much greater was his horror, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast!" Marley tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits that night, and that he must listen to them or be cursed to carry chains of his own that are much longer than Marley's chains. As Marley departs, Scrooge witnesses other restless spirits who now wish they could help their fellow man, but are powerless to do so. Scrooge is then visited by the three spirits Marley spoke of – each visit detailed in a separate stave – who accompany him on visits to various Christmas scenes.
ii. Scene Two: The first of the spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes of Scrooge's boyhood and youth, which stir the old miser's gentle and tender side by reminding him of a time when he was kinder and more innocent. These scenes portray Scrooge's lonely childhood, his relationship with his beloved sister Fan, and a Christmas party hosted by his first employer, Mr. Fezziwig, who treated Scrooge like a son. They also portray Scrooge's neglected fiancée, Belle, who ends their relationship after she realizes that Scrooge will never love her as much as he loves money, and a visit later in time to the then-married Belle's large and happy family on Christmas Eve.
iii. Scene Three: The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to several different scenes – a joy-filled market of people buying the makings of Christmas dinner, celebrations of Christmas in a miner's cottage and in a lighthouse. Scrooge and the spirit also visit Fred's Christmas party, where Fred speaks of his uncle with pity. A major part of this stave is taken up with Bob Cratchit's family feast, and introduces his youngest son, Tiny Tim, who is full of simple happiness despite being seriously ill. The spirit informs Scrooge that Tiny Tim will soon die unless the course of events changes. Before disappearing, the spirit shows Scrooge two hideous, emaciated children named Ignorance and Want. He tells Scrooge to beware the former above all, and replies to Scrooge's concern for their welfare by repeating Scrooge's own words: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?
iv. Scene Four: The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shows Scrooge Christmas Day one year later. Tiny Tim has died because Cratchit could not afford to provide the boy with proper care on his meager salary. The spirit then shows Scrooge scenes involving the death of a "wretched man". The man's funeral will only be attended by local businessmen if lunch is provided. His charwoman, his laundress, and the local undertaker steal some of his possessions while his corpse still lays in the bed and sell them to a fence named Old Joe for money. The Charwoman gives Old Joe the bed curtains, the Laundress gives Old Joe the bed sheets, and the undertaker gives Old Joe some button collars. The spirit then shows Scrooge the man's neglected grave: the tombstone bears Scrooge's name. Sobbing, Scrooge pledges that he will change his ways in hopes that he may "sponge the writing from this stone".
v. Scene Five: Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning with joy and love in his heart. He is spiritually reborn – really a miracle that comes from Jesus birth - He spends the day with Fred's family and anonymously sends a prize turkey to the Cratchit home for Christmas dinner. The following day, he gives Cratchit a raise and becomes like "a second father" to Tiny Tim. A changed man, Scrooge now treats everyone with kindness, generosity, and compassion; he now embodies the spirit of Christmas. As the final narration states, "Many laughed to see this alteration in him, but he let them laugh and little heeded them, for he knew that no good thing in this world ever happened, at which some did not have their fill of laughter. His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him. And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge." The story closes with the narrator repeating Tiny Tim's famous words: "God bless us, everyone!"
vi. Scrooge rediscovered the miracle of Christmas and in the process received a spiritual rebirth which changed his perspective of Christmas and of life. This is what Jesus birth and story does to people – it renews their faith and hope – it encourages and brings in Christmas cheer when the world has robbed people of their joy and peace. The miracle of Christmas is Jesus and His great gift which only comes by faith – by belief. You cannot buy Jesus gift with money – all the money in the world cannot buy it you can only get this gift with faith – with believing in your heart!
1. (highlighted above from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol)
T.S. - This is why Christmas is celebrated all over the world – this is why miracles accompany this miraculous day – Jesus and miracles go hand in hand – Are you not glad that we have the miracle of Christmas?
Conclusion:
Question: But what if there was no Christmas today what would we be missing today?
There would be no Christmas cheer
There would be no Merry Christmas
There would be no jingle bells
There would be no joy to the world
There would be no hark the herald angels sing
There would be no silent night
There would be no gift giving
There would be no lights
There would be no candy canes
There would be no God with us
There would be no reason for the season
There would be no holiday spirit
There would be no Good News
There would be no sacred romance
There would be no faith
There would be no prayer
There would be no bridge to Heaven
There would be no healings
There would be no grace
There would be no mercy
There would be no forgiveness
There would be no purpose for our lives
There would be no bondage breaker
There would be no freedom
There would be no eternal life
There would be no transformations
There would be no light at the end of the tunnel
There would be no revivals
There would be no church
There would be no Christians
There would be no bridge to the presence of God
There would be no Spirit filled life
There would be no life recovery
There would be no love
There would be no wise men
There would be no family gatherings
There would be no New Testament and the Bible as we know it
There would be no entrance to the Holy of Holies
There would be no revelation
There would be no Church
There would be no pastor’s
There would be no worship music
There would be no Bread of Life
There would be no deliverance
There would be no joy in life
There would be no testimonies to His resurrection power
There would be no miracles
There would be no defeating of death
There would be no salvation
There would be no hope
But there is the miracle of Christmas and therefore we have the benefit, the miracles and the blessing that comes from it.
• Instead we do have the blessing and there is a Christmas and all these items above belong to us if we choose to receive the gift of Christmas.
• Christmas is “Christ in us!” That’s the gift, that’s the Christmas spirit we all need- we need to experience this miracle and allow it to live in us!
o We need to give Jesus space in our hearts!
• Because of the miraculous birth of Jesus we have Christmas!
The Miracle of Jesus birth and Christmas is reflected in this quote by C.S. Lewis:
“He is not the soul of Nature, nor any part of Nature. He inhabits eternity: He dwells in a high and holy place: heaven is His throne, not his vehicle, earth is his footstool, not his vesture. One day he will dismantle both and make a new heaven and earth. He is not to be identified even with the 'divine spark' in man. He is 'God and not man.” ? C.S. Lewis, Miracles
“The New Testament writers speak as if Christ's achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the 'first fruits,' the pioneer of life,' He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. (Miracles, ch. 16)” ? C.S. Lewis, Miracles
Are not these events Lewis speaks of about Jesus miracles for you and I to receive?
What do we need to know from this message see power point slides.
What do we need to know from this message?
• We need to experience the miracles of Christmas!
Why do we need to know this?
• Miracles are associated with Jesus and faith – so if we need a miracle we need to believe!
What do we need to do?
• See the Spirit of Christmas, have a change of heart spiritually, receive by faith Jesus incarnation!
Why do we need to do this?
• Because it will change our heart, our perspective on Christmas, our families and bring us peace and good cheer this Christmas.
Altar Call:
How many here this morning need a miracle? Have them raise their hands!
Have those around these people pray for them to receive their miracles.
