1.2.2 12.14.2025 Father Christmas?
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Entice: This morning, we are going to have a little discussion about Good Ol’ Santa Claus. Let us preface that discussion with a few passages of Scripture.
22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
During Christmas we focus on “Our Father who art in heaven, and “Our Father who art at the North Pole”
Some people have difficulty telling the difference between the two. Oops.
Let me Clarify
Santa Clause
Santa Clause
is to
St. Nicolas
St. Nicolas
as
The Galloping Ghost
The Galloping Ghost
is to
Red Grange.
Red Grange.
Both are satisfying legends anchored in and born out of significant realities. Of course, the original St. Nick was a servant of Jesus. His gift-giving fame borne of a pastoral heart. During Christmas will see Jolly Ol’ St. Nick portrayed in a number of ways, to achieve many different ends; to sell many products, and to enforce a particular cultural understanding. If he were right here before us today, I think that old St Nicolas might not be all that jolly. He would remind us that there is another far more important Father Christmas to be considered this holiday season.
Engage: Yes, Jesus is the reason for the Season. Or, more specifically, one of them. When we use that phrase, we are really referencing the whole swirling river of Old Testament story, detailing God’s engagement with fallen humanity. The righteous, Holy God chooses over and again to redeem His ungrateful people. We call Him our Father God and treat Him about how we’d treat a broken-down shopping mall Santa. Maybe we should reconsider who really is Father Christmas.
Expand: The Old Testament hope of a coming Messiah is founded on a particular understanding of God.
He wants to redeem.
He wants to restore.
He wants to reunite
with fallen people.
The Messiah or Christ if you prefer, is the means by which God enacts all His promises. In the birth of Jesus, we see the most intimate gift ever given by our Father Christmas.
Excite: So, yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, a Father Christmas. The true Father Christmas is not the saint who served Him but the Father of Lights who chooses to bless and redeem us.
Explore: Rather than looking to a secular or cultural Father Christmas for material, heart-warming gifts
We should look to the true Father Christmas for life changing gifts.
We should look to the true Father Christmas for life changing gifts.
Expand: The gifts of our heavenly Father Christmas
Body of Sermon:
1 Disclose His nature.
1 Disclose His nature.
1.1 It is God’s nature to give of Himself.
1.1 It is God’s nature to give of Himself.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
1.2 It is God’s nature to give without diminishment.
1.2 It is God’s nature to give without diminishment.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
God will not run out of grace!
God will not run out of mercy!
God will not run out of peace!
God will not get tired of forgiving!
God will always open His door to the repentant.
God has been and will continue giving and the supply will never run out.
Next, consider how the Gifts of our heavenly Father Christmas
2 Satisfy our need
2 Satisfy our need
2.1 Sin.
2.1 Sin.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
2.2 Salvation.
2.2 Salvation.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
And, even better than wool socks in the dead of winter the gifts of our heavenly Father Christmas
3 Provide for our nurture.
3 Provide for our nurture.
3.1 The Indwelling Spirit.
3.1 The Indwelling Spirit.
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
3.2 The Sanctifying Spirit.
3.2 The Sanctifying Spirit.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
3.3 The Equipping Spirit.
3.3 The Equipping Spirit.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
Shut Down
These gifts will not be nestled beneath a Christmas tree festooned with pretty paper, glitter, or a bow. These gifts cannot be purchased at a store or Uncle Jeff’s internet emporium. These gifts from Father Christmas are only available because by His grace in Christ Jesus He has distributed them freely to His people.
You don’t get in line, sign up, or log in to receive these true Christmas gifts from the real Father Christmas. You come to Jesus in faith.
Well, we’ve cleared up Father Christmas. Just a moment about the Christmas tree. The debate between artificial and real is a little boring…Don’t care. The real question is about which tree really defines Christmas. Let me end the debate.
The most genuine Christmas tree, the truest tree at Christmas is the one upon which Jesus died to make all this gift giving by Father Christmas possible. Without that tree there is no gift and no giving. As we bow in reverence at the cradle never forget that the shadow of the Cross weighs heavy over every Christmas. And each of us must choose to accept the greatest gift of our heavenly Father Christmas. O come, let us adore Him!
