The Importance of Christmas

Main Point: Jesus was born, as a gift, for you!

Introduction

Who knows that famous holiday is coming up, it’s an obvious answer? Christmas! That’s right! Now there are many people who celebrate Christmas every year but yet we either forget why we are celebrate, why we celebrate the way we celebrate, and who we are celebrating.

So ill ask you, why do we celebrate Christmas, what’s the point?

Those are all really good answers, but why is all of that worth celebrating? Why is Christmas so important.

Why is the birth of Jesus worth celebrating more than we do on almost any other holiday?

Why is Christmas the most celebrated holiday in the entire year?

Jab 1: Gifts

Obviously when a lot of us think of Christmas, we think of giving gifts and presents to different people.

When I think of Christmas morning, I think about waking up my siblings at 6:00 am, running to see presents we have, opening them, playing with them.

Then we always had breakfast, which is usually cinnamon rolls and our favorite breakfast cereal.

Then we travel to my Papa and Nana’s house, my Nana would cook some amazing food, and do the same thing, then later on we go to my other grandparents house and do the same thing, then before all of this, the weekend before Christmas, we go to my other grandparents house and do the exact same thing.

My point is, when I think of Christmas, I get this feeling of Joy and happiness, and it comes from these gifts, and uniting together.

Does anyone experience relate to mine any?

Does anyone wanna tell me their favorite Christmas day memory?

You see a lot of these actually revolve around gifts, and uniting together.

And interesting enough, that is what Christmas is about, on a much deeper, and spiritual level.

Bible Passage:

Context:

You see we are about to read a couple of passages from the book of Luke chapter 1, and we are going to dive deep into why Jesus’ birth is so important.

Remember this is right before Jesus was born. So there were no Christians. They were God’s chosen people, the Israelites, the Jews, who are waiting on the savoir, to save them from their sins, and to connect them with God.

Now in these passages, Luke is writing about how the Birth of Jesus took place.

I want to explain to you a little bit of whats going on before we read so we know whats going on. If you've never heard it before, it can be a little confusing, so try to stick with it.

There was an angel that visited Jesus’ Aunt (Elizabeth) and Uncle (Zechariah) before Jesus was even conceived. This angel told them that they will have a child that will lead the way for the coming messiah, Jesus. This child's’ name is John, also known as John the Baptist.

Then the same angel (Gabriel) went and talked to Mary (Jesus mother) six months into Elizabeth’s pregnancy.

And this is where we are going to pick up.

Passage:

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.’

*If we skip down a little later in the story to where Elizabeth has her baby, we see her husband prophecy something that is so powerful. Resuming in verse 67 the Word says

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68 ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David

Explain the Passage/Bring It to Life

Explanation:

So what does this mean? What does it mean when the word says, 32 The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.’

Theres a bunch or big words and use of words that we can spend all night breaking down, but to help us understand we must understand some history.

The Jewish people had a promise to God, and this promise goes all the way back thousands of years to a guy named Abraham who God told, “Hey, if you love me and follow my ways, I will make a great nation of you.”

And so the job of the Jewish people were to simply be a light to the world and to show the world how powerful God is, and that he is the one true God, with the hope that one day their savoir would come to give us freedom and power from our sins.

Now whether the Jews did their job or not, the reason on why God himself, came down to earth as a man, as Jesus, stays the same.

To give us freedom and power from our sins and to show us how to live in perfect relationship with God.

Living in perfect relationship with God was the goal of Abraham, that was the Goal of Issac, Jacob, David, and for every Jew, the Goal is to live in right relationship with God, that is called righteousness.

Point 1:

So what Lane? What does that have to do with Christmas, or Jesus’ birth.

Well, that has everything to do with Christmas.

You see Jesus is a gift. He is the greatest gift we could ever ask for. Because without Jesus, we don’t have any power over all of our wrongdoings and sins.

All we have is a life that is disconnected with God and that is disconnected with other people.

You see before Jesus, the Jewish people had the Old Testament, the law, but even then, they still needed a savoir.

They needed God to save them from their sins, and to show them how to live in relationship with God, and with other people.

And so God himself, did that, for us. Jesus was born, as a gift, for you.

Illustration/Story

While I was finishing up this lesson, I found this 5 minute video that explains this perfectly.

Its a video from a group called the Bible Project, who I fully recommend.

But I want you to watch this video to help us better understand how Jesus is such a gift for us.

Conclusion

You see from the beginning, God had a plan.

His plan was to have a relationship with you.

However, when humans sinned, it tore that relationship, and it introduced death.

The Bible tells us that the punishment for sin is death.

And so we needed a savoir, to show us how to live in right relationship with God, and to give us power over our sins and death.

Because of Jesus, we don't have to worry about death, because if we accept him and follow his ways, we will get to live forever with him.

That is why Christmas is so important. That is why we celebrate.

Yes the gifts we receive on Christmas morning is great, and its awesome to be able to connect with our family.

But there is no greater gift than Jesus, who gives us the opportunity to connect with our God.

Pray