Christmas with the essence of our lives as decorations

Luke 2:1-18

Luke 2:1–18 (CSB)

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

4 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

14 Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and peace on earth to people he favors!

15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

- It is Christmas time again, Praise God.

It is Christmas time again, Praise God.

The word Christmas was first recorded in 1038 AD as “Crist-es Maesse” in Latin, for “Mass of Christ”, or the most probable

“Christ mass”

It has been adopted to celebrate the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiac

This is the day we celebrate the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. .

John 1:14 (CSB)

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…

So, every aspect of Christmas, is to celebrate the arrival of our savior Jesus

- He IS the REASON for the SEASON!

He IS the REASON for the SEASON!

We began by reading the nativity story in the gospel of Luke.

We learned about their travel to Bethlehem.

Let’s turn to Matthew and read how this all came about.

- Matthew 1:18-23

Matthew 1:18–23 (CSB)

18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 See, the virgin will become pregnant

and give birth to a son,

and they will name him Immanuel,

which is translated “God is with us.”

- Christmas Decorations

You know, every year in this country, Yadi and I notice the decorations on the houses we see

We always talk about them as we either admire them or critic them.

We took the Ezra and Eden to see the local Christmas lights display sometime last week.

They were beautiful.

You could tell that no expense was spared in this meticulous preparation of all these little intricate patterns and displays.

When were were recently married and without children in Chicago, we would drive around different neighborhoods drinking hot chocolate or Cappuccinos in the evenings after work and gaze at all the artwork, time and money

That went into many of the homes,

Some neighborhoods would even compete for the coveted “Best Decoration” award or mention in the community news papers.

Even when Raven and Jacob were very little, we continued this tradition.

It continues to this day, although we do it now more for the kids, than we do it for ourselves.

We have found the older you get, the less you feel like going out in the evening for anything, let alone for aimlessly driving around looking at other peoples houses.

Anyway,

We still enjoy seeing the lengths to which people will go to express their love of the season.

People obviously want everyone to know that they love Christmas time.

And the more religious the decorations, the more you get the idea that they understand why they are celebrating.

We are celebrating the arrival of Our Savior Jesus Christ.

- God Keeps His Promises

We are also celebrating the fact that God keeps His promises. Amen.

Matthew makes reference to a prophecy given to us by the prophet Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14 (CSB)

14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

- God is with us

Immanuel means, “God is with us”

So we are not just celebrating his birth, but His arrival, and the promise kept by God since the beginning with Adam and Eve.

In dealing with the fall of mankind, and sin entering into creation, He told the serpent

Genesis 3:15 (CSB)

15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring.

He will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.

He promised us He was going to deal with the separation between us and Him by sending someone qualified to bridge the gap between us.

So, when we celebrate Christmas, we are in fact celebrating the keeping of that promise when the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.

John 1:14 (CSB)

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Many of us understand this, and like I said, the more religious the displays and decorations in and around our

dwelling,

work places,

or our homes,

Express our joy, understanding, of what it meant for His First Coming.

And it also expresses our understanding and the committment of our lives to the waiting of His ultimate second coming,

AMEN?

As I said, you can judge for yourselves by the decorations of peoples homes, how much they understand,

And if they even care about it.

I say this because, Even though Christmas is in and of itself a religious holiday.

To celebrate the birth of Jesus,

- Non-believers and believers celebrate Christmas

Many in the world today that don’t believe in Jesus also celebrate this holiday.

Many Muslims celebrate it

Many Jews celebrate it

Many Hindu’s and even Buddhist celebrate it.

But, those would be the homes you’ll see have very little if any religious decorations or ornaments that relate to the birth of Jesus.

These are the homes where you’ll find more Santa Claus, Elves, & Snowman decorations

So, we can judge for ourselves, their homes do not betray their religious or moral convictions,

When they celebrate that has been split between pagan and religious practices since the time of the early church.

Christmas was officially declared to be on December 25th by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 336 AD

The first clear record of Christ's birth on December 25 is from 336 AD.

according to the Phēlo-Kalian Calendar, which demonstrates a Roman practice, shows an observance on this date in 336 AD

But it was in 336, that the Roman emperor Constantine established December 25th as the date for Christians to celebrate Christ's birth.

So, its always been this way,

Many celebrate it, wether its for religious purposes like we as Christians recognize it, or for secular purposes.

It’s kind of like Halloween.

Halloween, as many may not know, is the equivalent religious holiday for the paganist, and the satanist, as

Easter is, or Resurrection Day is for us Christians,

Halloween is a celebration of the coming of Sam hein, or as the druids called him, Sow-wein.

This is the celebration of his coming to them and blessing them and their harvest etc.

You and I Christian would recognize him as the devil.

But even though we as Christians aren’t devil worshipers, some of us are duped into celebrating this holiday too,

arm in arm with pagans and satanists.

It’s evident by the decorations of our homes around the time of halloween,

that we do betray our religious and moral convictions when we celebrate halloween.

Yadi and I are amazed at the amount of time, effort and money go into the decorations of some house around halloween.

But, when it comes to Christmas, we can see the same thing.

We are confused, how can one house celebrate both?

The arrival of the enemy, and the arrival of the savior?

The enemy of life, and the author and creator of life?

But it’s deeper than that, I believe

- Our Lives Are Decorations To Be Seen

Because many of us not only decorate our homes, work places etc, with our moral and religious convictions,

We also wear it on us where ever we go.

And just like the bright lights and adornments we have hanging for all to see,

The way we carry ourselves in this world act as hanging adornments and the like for all to see.

Just like being able to judge a Christian home or one who really understands the meaning of Christmas,

The way we act or carry ourselves also betrays our religious and moral convictions for all to see.

So in light of that, let’s take a self evaluation quiz, to find out where we fall in this test.

Ask yourself, “Judging by your actions and the way you carry yourself demonstrate your religious and moral convictions?”

Meaning, can someone tell how you believe by how you live?

Because if we truly consider ourselves as Christians, then our decorations should never be something we only put on at Christmas time.

We should always be wearing our Christmas decorations in that case.

We shouldn’t just be waiting for Christmas to shake the dust off our adornments we wear for the season,

We should never take them off.

People should always be able to tell how you believe by how you decorate yourself, inside and out.

Or you would be like those of others faiths, that although they celebrate the holiday, they don’t believe in the significance of the day.

We shouldn’t have to wait until Christmas to see how you decorate your house to know that you are celebrating

“The Word becoming flesh and living among us.”

It should be a part of who you are always, inside your house and outside your house, no matter what season your in.

So I would say to you here today,

When this Christmas over this year, don’t put away those personal decorations that express your love for Christ,

Wear them everyday.

Let your Christian life shine as a bright display for all to see.

Who knows how many families will be admiring your Christian Life’s display.

- Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas to all