Last
Sunday we began our Christmas Series by asking and answering one of the
season’s most interesting questions: “what is the purpose of Christmas?”
It
the purpose of Christmas found in big-screen TV’s? Is the purpose of Christmas
found in the gifts that we may or may not receive?
Is the purpose
of Christmas found in days off or our holiday traditions?
Certainly
each of these is part of what Christmas has come to be about, but the true purpose of Christmas is
about the Gift that has already been given:
“…to us a child is
born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he
will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, NIV)
The purpose of Christmas is to
celebrate the Gift that has been given to and for us.
The
Bible tells us in Luke chapter 2 that after Jesus had been born; the shepherds
had received word that some unusual event had just taken place.
The
shepherds had safely tucked their sheep into their sheep pen for the night;
they themselves had “comfortably” lied down in front of the opening of the
sheep pen, when all of a sudden:
“…an angel of the
Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them.
They were terrified….” (Luke 2:9, NLT2)
It’s
no wonder they were terrified! They were in sleep mode, when all of a sudden a
big flash of light comes and startles them awake!
ILLUSTRATION- we have all experienced this
feeling at one point or another. You’re sound asleep when all of a sudden the
telephone rings; or your child yells at the top of her lungs: “I’m hungry” or
your spouse hits their foot on the dresser on their way to the bathroom at 2 in
the morning.
When
any event wakes you from a dead sleep, you’re scared to death and you begin to
think the worst!
The
shepherds were no exception. When the Bible says “they were terrified” (Luke 2:9, NIV) it literally means they were terrified. Scared to
death.
They
were asleep, they had been woken up; they were scared.
This
is why the first words spoken to them by the angel were: “do not be afraid” (Luke 2:10b, NIV)
You
know, some people are living scared. Scared that all their secrets will be
found out, scared of what might happen, scared of what may never happen.
The
Word of the Lord for all of us today is “don’t be afraid” (Luke
2:10b, NLT2)
God
doesn’t want you to live in fear. He wants you to live in freedom.
David wrote in
Psalm 27: “The
LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the
stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1, NIV)
Paul
wrote to Timothy: “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of
power, love, and self-discipline.” (1Timothy
1:7, NLT2)
God
doesn’t want His children living in fear; He wants His children to live in
peace.
This is why the
first words to these ordinary shepherds was a word to not be afraid.
Nothing good
comes out of being scared and the news that was given to these shepherds was a
time of celebration:
“…the
angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.” (Luke
2:10, NIV)
The
angel of the Lord was reminding them—and us—to not be afraid, because the
purpose of Christmas is a time to celebrate!
To
celebrate the fact that “Jesus has come to save us, not to scare us!” (Warren, 2008, 33)
Church:
Jesus didn’t come to wreck
your world; He came to rock your
world!
He
came to bring you into God’s family. You and I were lost and He came looking
for us.
Luke
chapter 15 is one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament. This chapter
deals with lost things.
In
each section, we are told what was lost, how the lost was found, and what
happened when the lost was found.
For
the sake of time we are only going to examine one of these sections, verses 1-7:
“Tax
collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law
complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
3
So Jesus told them this story:
4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost,
what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go
to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on
his shoulders.
6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and
neighbors, saying,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost
sheep.’
7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost
sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are
righteous and haven’t strayed away!” (NLT2)
Friends, “the good news of great joy” that the angel spoke about
that day is the fact that Jesus left His home in heaven, came to this earth in
the form of a human being, and has come to find you.
He has come to
bring you back home, He has come to help you, not only so you could find the
way, but so you could know the way.
The good news of great joy is
that Jesus has come to find you.
We were lostà
we are lost. Our sin separates us from God; but because of His love for all
people, He has come to this earth to find, and bring back what was lost.
Jesus’ purpose
statement was: “The
Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10, NIV)
Christmas is a time to celebrate
that God has come near. God has come to bring you to your rightful home. God
has come to find you.
ILLUSTRATION- I read a story this week of a
boy named William Spurling.
William was in
the 7th grade and he wanted to be a part of his school’s
Christmas concert.
He
really wanted to play the part of a shepherd, but the director of the concert felt,
because of his stature, that he would be better off playing the part of the
innkeeper.
