Putting Christ into Christmas.
Luke 2:10-11. “Suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the Angel reassured them. Don’t be afraid he said. I bring you good news. It will bring great joy to all people. The Saviour—-yes, the Messiah, the Lord— has been born today in Bethlehem the city of David!”
Scripture reading: Luke 2:8-12.
Introduction.
If we were to place a person from the deepest rural area of our country into one of the our busy shopping walls, for instance, Greenstone, during the Christmas season and he was observing the hustle and bustle of the crowds, what do you think his impression of the meaning of Christmas is?
Looking at the sight and sound of our Christmas preparations, would he beable to understand the true meaning of Christmas?
Could we explain to him the real meaning? Would he believe us?
All the glitter , the tinsel, the buying and selling, drunken parties and so on—-do they speak more loudly to such people than do the testimonies of our churches and of our own individual Christian lives.
Even our own children are rapidly losing the sight of the true meaning of Christmas, because Christ has been taken out of Christmas, His place having been taken by our selfish leisure in its outward celebration.
At the beginning of this Christmas season let us gather our families together and remind them through the reading of the Christian story, of the real meaning of this great Christian celebration.
Let us attempt to cause them to see for themselves that there is a great depth to the richness of the glorious message of Christmas.
Let us teach them the Christmas season is a time for;
1 Adoration and praise of our Lord
At this season of the year we ought to give full expression of our great love for the Lord through unashamed praise.
A baby has been born to bless the world in a very unique way. When a baby is born into our home think of the rejoicing over this addition to the family. The birth of the Christ child should cause such rejoicing as our hearts cannot contain. Just as the wise men of the East came to give adoration to Him so ought we to give adoration to Him. The wise men only knew partially that He was to grow up to be a very special Person. But we know having read the Bible, what a special person was born in that Bethlehem stable. We know through His life, His teachings, His miracles, His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection from the dead, that He is truly the son of the living God and that God came down to earth that night so long ago into that Bethlehem stable.
This baby came as a fulfilment of the promise that we read in Isa:9:6“For a child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders, and He will be called; wonderful Counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace.” Also in Isa7:14 we read ” Look: the virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means God with us).” Hundreds of years before this great event in the stable , prophecy in minute detail was given concerning the circumstances of Jesus’s birth , His character and of His Ministry. The Son of God stepped into the pages of history as a complete fulfilment of God’s promises to humankind and for His plan and purpose of reconciling people to Him. At this season of the year, knowing this great truth makes us want to sing our great Redeemer’s praise.
The shepherds watching the sheep in the valley below the mountains near Bethlehem, were startled out of their drowsiness on that night, by the most beautiful music they had ever heard, the carol being sung to them by the heavenly choir. The music is lingering in their hearts and minds throughout the days. Let there be a depth of meaning to the words we sing; let these carols be expressive of our real feeling toward the Christ of Christmas.
2 A realisation of the meaning of his coming.
What does the coming of Christ into the world really mean to our hearts today? What was His purpose in coming into the midst of humankind?
He came to bring peace among people by giving them the gift of peace in their hearts through the redemption of their souls. This world today is crying out for peace. Nation is set against nation, race against race. We claim we want peace but until we are willing to have peace on God’s terms we will never findpeace . Jesus said in John 16:33. “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on Earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
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