Sunday Morning, December 19th, 2004
Let us pray
Welcome.......
My family and I want to wish all of you a very blessed Christmas, and trust you all will
have the joy of Christmas, and a wonderful New Year.
In six more days it will be Christmas day, and by now you all should have finished your
Christmas shopping. Do you re-mem-ber as a child how Christmas would take so long to
come? but as you get older and older, Christmas comes around so quickly, and we say to
ourselves, my how time flies.
On the first Sunday of Advent which was on November 28th we used as our Topic, The
Eternal Word, and we said the Word was in the beginning; the Word was made flesh,
and the Word dwelt among man, and Jesus Christ is the Eternal Word. On the second
Sunday of Advent which was December 5th, we took a detour, and used as our topic,
Whose report will you believe? and we were encouraged to believe God’s report. Last
Sunday which was the third Sunday of Advent our topic was The Gift of Christmas, and
we concluded that Jesus is the Gift of Christmas.
Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent and our topic today will be, The Joy of Christmas.
Please turn with me to page 5 of your bulletines or in your bibles to Luke 2 verses 8
through 14, and let’s all stand and read together. Please tell someone, joy can be yours.
Today we are planning to have a Christmas Celebration Dinner and Re-cog-ni-tion in
our Fellowship Hall. Maybe you are excited about this; maybe you are happy, but after
the celebration will you still have joy? The word happiness and the word joy are both
nouns, and many times are used in the same way, but I believe there is a difference. I
believe happiness is based upon circumstances, but you can have joy despite the
circumstances. If I had a $1,000, and gave it to you, it is quite possible you would be
happy, but after you have spent that $1,000 on your Christmas shopping, would you still
have joy? If you have Christ, then you have joy, because Jesus Christ is the joy of
Christmas.
As a young boy growing up in Jamaica, we were not allowed to read comic books,
because we were told it was wrong to do. I am not quite sure about reading cartoons, that
might have been alright. Most of you I am sure have heard about Charlie Brown and his
freind Linus. I would like to quote an article that I read on Charlie Brown. "Charlie
Brown’s Christmas had gotten off to a bad start. He’d been told to pick out the best
Christmas tree he could find. Instead he managed to find the scrawniest tree imaginable.
His friends were furious and left him standing alone with his pathetic little tree. While
standing there he asked, "Isn’t there anybody who can tell me the true meaning of
Christmas?
At that moment his friend Linus said, "I’ll tell you the meaning of Christmas, Charlie
Brwon." And with that Linus began reciting from Luke 2 where the angel says to the
shepherds, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy..."
This is good news for you, good news for me, good news for all people regardless of our
circumstances! No matter how scrawny our tree, no matter what has been happening in
our lives, in spite of that empty place, that incurable disease, that broken re-la-tion-ship,
here’s the good news: Jesus Christ the Savior, has been born! The Lord of heaven and
earth has come into our lives, our misery, and our suffering to offer hope. God offers the
hope of forgiveness and a blessed new beginning because of Jesus’ presence.
On this fourth Sunday of Advent don’t focus on what’s meager or what you think isn’t
good enough in life; listen closely to the Savior who wants to be in your life.
I do trust that you have learned that you can’t please every-body, and that you can’t make
every-body happy, but if you have God in your life, you can have joy. Maybe there are
certain things you don’t have, not much money; no fancy car, no designer clothes, but you
can still have joy. Maybe over the past few weeks you might have received some bad
news, but even in this, you can still have joy. Your joy is not dependent upon your
circumstances, because if you have the joy of Christmas, Jesus Christ, then you are
alright. In James 1 verses 2 and 3 we read these words, My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations. Knowing this that the trying of your faith
worketh patience. In the life ap-pli-ca-tion study bi-ble the same verses reads like this,
Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an
opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to
grow. Is it possible to have joy in the mids’t of difficult circumstances? and the answer is
yes, if you have Jesus Christ who is the joy of Christmas.
It’s Christmas time again, and there are all kinds of sounds reminding us that Christmas is
here - bells ringing, choirs singing, and music filling the air. It seems people are extra
loving at Christmas time, and just willing to give. Just last week I heard of a gentleman
who received over $14,000 in Social Security payment, and placed it in a Salvation Army
Christmas basket, because he really did not need it, and he felt like helping someone else.
