It’s Christmas Day!
Today millions of people will celebrate Christmas, even those who do not believe in the birth of Jesus still take the time to enjoy themselves.
I was born into a Jewish family, yet we always celebrated Christmas.
We had a Christmas Tree, we had Christmas Decorations, we sent and received Christmas Cards and gifts and we even ate Christmas Dinner. But my parents never told me the real reason for celebrating Christmas.
I thought Christmas was a celebration of Santa Claus not the birth of Christ. For me Jesus was just the name of the baby whose picture was on the front of Christmas Cards.
Now remember as a Jew, I was waiting for the Messiah to come, no one told me He had already come.
No one told me the Saviour of the World had already been born and Christmas was a celebration of His birth, His birthday.
My Christmas Day was full of celebration but it was empty of any association with Christ Jesus.
Sadly, many in the world today will experience a Christmas without Christ.
They may have a very happy Christmas by the worlds standards but they will not understand the real reason for the season.
They will not even think about the importance of the birth of Jesus or His effect on human history.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
33 years later he was crucifed, He was took the punishment for our sin.
He died, and 3 days later He rose from the grave having conquered the power of sin and death.
Friends, today we are here to celebrate the coming of Jesus as King and Saviour.
Jesus came to save us from our sin, Jesus came to bring us peace with God, Jesus came so that we could be forgiven.
Today we celebrate the truth of Immanuel, God with us - that is the reason for our celebration,
that is what makes Christmas personal and relevant to our lives.
When we put our trust in Jesus, the one who came to save us, we are saved from an eternity without God.
John 3:16-17 reminds us “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”
Let’s personalise the verse: “For this is how God loved me: He gave His one and only Son, so that by believing in Him I will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge me, but to save me through Him.”
The message of Christmas is love, the love of God for you and for me.
The birth of Jesus shows just how much God loves you and me.
At Christmas we are meant to celebrate the fact that God loves us.
Christmas reminds us God has not forgotten us.
Father God has sent Jesus His son to save us.
This is the greatest love the world has ever or will ever know.
This Christmas, God wants you to know He loves you, and He wants you to celebrate His love for you.
How?
By loving others as He loves you.
By sharing the real reason for the season with others.
By sharing the good news that Jesus is real and not just a Christmas story.
At Christmas we celebrate that Christ has come, the Messiah has been born. Stepping out of eternity and into the form of a human baby, God has come.
Church tradition says we remember the birth of Christ on the 25th of December. The reality is Jesus was probably born in March or April - neither shepherds or their sheep would have been out in the fields in the deep mid-winter.
The actual specific day and date of the birth of Jesus are not important, what is important is that we believe His birth really happened.
On an actual day and date lost to history Jesus came. Whether it was in the bleak mid-winter or in spring or during the heat of summer or during autumn, Christ was born.
We know it was in the evening, we know it was in Bethlehem, and we know it happened in the stable where the animals were kept. That is where the Son of God was born.
The Reality of Christmas happened, not in a palace or a hospital or where anyone writing a story would have used for a suitable venue.
The Reality of Christmas took place in a dirty, smelly stable. You know there is an important message in this, no place is too common for Jesus, no circumstance beneath Him.
When Christ was born, so was our hope. Because Christ came, God is always near us. He is always for us and always in us.
The certain hope of Christmas is that God has sent His only Son, Jesus, to bear our burdens and save us from your sins.
Christmas means we have a Saviour.
1 John 4:10 reminds us: This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
This morning lets celebrate together and thank God that the Saviour, our Saviour has come.
