Wonderful
Christmas is a wonderful time of year
My Most wonderful Christmas as a kid was the year I got a Kenner girder and panel builder set with motor and winch. Set number 9. Or maybe it was the year I got a Remco Science Set. There were a series of cardboard cans about as tall as a Pringles can and about the size around as an oil can. Each can contained a different science experiment. I don’t remember them all now but I do remember making an electric motor by winding wire around a metal armature. There was also a rocket that used soda and vinegar for propellant. Good stuff! I had a lot of fun with that! There was a chemical set too!
My most wonderful Christmas as a parent is harder. There was the year I put together the Barbie Van. I can safely rule out that year. The year that was the most fun was when we got the girls a Nintendo – a TV/computer game with little Mario jumping over mushrooms. Their eyes were as big as saucers! That was fun.
As Grandparents (I shall include my wife in this) I believe it was our last Christmas in Beavercreek and our first Christmas with a grandchild. At the Christmas Eve service we had a tradition of the staff and their families coming up to the stage to sing with the congregation Silent Night. Our family and our newest grandbaby, Alison – one month old was carried up on stage by her grandmother – who lifted her up to the audience like the Lion King Cub! As Grandparents the best is yet to come…
As a pastor it is the many Christmas Eve Services that I have come to love. The tradition of worship and fellowship that we all share goes beyond any differences we feel. I love the communion time and the singing of Silent Night and then leaving after wishing and receiving all of the Merry Christmas’s a soul can stand then walking outside to wonderful world of quiet and reverence. This is the night that Jesus was born.
Christmas is wonderful because Jesus is wonderful
Isaiah 9:6 says,
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
His Birth was Wonderful
Most Princes have parents – single parent
Most Princes are born in a palace – manger
Most Princes have attendants and nanny’s – Shepherds and animals.
Most Princes are born into wealth and privilege – poverty and fear
His Character was Wonderful
As a boy – we see his devotion to his heavenly father and his respect for his earthly mother
As a teacher – we see his compassion for the hurting and his love for his friends
As a prophet – we see his diligence to the message of hope and life – whatever the cost
His life was Wonderful
As a man we see a challenging leader and a warm friend.
As God we see a miracle worker who walks on water and makes blind men see. We even see those who touch his garments made whole.
Not even his enemies could find fault in him
He cared about people – all people. The scribes and Pharisees. Zacheaes, Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well, the man with demons, the woman taken in adultery, the teacher, Nicodemos who came by night – Jesus loved them all.
His first miracle was to prevent a family from being embarrassed by the lack of enough wine for the wedding
His Death was Wonderful
His death was wonderful because it was a sacrifice. He died to allow his blood to cover our sins – past, present, and future.
That is wonderful
Most of all His Resurrection is wonderful
It was wonderful when he appeared to the women at the tomb
It was wonderful when he appeared to the 12 and to the 500 at the ascension. It was wonderful when he ate breakfast on the beach with his fisherman friends and when he walked on the road to Emmaus with his disciples.
He is wonderful. His name is Wonderful because he is my savior and that changes everything
Jesus changes that which is dark and lonely into that which is light and warm
Once an artist was painting a winter scene. As he began to paint, the scene that unfolded on the canvass was of snow covered ground and pine trees. The artist’s hand brought the day to a close and night fell on the canvas, and the entire scene was covered with semi-darkness. A grim log cabin was barely visible in the shadows. Then the artist dipped his brush in the yellow paint of his pallet, and with a few strokes placed in one of the cabin windows the warm glow of a lamp. As he finished the painting the gold rays of the lamp reflected happily on the fresh snow.
The lonely light totally changed the tone of the picture, replacing the gloomy chilled night with a warm and secure homestead.
What happened on that canvas happened two thousand years ago on the world’s canvas. When a tiny baby came into a grim and dark world, shining light across the barren landscape and offering all the hope of eternal warmth and security.
And the most wonderful part is that he comes as a baby whose name is wonderful because he is wonderful.