But in the mids’t of all the joyous sounds, around the world, in the mids’t all the loving
and giving, we can hear sounds of anguish and grief. Suffering still goes on in the mids’t
of rejoicing. For some people, the most joyous time of the year, has become the most
depressing, but you don’t have to be depressed, because you can have joy, you can have
the joy of Christmas, Jesus Christ our Lord. I have learned in whatever state I am to be
content, and to rely upon God, and to remind myself that God will supply my needs
according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus ...........elaborate....
Let’s look at verses 8 and 9 of our text (read). Why would God choose shepherds as the
first on earth to hear the glorious news of the birth of the Saviour of the world? Why
Shepherds? Shepherds were despised by the so called people of the day. The shepherds
were the common people, they were poor, lowly, and could be con-si-dered as no-bodies,
so why shepherds? When we think about God, he does things we just can’t
understand.....elaborate....
God some-how chooses the hum-ble rather than the high; the poor rather than the rich;
the one who can-not boast of his ac-com-plish-ments, but who has to depend on God. We
today can identify with these lowly shepherds, and we can have joy knowing that God did
not forget us...........elaborate.... man might say you are no good, you will amount to
nothing, but I can hear God saying, I see po-ten-tial in you........................
These lowly shepherds were afraid when the angel appeared to them. The angels must
have known the shepherds were afraid, and so in verse 10 of our text we find some com-
forting words.(read) Fear not, don’t be afraid, cheer up, because I have some good
news for you. I believe God is saying to some-body here today, on this fourth Sunday of
Advent, fear not, don’t be afraid, cheer up because I have some good news for you.
Saints of God, God has some good news for you, you can have joy, you can have the joy
of Christmas.. Don’t stay down de-pressed, you can have joy; don’t stay defeated, you can
have joy; don’t be a loser, you can have joy, you can have the joy of
Christmas.............elaborate....
The angel brought some good news to these lowly shepherds, it was good news of great
joy. Most of you here today know that there are certain things I like to talk about, you
might even know what songs are my favorite. Just in case you might not remember or just
don’t know let me refresh your memory.. I like to talk about God’s grace and mercy..........I
like to talk about the power of prayer.........I like to talk about praising God, and I like to
talk about the joy of the Lord................elaborate...Yes it gets rough some-times, but in
the roughness of times, I can still have joy, and I can agree with Andrae Crouch,
Through it all, Through it all. I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in
God, Through it all, Through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word......
This message of the angel seems to em-pha-size the fact that the Christian joy should
occupy a large share of our lives. This joy should not come just at Christmas time, but the
Christian, that child of God should be rejoicing all year through. This joy should not be
de-pen-dent upon cir-cum-stances, but a joy we all should have despite what is
happening.
Today you can have joy, you can have great joy. You can have joy because of the good
tidings. Je-sus Christ, the gift of Christmas, God’s only Son, left glory, laid aside his
splen-dor, came to earth, and took on a body, became God in the flesh, God in-car-nate.
He went to calvary’s cross, he died for our sins, he was buried, he rose on the third day, he
ascended into heaven and now seated on the right hand of the Father, and if we accept
him as Lord of our lives we can have joy. If you want joy, real joy, let Je-sus come into
your heart.....elaborate..
The message from the angel was a great message. Let’s look at verse 11 of our text (read).
The message was that a Savior is born who is Christ the Lord. Mary and Joseph took
their long journey to Beth-le-hem. They simple obeyed the decree of the king that
everyone should be taxed in his own city. They did nothing to put them-selves in accord
with The Divine purposes of God in the ful-filling of prophecy, they simple obeyed
instructions that were given to them. So often we try to man-i-pu-late things, in order to
have things going our way, but if we truly want to have joy, it is best to do things God’s
way, and follow who-ever God chooses for us to follow. The Word of God is our road
map, let’s obey what God is saying to us from his Word. It is so very easy to try and go
around the word, but let’s try to obey the word......elaborate...
Many times we have lost our joy because we are trying to do God’s work, and we are
saying nobody can do it as good as I can. Many times we have lost our joy because we
are trying to do things our way. Many times we have lost our joy because we do not want
to obey the voice of God, but because a Savior is born, all of us here today can have joy,
we can have the joy of Christmas......elaborate....
