The Joy of Christmas

1 Timothy 1:15 (NIV)

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Introduction

Well, it is Christmas time Lighthouse!

How many of you are excited that Christmas is finally here?

We are officially in Christmas now. I know that Hobby Lobby set out Christmas decoration in like July, but that didn’t count. That’s too early.

It’s December 3, and we are now in the season!

One of the things that I love about Christmas is the memories that it creates.

How many of you know what I am talking about? So many memories are made around Christmas time that stay with us for a long time.

One of my favorite memories from Christmas was a game of hide and seek that my parents set up for me and my brothers.

On Christmas morning, we had an unwritten rule in our home that you could not open any presents until Mom and Dad were awake, but you could open the stalkings. That was great!

So one year, when we went to our stalkings, there was a clue inside. It told us to go to another place to look for our gift. When we got there, it was another clue. And this happened about 3 or 4 times before it said to check the dryer inside the garage.

I’ll never forget that when my brothers and I got to our dryer, my parents had left us our first Christmas gifts inside. They were remote controlled cars.

And that was a blast and I still remember that morning!

Transition

And I’m sure that if I went around this room, you all would have your own story of Christmas morning, or Christmas Eve, whatever your tradition is. And that’s one of the great things about Christmas. It is such a great reminder of our experiences.

But greater than our own personal Christmas experiences, is the reminder each year that as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, it is a reminder that Jesus was born on purpose, for a purpose. The joy in Christmas is the reminder that his birth brought the world closer to his death. Which brought the world closer to our life.

And that is what we are going to talk about today.

The Movie Set Up

Now, we are kicking off a fun series today called Home Alone. How many of you just love the movie, Home Alone?

So let’s get right to it!

Scene One - Set Up

Before we get to our first clip I want to refresh your memory a bit with everything going on at the McCallister home. Have you ever wondered by the way what Peter McCallister did for a living? Cause this man was a baller. That house was everything. Anyway, moving on...

Kevin has just been told by his parents that he needs to start packing for his trip to Paris.

Kevin feels completely incapable of packing for his trip. So what does he do? He reaches out to his family for help. He reaches out to siblings and cousins and here is what they tell him: Tough luck, you’re helpless, and you are incompetent.

That’s some kind of response, right?

Well how do you think this made Kevin feel?

Unseen. In a house FULL OF PEOPLE. He feels unseen, and because he’s unseen, he feels unloved.

So this is the part were Kevin says, “When I grow up I’m living alone. I’m living alone.”

And that leads us to this scene.

Scene One - Unpack

Kevin went from being unseen, right into the middle of conflict with his family.

His response? He wanted his family to disappear.

And wouldn’t you know it, the next morning his family does disappear.

This gives Kevin the freedom what he always wanted!

Now he’s free to watch whatever he wants to watch. He’s free to eat whatever he wants to eat. If he wants to jump on his parents bed, he can do that too.

But, what does all of this freedom really represent?

Well, what it really represents is sin.

Doing it your way, rather than doing it God’s way.

Sin has an allure to it. It’s tempting. It’s attractive.

When Kevin was in conflict with his family, what he wanted most was for them to go away. His desire was to be alone. The allure of sin got him out of step with the ones who, though they were in conflict, were the ones who loved him the most.

Now let’s step away from the movie for a moment and ask ourselves, what is the temptation that we are battling with? What is the thing that is alluring us to fall into sin?

Let’s talk about that.

What is sin? It is any action that we do that violates God’s moral law.

And what sin does is it gets us out of step with those who love us the most.

1. In our case, it begins with the Lord. Sin will get us out of step with the Lord.

2. Sin will get us out of step with those who love us. This is your family and your church family.

This is how Paul described sin in his letter to the Romans:

“You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in—first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone...” Romans 5:12 The Message

Paul is making the point that all of us… all of us… will have to fight against the allure of sin. He says that no one is exempt from sin, and the path where it can take us, which is death.

Let’s toss this back to the movie for a second.

Kevin thinks he’d be better off alone, that’s sin.

Then he learns the hard truth that now he would be facing an enemy, Marv and Harry.

And again, this is such a great analogy to sin. When we give in to sin, we may believe that we’re experiencing freedom and that we’re having fun. But any kind of fun that is in violation of the Lord, is ultimately a path to destruction.

