Christmas Day Sermon

Christmas is always a really beautiful celebration in a wonderful celebration. But often you could quite easily have the question of what why do we have such a significant diagram this particular die. What is it that is unique about the Christian story of Christmas Day and Christmas Day in and the god that is revealed in Christmas day. Then it starts significant that we would gather we pull together. We have special songs. We have special celebrations around this time of the year degree AZ with an hour at current go to cultural situation to think that Christianity is as just another story of God another story of God amongst many other stories of God that exists in the world, but Christmas day is a story that tells quite a different story of who God has us different story that tells us of a god that is quite distinct from all other understanding of who God is I'm going to try and tell that story in a slightly different way many of you have heard the story from Luke me if you know if any of you would have been in the pageant many of you will have been a Shepherd or an angel or a Visa for Mary perhaps as I know the last night for the Love Actually fan. You might have been the octopus all of those characters in the meaning of it doesn't always sink in to us are there there's a wonderful story or equivalents to the telling of the story and the story of a great king before was in love with a servant woman and a town. So you could imagine yourself back in feudal Europe for some reason. It's just the easiest thing to imagine the king in this Castle up in the hills one dozen to town one day and sports lady working in the stool or working in the Harem or whatever. It might be and just holes in love instantaneously. Now if that King he went to appear before that woman and say I'm in love with you come with me. Her ability to say no is feeling limited to things you can imagine from that period of History to he is at enunciation with the hear that announcement kind of limits you and your response. You can basically say yes, or you can probably go to some other place that might be what happens as the cane rather than stepping forward and in the all of his power all of his mind all of his glory Takes on the clothing of a servant. Takes on the clothing of a Pullman takes on the closing all the present within the village comes amongst the people of the village dwells amongst them lyrics amongst themselves amongst them and slowly over time builds the relationship the Saints of connection and ultimately the love between himself and this woman. In time as the relationship develops the king reveals himself to be who he is the ruler of all things.

But in the way that he has chosen to do it. There is an ability for here to withdraw. There's a freedom for here to say no. There is a reality that you can fool in love with the true person rather than just purely be an author of the power and the glory and the majesty and the one day that isn't even to be there as well.

Try to remember as I say this the philosopher who said this but I can't remember if it was some Belgian got some explaining some of the story of Christmas Day some of the story of the Incarnation. Why did God choose to become a human being now at the church can do wonderful things with it enough. The ology does wonderful things are generally speaking wind up in a very functional instrumental understanding of it. We come to see God had to become a human being so that he could die on the cross and rise again, which is true, but it has the most unemotional. I'm loving the mention of why why haven't we putting that moment you could possibly have instead what we witness as the great king the wondrous King and all of his power and might speaking aloe vera fiction our relationship not through his power and through his might not with lightning bolts and force, but rather simply by dwelling amongst us being amongst us.

Now that is a beautiful story for a number of reasons, but the key one that we need to hit today is because it is filled completely to the brim with Grace. When the Angels announce to the ship as I bring you glad. Good news of glad glad tidings of great joy is the weight of far too many versions of the Bible by the white confuses. Everything good news. The simply I bring you good news. I was not I have got another religious system for you. I've got another way for you to engage with the story of God. I've got another way for you to think about it, which ultimately seems to turn out to be busy. Another way to do it for the same end result. Sort your life out get fit. I come back to God that is not the good news that the angel declared. The good news that the angel declared as the God so stinks your heart that God has come amongst us and the loneliest the forms that you might not know him in the oil and the one but simply and the profound love that he holds for us. That is what is captured in the language of the word becomes flesh. That is what is captured in the words. We have heard from Hebrews today. all the fullness of the glory of God dwelling within Jesus Christ as we celebrate this Christmas day, but ignores the fact that Alice is effaced and Jesus Christ as a God that does not come on due to sort your life out today. Robert he says come to me all who labor and are heavy laden. He does not say your words and your dignity is determined by how good you are at following my commands.

Hey sis, love one another as I have loved you.

It is not a God that sets purely and Judgment of us. aware of a filings and a folks But rather takes deliberate action to redeem us from them.

The story of Christmas day is so significant because it tells the story of a God. No one else tells I called so loving so full of grace and truth that he would come amongst us and pulls his clothes that are Hearts may be transformed. Not just a mine's not out of fear, not out of concern. But out of Opera fiction at the beauty and the Wonder of what God has done for us. So this Christmas season is amongst all of that the wonderful carols in the Beautiful Stories and the wonderful moments of Family and Friends. A reminder that today as I begin with today is ultimately a love story. A love story that begin at the very beginning of creation and if you want to get really trinitarian about it before the creation even the game. The gods desire was to be amongst us one of us drone near not only through us as a collective but to you individually and personally.

The story of Christmas day is a story of the beauty of the god. That is real. the god of Grace and Truth It's too well and met love and that Christ and that truth. For the year to come as well. Mommy

going to invite you to my man into a time of Priya as the music group begins to play the softly in the background. I you're welcome to pray out loud if you wish to or just simply pray in the quietness of your own hot as we come to this after that and as I close will sing to get that out of a tree him.