Even though the shepherds did not try to question the angel, let’s see what happens in
verse 12 (read). Even though this new born is the son of a king; you will not find him in a
palace; you will not find him dressed in a fancy robe; you will not find him attended by
servants, but the sign is, you will find this babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger, the place where live-stock are fed. Men would not expect to find their Deliverer
born under these con-di-tions, but this was the sign from the angel, the babe....swaddling
clothes...a manger.............elaborate...
These lowly shepherds had no time to think about what the angel had said, but let’s look
what happened in verses 13 and 14 of our text (read). As soon as the angel was finished
speakng, suddenly there was with angel a mul-ti-tude of the heavenly hosts, and they were
praising God. These lowly shepherds, these who were con-si-dered des-pised, these no-
bodies, they had a chance to be in the front row seats, they had a chance to be in the
reserved seats; and there they heard an-gel-ic music. They heard strains of sweetest song
as the music filled the air. They heard words of comfort and of hope; words to inspire,
and words that would give great joy. The angels, the heavenly choir were singing, glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will toward men. The angels were
glorifying God; the angels were giving praise to God............elaborate...can you imagine
the sound of music, the sound of heavenly voices? I wish I was there listening to that
heavenly choir singing, that must have been glorious. I enjoy listening to gospel music; I
enjoy listening to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir; I enjoy listening to the Singing Saints; I
enjoy listening to the singing of the choir at The First Church of God in Harvey, but the
music from the angelic choir were just sweet sounds of music that cannot be compared
with any earthly music......
If somehow today you find yourself down, just start to glorify and to praise the Lord. If
somehow you find things are not going as you expected, just start to glorify and to praise
the Lord. If somehow you find yourself troubled and burdened down, just start to glorify
and to praise the Lord. If somehow.............elaborate....
The angels were singing; the angels were joyful; the angels were rejoicing, glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Do you want peace? then your
highest aim must be to glorify God. Too often people are trying to glorify man, but I want
somebody to know that all glory belongs to God and to God alone....elaborate...
What’s amazing to me, after the angels had left, in verse 15, the shepherds planned to
leave their sheep; to leave their live-li-hood, and to go to Bethlehem to see this thing
which is come to pass, which the Lord had made known to them. Many times we can’t
have joy because we are not willing to leave what we have. We are not willing to let go
those things that are hindering us. We are not willing to make a sacrifice. For the
shepherds, the sheep can stay right now; God has spoken, and so we have to go to
Bethlehem. Right now, for the shepherds our pay check can stay for awhile, because we
have to go to Bethlehem. Right now, our family will have to wait until we get back,
because we have to go to Bethelehem. Right now for the shepherds, every-thing will have
to wait, because we have to go to Bethelehem. Something is happening in Bethlehem, and
we have to see it for our-selves...........elaborate...
Do you want to have joy? Do you want to have the joy of Christmas? Maybe like the
shepherds you have been despised, but God is saying to you today, fear not, don’t be
afraid, a Savior has come to take away your fears. Maybe like the shepherds you have
been considered a nobody; maybe nobody thinks too much about you. Like the shepherds
God sees you in your present condition; like the shepherds God is saying to you fear not,
for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy. Like the shepherds God is saying to you a
Savior is born, and you can have joy. You don’t have to live a de-feated life, you can have
joy. You don’t have to.....elaborate...
On this last Sunday of Advent, joy can be yours right now, because a Savior is born. If
you are not saved, today is your day to be saved, and you can have real joy. Maybe you
have been struggling, trying to do it all by yourself, maybe you are being tested and tried,
but today you can turn it over to Jesus, and truly have joy. Jesus Christ, the one who is the
joy of Christmas, he wants to be your friend. Jesus Christ the one who sticketh closer than
a brother, he wants to be your friend. Jesus Christ the one who will never leave you nor
forsake you, he wants to be your friend. When was the last time you smile and felt good
doing so? When Jesus becomes your friend, then you will truly know what Christmas is
all about, and be able to sing with the assurance, Joy to the world! the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her king’; Let every heart prepare Him romm, And heaven and
nature sing, And haeaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Verse 2 of that song states, Joy to the world! the Savior reigns! Let men their songs
employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains, repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
Maybe over the years you have lost the joy you used to have, somehow it has
disappeared, but thank God once again you can have joy, the joy of Christmas.
Let us stand
Call to discipleship
Closing song/prayer
