What Is The Spirit Of Christmas? (3 Ways To Stop, 4 Ways To Promote The Spirit Of Christmas).

What Is The Spirit Of Christmas?

Matthew 2:7-12NKJV

The Spirit of Christmas moves forward motive free. One purpose and one agenda, Worship the King!

From the very beginning of Matthew 2, we will read case and point, Herod had an agenda, “Find Jesus and destroy Him; Destroy a baby! (Satan recognized threat).

These wise men walked with purpose, their agenda was to worship this Christ child, this promised Messiah. -This world changer!

Matthew 2:7-12NKJV Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

Think, 400 years of silence, no prophet. No anointed prophecy. Spiritual silence, no voice heard.

About wise men: The wise men-seek Him,

the wiser men- find Him, the Wisest men- follow Him.

The Church, His body, is a people to find Him in. It’s were He lives. He camps in worship, He lives in agreement. P.H

This will be the voice that would change destiny. These wise men heard: His words of love, forgiveness, and His way of discussing greater truth. A deeper way, life changing approaches. Thought provoking. Jesus would speak freely of an upside down kingdom.

a. The first, last. The last, first.

b. Turn the other cheek.

c. Go the extra mile.

Jesus walked His Fathers will. He walked it out in word and deed. Jesus freely gave His word to men.

What does a person do when Herod comes with false ambition? Selfish agenda?

Matthew 2:7-8MSG Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, “Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I’ll join you at once in your worship.”

Herod’s motivations were wrong. A secret meeting? His mind was set, destroy all competition whatever cost.

I want to give you 3 ways to stop the spirit of Christmas. 4 ways to promote the spirit of Christmas.

1. To stop the spirit of Christmas, the voice of Herod was powerful. -He was a King, His voice carried weight.

These wisemen from the East jeopardized their lives for the expectations of the Coming One, the Messiah.

These wisemen knew scripture. Micah 5:2NLT But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, (Meaning, blessed place), are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

These wisemen weren’t guessing the Messiah’s coming, They were studied men. Students of the Torah. They would declare, The ancient of days!

To these wisemen, Herod’s voice was mighty, but Jesus’ voice would produce eternal consequence. Without His voice man could not be saved!

Again, The voice of power, (Herod) tries to throw his weight around.

By obeying God, these wise men gave God a voice. Their voice of worship was backed by and reinforced by the Almighty!

2. To stop the spirit of Christmas, Herod’s voice wanted to shut worship down. Give worship no voice.

A few days before Jesus’ crucifixion, God’s people were shouting praise while laying their clothes on the ground, praising their Jesus.

The naysayers were saying, “Tell ‘them’ to be quite, Tell ‘them’ to stop shouting Hosanna!”

Luke 19:40AMP Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these [people] keep silent, the stones will cry out [in praise]!”

These early apostles, Peter, James, John etc. gave worship a voice. Through this one verse, we should never become complacent or fearful of God’s message, hoarding it to ourselves or remaining quiet for fear of judgment or condemnation.

Q&A: Will you give the message a voice?

“We should be Bold in our testimony and faithful in our witness, vocal in our praise and confident in our hope.” P.H

What is the Spirit of Christmas? It’s authentic worship of the spirit behind all goodness and compassion and giving comes worship.