When
Mary and Joseph had come to the inn and knocked on the door, William opened it.
When they asked
him for a place to stay and he responded in a gruff voice: “there is no place for you to stay. There is no room in
the inn.”
Joseph
said: “but my wife is tired and weary and
she is expecting a baby. Isn’t there just a small room somewhere where we could
rest?”
Once
again, William said: “you’ll have to find a
place somewhere else; there is no room in this inn.”
Once
more Joseph pleaded for a place to spend the night… then came a long pause.
William had forgotten his lines.
Behind
the curtain, the director was whispering William’s next line: “no, be gone, No, be gone.”
Finally,
William spoke, this time with a softness in his voice: “no, be gone.”
As
Mary and Joseph started to leave, William said to them: “wait a
minute! You can stay in my room—I’ll sleep
in the shed!”
The
director thought that his play was ruined, that is, until he reflected on what
William had said... “You can stay in my
room—I’ll sleep in the shed!”
Isn’t
this what Jesus did for us?
Doesn’t He offer
us His room in exchange for our shed?
The
Bible says: “When
we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us
sinners.
7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright
person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is
especially good.
8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to
die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:6-8, NLT2)
When we were
lost in our sin and shame, God came near. When we were unable to find our own way, God sent the “good news of great joy to all the people”.
Jesus has come into this world to find those
who are lost.
If you have
never received Jesus into your heart, you are lost. If you have received Jesus
at one time, but you have stepped back, you are lost. You are missing the
purpose of Christmas.
Jesus was sent
to this earth to bring you back to God. He left His home in heaven to search
for lost people, and He makes it possible for us to find the way to God.
Jesus said: "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV)
Jesus exchanged His room for a
shed so we could exchange our shed for His home.
This is what we
celebrate at Christmas. We celebrate the fact that through Jesus there is
forgiveness of sins. Through Jesus we don’t have to be afraid.
Through Jesus we
are set free. Through Jesus our hope is with God, in heaven, forever.
This is what was
celebrated in the field that night. Thousands of years of waiting for the
Promised One had finally come to an end.
God had come to
be with His people, God had come to bring His people home.
If you have
never received the Good News into your heart and life, today is your day.
Jesus was given
to and for you. He has come to bring you home.
“Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all
the people.”
(Luke 2:10, NIV)
The purpose of
Christmas is to celebrate that Jesus has come to this earth to bring each one
of us back to God.
The Bible says: “…when the right
time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the
law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” (Gal. 4:4-5, NLT2)
God sent Jesus
at just the right time, and this is just the right time for you to meet this
Jesus.
You can’t
celebrate Christmas in the way that God wants you to celebrate Christmas if you
are lost. You can’t receive all that Christmas is unless you receive Christ
Himself.
Have you ever received
this Good News of Great Joy? It is, as the Bible says: “for all the people.” (Luke 2:10,
NIV)
The Good News of
Jesus Christ is not just for your wife or kids, mom or dad. The good news of
Jesus Christ is for everyone.
Until you
experience the Good News of Great Joy Himself, you will miss the purpose of
Christmas. You may get an iPad 2, but unless you have the Son of God, you’ve
got nothing.
The Bible says: “He who has the Son
has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1Jo 5:12, NIV)
Do you have
Jesus? Have you made room for Him in your inn? Have you surrendered your life
over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Are you living for Jesus?
The Good News of
Great joy is that you can receive Jesus today. “I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now
is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2, NIV)
There is no better
time than right now to receive this Good News of Great joy that was first
proclaimed to the shepherds. There is no better time, than right now, to
receive God’s gift to you this Christmas.
Once you
experience “the good news of great joy”,
Christmas will never be the sameà
life will never be the same.
Once Jesus finds
you, you’re whole world will be changed for ever, and that is more than enough
reason to celebrate Christmas.
If you’ve never
invited Jesus into your heart, it’s as simple as ABC:
Admit
that you have sinned. Romans 3:23
Believe
that Jesus Christ died for you. John 1:12
Confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord of your life. Romans 10:9-10
God wants all
people to be found. This is what we celebrate at Christmas.
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