The Meaning Of Christmas

The Meaning of Christmas

Lu 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,keeping

watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone

round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

I heard about a young boy who received a harmonica for Christmas from his uncle. After the first of the year he saw his uncle for the first time since receiving the harmonica. With a large smile he said, “Thanks for the harmonica you gave me for Christmas," "It’s the best present I ever got."

"That’s great," replied his uncle. "Do you know how to play it?"

"Oh, I don’t play it," the little fellow replied. "My mom gives me a dollar a day not to play it during the day and my dad gives me five dollars a week not to play it at night!"

We have some strange ideas about THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS.

We hear Happy Holidays, Which could mean anything.

Today I want to look at the Christmas story and see THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS.

I. Mean Times

We know that Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem because it was a time of Tax.

Caesar was making life hard on the Jewish people.

Israel had been longing for a Savior for years and God had promised that He would send a Messiah to deliver His people.

*Worship had turned into a set of RULES

*The Government was oppressive,

*the Economy was oppressive, and the

*Church was oppressive.

* Mary was expecting at any time

* Mary and Joseph did not have a place to spend the night.

I am sure that Mary and Joseph thought “If God really loves me WHY AM I GOING THROUGH ALL THIS STUFF”.

Our story opens

V. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Shepherds were camped out watching over some sheep to keep the BEARS, the LOINS, and the THIEVES away.

It was NIGHT.

*Things look different at night.

*Problems are magnified at night.

Have you ever been hunting at night? Every bush looks like a bear, every stick looks like a snake.

Suddenly a bright light shone around them

Think about a dark night and a BRIGHT LIGHT flashes.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone

round about them: and they were sore afraid.

I can understand being afraid, discouraged, depressed, READY FOR A CHANGE.

YOU may be going through some tough times:

*May be the ECOMONY,

*a PROMISE not yet Fulfilled,

*You may feel TAXED to the limit over CIRCUMSTANCES

II. Heavens Message

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of

great joy

That is still the message to you today FEAR NOT

2Ti 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

We sometimes believe that one of the Gifts of the Spirit is WORRY

I can assure you that is not a Gift from God.

The Angels message was, I bring you good tidings of great joy,

This is GOOD NEWS.

We need to realize that God has GOOD NEWS for us.

We sometimes forget the Benefits of Serving God.

He has given us POWER over all the POWER of the DEVIL.

Lu 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you

I heard about the Devil coming into the Church and all but one man run out. The Devil looked at him and asked “Why are you not afraid of me”. The man said I have been married to your sister for 25years.

GOD HAS PERFECT TIMING

Ga 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son,

The Angels appearance tells us that HEAVEN IS AWARE of where we are and what we need.

*Dan. 3:28 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego + Heaven Knew about the FIREY FURNACE and delivered.