Christmas - No Decoration Just A Dragon

Refreshment for the Fall Where the Rubber Meets the Road #4 Christmas – No Decorations, Just A Dragon My favorite Christmas movie is________________________________________ A Uniquely Christian Point of Veiw Ephesians 6: 12 Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. The Christian POV is_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Another Example After composing a whole chapter about God’s great people of faith from the past, the Hebrew writer goes on to say, 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. The Christian POV is_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ A Large Pregnant Woman and An Enormous Red Dragon Merry Christmas! Which of the following images hits you the hardest?________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Revelation 12:1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. A few notes___________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Is this still part of Christmas in Heaven?____________________________ This is the moment that_________________________________________ 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. This part of Revelation 12 describes_______________________________ ____________________________________________________________ And so, this morning we finish with two important reminders… 12 He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” This causes me to______________________________________________ James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you But this causes me to___________________________________________