So Kevin is now somewhere that he didn’t anticipate being in, and dealing with an enemy that he didn’t think he would be facing.

Sin will take you farther than you ever intended to go, it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay, and it will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay.

Let’s get back to this verse, Paul says that sin disturbs our relationship with God, and that in turn disrupts our relationship with everyone.

When you are going down a path of sin, those who love you are going to try and stop you. Remember we talked about this a few weeks ago… perfect love will call out when someone is headed to a path of destruction. God is going to place people around you who are going to shout out to you to watch where you’re headed, because you’re headed to a path of desctruction.

What sin will do is convince you that these people who do love you are haters. They don’t want to see you have fun. They are old fashioned. They don’t get it.

Sin will have you so blinded to the truth of their love for you, and God’s love for you.

Scene Two - Set Up

And all of this leads us to our next scene. Kevin, having experienced the life he thought would bring him joy, found himself really missing his loved ones.

Scene Two - Unpack

Kevin has hit the low point in his holiday without Mom and Dad. Instead of living it up, where is he? He’s in their bed. He’s holding their picture. He’s regretting his wish for his parents to disappear and he’s wanting to be back home with them.

This scene represents repentance, and it is really good news!

What is repentance?

It’s turning away from the life we have been living, or the direction we have been going in .

1 John 1:9 (NIV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Repentance involves genuine remorse for our actions, and a desire to change. Genuine repentance will lead us to do two things:

Confess. Repentance cannot happen without confession. It is through confession that we are calling out the things that we got wrong, bring them into the light of God’s word, and then leaving them to God.

Receive Forgiveness. This is important. You do not earn forgiveness, you receive forgiveness. After you have confessed, you then receive the gift that God has given you. This is where so many people get tripped up. They do not receive forgiveness and walk away under the guilt and the shame of their decision. But repentance brig us to this place where we receive forgiveness, and then we walk in a new direction.

The great news for everyone here today, if you can identify a bit with Kevin in that you’ve been doing it your way, and not God’s way, then just know that forgiveness is here for you today. Forgiveness is available for you today.

Scene Three - Set Up

Now in our final scene, Kevin decides to enter a church. Let me remind you what he does before this. He runs into a Santa Claus impersonator and Kevin asks him to bring his family back. This meeting with this fake Santa leaves Kevin feeling let down. It’s only then that Kevin decides to enter into church.

Scene Three - Unpack

When Kevin enters into the church he has a conversation with Old Man Marley. Now, throughout the movie Kevin is having run-ins with this Old Man. Whenever Kevin runs into Old Man Marley, he’s afraid of him.

The first thing that this man tells him is to not be afraid, and that they’ve had it wrong about him. They go on to have a great conversation, and Kevin deals with his decisions and his behaviors head on.

He acknowledges that he’s not had a good year and that he’s made bad decisions along the way. Now, Marley has a great quote in this scene. He says, everyone is welcome at church.

So let’s look at this third representation.

In our first scene Kevin’s actions represent sin, in the second scene his actions represent repentance, and this final scene represents Kevin’s salvation. He receives the counsel that Marley gives him and he’s determined to do things right from this point forward.

That is the gospel in Home Alone, and that is the Gospel here for you today.

Romans 5:8–9 (NIV)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

The good news tells us that while we were in our sin, Christ died for us. If you’re thinking that Christ’s death was in the past, you need to know that it was in time, with effects outside of time. That means that the sin I am in today, Christ already died for!

So when we repent, and when we receive his forgiveness, it justifies us. That means that the justice needed to right the wrongs that we have made, happens when we ask for and when we receive his forgiveness.

And the great news is that by doing that, He will save us!

Conclusion

So what’s to do after that?

Well, it is perhaps he most meaningful thing that we can do, and that is to make Jesus our Lord and Savior. It is to confess with your mouth and to believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.

And today, you have the chance to do that. You have the chance to make Jesus the Lord of your life. You have the chance to face your decisions head on, and make the move into a new and better direction.

You don’t walked in one way, but you can leave another way.

You don’t have to carry the weight of your decisions with you any longer. Today, you can have a fresh start in Jesus.