INTRODUCTION
I wish you a blessed and happy Christmas. Praise God for the wonderful love, joy, peace, and eternal life that Jesus Christ brought to all mankind on the first Christmas. Let us also remember, that we need to celebrate Christmas 365 which means daily.
I want to draw your attention to the nativity scene. Mary and Joseph have been to Bethlehem for the census. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son, Jesus Christ. She wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger. Soon the angels proclaimed the good news to the shepherds who came and saw Jesus. Wise men came from the east, bowed down, and worshipped Jesus.
Most people end their Christmas with just the birth of Christ and have kept the celebrations for just one day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we started practicing the things we hear and sing about at Christmastime? Wouldn’t it be great if we could take Christmas with us all the way through the New Year?
I want to bring out the true message of Christmas and further, we will look into how we can apply this message every day in our lives. This will make us celebrate Christmas 365. It is also appropriate to title my message ‘Jingle all the way.’
ILLUSTRATION
Someone has compared Christmas to the giant wheel experience. It is like that sense of joy and excitement you feel when you are on that wheel and are free-falling through the air. You feel the wind on your face and can see the beauty of God’s world for miles around. But very soon you come to reality, and you get back to the ground. For a few brief moments, you feel great joy and then you are on the ground, facing reality once again, back to the humdrum of everyday life.
Is it how we celebrate Christmas 365? All jingle today and face-to-face with reality tomorrow? What is the message of Christmas? Can take this jingle all the way to next year?
THE CHRISTMAS 365 MESSAGE
A) GOD WITH US
Matthew 1:23
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”
The message of Christmas 365 is that God sent His Son for us who is willing to be with us in every moment of our life. Jesus is with us not only on Christmas, but he has promised to be with us until the end of the world. I want to exhort you that God is with you. He knows your condition today. He loves you and if given a chance He can come with you to every area of your life and give you Christmas 365.
ILLUSTRATION
An atheist’s son used to go to Sunday School and learn about Jesus. The father somehow wanted to persuade his son with his philosophy. One Sunday as the boy went to Sunday School the father prepared this beautiful wall hanger and placed it in the entrance of his house which read, “God is nowhere.” When the boy got home from Sunday School that day he saw the plaque he was excited. He said to his father, “Why that’s exactly what my Sunday School teacher has been teaching me all along! GOD IS NOW HERE!”
Christmas 365 is God’s to be with us all the time.
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
B. GIFT – CHRISTMAS 365
God gifted us His Son.
John 3:16
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.
The wise men presented Jesus with gifts.
Matthew 2:11
Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
C. JOY – CHRISTMAS 365
Luke 1:39-44
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Luke 2:8-12
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
D. PEACE – CHRISTMAS 365
Luke 2:13-14
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God, and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”
Maybe you had a tough year, but God is promising peace in your life today.
E. PRAISE AND WORSHIP
Luke 2:20
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Matthew 2:11
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
I have pointed out to you at least 5 messages of Christmas besides many others. God wants us to apply the message of Christmas every day of our lives or Christmas 365.
CHRISTMAS 365
1. TAKE THIS MESSAGE INTO OUR HOMES
Our homes are important because it is at home that we not only talk about love, trust, peace, and joy but we learn to live with love, trust, peace, and joy. You see, home is the place where we mold and fashion little people into big people who will one day mold and fashion the world of which they are a part.
Polly Adler “A house is not a home.” Joyce Maynard “A good home must be made, not bought.”
Let’s build our homes with the message of Christmas. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us took the message of Christmas and made it a permanent part of our homes and put it into practice all year long?
As Jesus and his disciples were traveling, a woman named Martha welcomed him home. Soon her sister, Mary came and sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said, but Martha was busy with all the preparations that had to be made.
Was this home a Christian home? With Christ sitting in the living room, how could this home not be a Christian home? If you see clearly even though Christ is there at this home, there are 2 types of people here. Martha welcomed Jesus but was very busy in preparation. Mary was listening to all that Jesus said.
