What is the Point of Christmas - Part 1 (Came to Save)

Message Introduction

Sometimes, it’s difficult to enjoy Christmas when we’re too busy or overwhelmed by life and the challenges of this world. We may even wonder what is the point of Christmas. This three-part sermon series is going to take us back to the foundation of the Christmas story, revealing what the point of Christmas is!

Because Christmas changed everything! God has come to us in the form of Jesus! Heaven has come to earth!

Prayer

Sermon

Our need for salvation is not hard to recognize as we stare out at the condition of humanity. The fallen world is full of greed, lust, strife, and war. Sin entered this world, and it requires being saved from this condition of man. Sin is a rebellion against God, His principles, and His nature. It is not hard to identify that we are full of addictions, challenges, and disease to the soul. We are unable to change our own human condition without divine intervention.

Matthew 1:18–25 NLT “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ ” When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.”

Me

I grew up in a family that was, difficult. Strife, addictions, and dysfunction were just a few ingredients that made up the DNA of the Stelly family. Christmas was a moment where artificial peace would come into our home. A truce. A cease fire of the typical dysfunctions of our family. I always knew that it would not last long and I would try to enjoy the moment before all hell would break loose again.

Our family would go to church, listen to the pastor speak of the birth of Jesus, and I would think…what is the point? I am only going back to hell and I thought God was sent to save me from this hell.

Pipes freezing in the trailer story

We

I know that many of you can probably relate with this false sense of peace, maybe the challenge of family dynamics, or finding yourself in a really tough situation that doesn’t seem like is going to end. This Christmas season, you may be asking yourself…what is the point?

I have great news for you today.

This Good News is foundational.

This Good News is transformational.

God

She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’

This is good news!

Matthew Henry writes this, “The people of the Jews had God with them, in types and shadows, dwelling between the cherubim; but never so as when the Word was made flesh. What a happy step that was taken toward settling of a peace and correspondence between God and man, that the two natures are thus brought together in the person of the Mediator! By the light of nature, we see God as the God above us; by the light of the law, we see Him as a God against us; but by the light of the gospel, we see him as Immanuel, God with us.”

Immanuel - God with us - we have a God who dares to come near to us in our brokenness and suffering.

Two times in 1 John 3:1-10 we are told why Christmas happened - that is, why the eternal, divine Son of God came into the world as a human.

1 John 3:5, NLT “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”

1 John 3:8 ESV “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

The sinless Son of God came to take away the sins of this world and to destroy the works of the devil.

The works of the Devil that Jesus came to destroy are the works of sin.

So two times John tells us that Christmas happened - the Son of God became human - to take away sin, and destroy the work of the Devil, namely sin.

Your family dysfunction is connected to brokenness…sin.

The hell and chaos that may be swirling around your family this Christmas season…sin.

Our sin. Make this personal and love Jesus for it. Take the personal words of the Apostle Paul and make them your own.

Galatians 2:20 NLT “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus first moments in life encompassed hostility, heartache and violence. This section of scripture is gut wrenching.

Matthew 2:13–23 NLT “After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.” When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. 22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Often times we feel good about our generosity and best wishes for peace on earth around our Christmas trees and dinner tables. Scripture texts likes this take us back to reality like a harsh winter wind, taking our breath away.

Our songs of peace and public displays of charity have not erased the headlines of poverty, violence, crimes done against humanity, the war in Ukraine, and the war in the middle east. The world can certainly be brutal but we need to remember to take heart because Christ has overcome.

God had a plan to bring grace and mercy to humanity through Jesus Christ. Nothing could stop this from happening. You might be facing difficult circumstances - even evil - but be rest assured that though those things may hurt the body, they cannot touch the soul that has been regenerated and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 3:14–21 NLT “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”

You

This Christmas season…remember that Christ dwelling among humanity was the point. Releasing your troubles, and celebrating all that He has done! Jesus came into a dark world to shine bright, a redeeming light.

Worship Team Enters

“Because of the condition of sin we are limited, to suffer, to be subject to sorrows and death - He has nonetheless had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine…He himself has gone through the whole of human experience - from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death…He was born in poverty and…suffered infinite pain - all for us - and though it well worth His while.”

Dorothy Sayers

Many people are carrying a burden around, not just at Christmastime, but at others times of the year too. At Christmas, sin, sorrow and brokenness feels especially alienating because everyone around us seems to be bright, happy, and celebrating. It is a hopeful thing to remember that Jesus, “God with Us,” is not sparkly and festive like our local department stores or scrolling Amazon for cool gifts. He deliberately came to be with us in the messiness. We are not alone in our sorrows. Instead, we are closer to the real reason Jesus came.

Application Point:

When we suffer the hard things of this life, sometimes God seems aloof, but the birth of Jesus reminds us He chose to come near to us in our hurts and struggles. He came to Save us!

Prayer Response:

Salvation

Prayer response in the Middle East & Ukraine and Russia:

God of all nations, we pray today for Israel/Gaza and Ukraine/Russia:

We pray for those grieving the sudden loss of loved ones, captives, and those whose homes have been destroyed.

We pray for a miraculous de-escalation of this conflict, asking for reason to overcome rage and revenge.

We also ask that other nations will be restrained from escalating this situation further.We pray for effective international peacemaking, seeking diplomacy over warmongering on all sides. Blessed are the merciful and the peacemakers. (Matthew 5:7, 9)

Amen.

Prayer response for suffering and hardship:

In what ways are you suffering right now?

Father God, I bring my suffering – my struggling, my pain – to You. Where it is ongoing, I ask You for the grace and strength to endure. And help me to remember that suffering is not final, that there is victory on the other side.

AMEN!