Tis The Season

Tis the Season

If you have your bible, please open it to Ecclesiastes 3. We`re going to use a lot of scripture today, but that's where we'll start. One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it. The seven-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside him, and said quietly, “Good morning, Alex.”

Good morning, Pastor,” replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. “Pastor McGhee, what is this?” Alex asked.

“Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the men and women who have died in the service.”

Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex’s voice was barely audible when he finally managed to ask, “Which one, the 9:00 or 10:30 service?

So, we`re in this Christmas season and if you look on the screen behind me, you`ll see that the title of my message today is Tis the Season. Today, we`re going to look at some of the key themes of Christmas. Let's start with verse 1.

READ ECCLESIASTES 3:1

We`re going to stop right there for now. Here, the bible says that there is a season for everything. Verses 2-8 give some examples of that phrase. When we get into the month of December and we start talking about Christmas, the phrase “Tis the Season” comes up a lot and that's where the title of my message today comes from. Today we`re going to look at 5 ideas that are commonly tied to Christmas.

Tis the Season for Giving

If you would, turn your Bible to John 3:16.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Look closer at what that verse says. “For God so loved the world that He GAVE.” This is what Christmas is all about. God loved us so much that He sent His only son Jesus Christ to die a horrible death at Mt. Calvary on the cross. The crucifixion and resurrection start right here at Christmas. If you don't have the virgin birth, you don't have the crucifixion. Without the crucifixion, you don't have the resurrection and without the resurrection, we don't have salvation. It took all three. Virgin birth, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. God loves us so, He gave. Likewise, if we love him and if we love others as we should, we should also give. Now, I`m not saying we should all go and give up our children to be beaten and nailed to a cross to die, but we should be tithing and giving to the church. Genesis 28:20-22 says:

“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

I am going to give you a little knowledge of what is happening here. Jacob departs from Beersheba and begins to travel towards Haran. They estimated that this trip was about 550 miles, and they did not have these nice cars and vehicles like we have today. He likely walked the whole journey. That would be like walking from here to Shreveport, Louisiana. So, Jacob begins his journey to Haran, and he comes to this place where he prepares to make camp for the night. He goes to sleep, and he has this dream. In this dream, he sees a ladder that stretches from Earth all the way to Heaven that had angels going up and down it. Then, God speaks to Jacob. God speaks to Jacob, and He tells him that the land that he sleeps on will be his and his families and this family will stretch out across the land and through his family, the world will be blessed. In case you didn`t know, God is referring to Jesus there. And then God makes a promise to Jacob by telling him that He will always be with him no matter where he is or where he goes. In response to this dream, Jacob immediately wakes up and the first thing he does is praise God and make an altar to the Lord. That is where we are when we get to verse 20. Let us read it again now that we have this background knowledge to the situation.