See what Jesus said:
Luke 10:41-42
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
You see Jesus didn’t condemn Martha for wanting to be a good hostess. She was serving Jesus and showing her love for him. So, Jesus gently pointed out the fact that only one thing is really needed in life. Of all the good choices we could make in order to make our homes Christian homes, the most important one is to hear the Word that brings Jesus in. It is the only thing that brings Jesus into our homes in the best possible way.
Think about what we do at home on a typical day. Meals must be prepared, dishes need to be done, clothes must be cleaned, shopping has to be done, get ready to work, time for meals, etc. We also squeeze in some time for recreation, time for the family to be together, listening to music, watching TV, etc. I am not saying that with these activities Jesus isn’t in our homes. He is with us always as he promised. But if we haven’t heard his word, we have not welcomed him into our homes in the fullest possible way.
Apostle Paul encourages us to do this in
Colossians 3:16-17
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Let’s take the message of Christmas home but give priority to hearing from God, by listening and obeying the Word of God.
2. TAKE THIS MESSAGE INTO THE WORLD
Wouldn’t it be great if we could take the message of Christmas wherever we went into this world? Now, I know that is not fashionable in our day, but the dark world outside needs the message of Christmas every day and you and I are supposed to take it to them.
John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” The child that was born to Mary and Joseph was the light of the world. He came to take away the darkness of the world.
Matthew 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. We are commanded by the Lord Jesus to be the light and take the message of light and hope into this world. Today as we celebrate Christmas there are many out living in darkness and remember we are the light, and we need to let our light shine.
Psalm 4:6
Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. People of this world are searching for the light. They are asking who can show up as good. Let the light of the Lord shine through us.
I really believe that if people have been touched by the message of Christmas they have to be a light everywhere and take Christ with them wherever they go. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could take Christ into the marketplace, into the workplace, to school, & wherever we might go, & not leave Him in the manger? What a difference He could make!
3. HOLD ON TO CHRIST 365
Listen, when we take the message of Christmas 365 into our lives, into our homes, and into the world life may not always be as exciting as it is on Christmas day. We may end up facing some tough realities of life but hold on to Christ.
Christmas was a great joy for Mary and Joseph. The shepherds came and spoke about all that the angels said and sang to them. Sometime after Christmas came the Wise Men and that was exciting too! But soon came a time of hardship for Mary and Joseph. They had to flee from Bethlehem to Egypt.
Matthew 2:13-16
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Matthew 2:19-23
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Finally, when they were able to go home to Nazareth, do you think that life for them there was a bed of roses? I’m sure that it wasn’t. They worked, paid bills, bought food, and went through all the monotonousness of life. Living in a conquered land, under the iron fist of Rome, they must at times have been worried and anxious, maybe even afraid. God never promised an easy life to Joseph and his family.
In fact, someplace along the way Joseph drops out of the scene. We don’t know what happened to him. We don’t know how or when he died. Probably somewhere along the line, Mary found herself without a husband, without a father at home for her children. Life wasn’t easy. It was hard. I wonder if she felt that God had forgotten about them.
CONCLUSION
How about us? We have our problems, too, don’t we? We’ve shed tears, we’ve been touched by different hardships of life and we’ve faced financial troubles. Life has not been easy. It’s been hard. But Jesus in our lives is the one thing that makes all the difference – that gives the strength to endure and even to overcome. So, when the realities of life hit us, let’s hold on to this message 365, He will never leave us nor forsake us.
So, the real work of Christmas is just now starting. Christmas is not over. It is just now starting. Yes, today is Christmas. We rejoice and celebrate today. Understand, very soon we’ll take down our Christmas trees and put the decorations back in storage for another year. All the presents would have been unwrapped; the suspense ended. But may the music linger. May the songs of peace and good will forever be in our hearts!
May our lives and homes be filled with message of Christmas forever! This morning God’s invitation is extended to you. If you have never experienced God’s love, if you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then we invite you to make that decision this morning. If you are searching for a church home, we invite you to come this morning as we stand & as we sing together.
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