Christmas Tree Lighting 2021

I. Opening Prayer

A. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NASB95) Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

We have gathered to glorify Jesus — not Christmas decorations.

Opening Prayer

Songs:

O Come All Ye Faithful

Emmanuel

Silent Night! Holy Night!

B. Prayer

1. Prayer for needs

2. The birth of Jesus into the turmoil and hopelessness of His day gives US hope in the midst of another VERY difficult year for all of us

i. Some have some very personal losses in the midst of universal difficulty.

3. Some amongst us may even see this as a time of hopelessness.

4. I pray that our time together tonight will bring hope.

5. Prayer for Dobbs

6. Prayer for Revival

II. Another Tough Year!

A. It’s been ANOTHER tough year!

1. We thought last year was tough.

But this year has been multiple times tougher.

If there’s ever a year we need Christmas, this is it.

2. If there’s ever been a year when we needed peace and the hope of Christmas, this is it.

3. If there’s ever been a year when we needed the promised Christ, my friends, this is that year.

B. 2000 years ago the world was also in great need of hope.

1. Something to lift them out of the darkness of that day.

2. And God gave them the most powerful something of all.

3. Actually the most powerful SomeONE of all, Jesus.

C. We are like the man named Simeon in Luke 2:25

Luke 2:25–35 NASB95

25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” 33 And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— 35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

1. Simeon was an old man living in tough times.

2. The scripture says that, in spite of tough times, he was a righteous and devout man

3. He was looking for Messiah, the consolation of Israel.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 2

This likely alludes to OT prophecies anticipating a time of redemption for Israel, which would be signified by an incredible sense of Yahweh’s presence

We need to be looking for Jesus.

Hebrews 9:28 NLT

28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

4. That the Holy Spirit was upon him

That’s what we pray for — the Holy Spirit to be on and IN us — to anoint us with power to be witnesses

5. And that the Spirit had told him he would not die until he had seen the hope God was sending.

I wish I had that assurance, but none of us do.

4. Simeon was in the Temple when Mary and Joseph brought their newborn son to be “presented to the Lord.”

D. When Simeon saw Jesus, he took Him into his arms and said:

1. Thank you God!

2. My eyes have seen your salvation.

3. I can now die in what? — what did we see that Jesus is this morning? — the fulfilment of peace.

E. Simeon’s darkness had been pierced with the Light of Hope that is in Jesus.

1. The birth of Jesus made the difference.

F. For Christian believers, Christmas is one of the greatest events in the yearly cycle, being the celebration of the greatest gift ever given by God to humanity.

1. That gift was Jesus, the Son of God Himself,

i. born into this world in human form

ii. and coming to live among us to show us the true nature of God,

iii. He came to experience human joy and sorrow along with us,

iv. and finally, going of His own will, to die a horrible, agonizing death in our place.

2. In this way the price was paid for all human sin that had cut us off from our Holy God and Heavenly Father, resulting in our complete and total reconciliation with Him.

G. Centuries ago, the importance of this event caused many Christians to feel that it was inadequate merely to mark off only one day on the yearly calendar for celebrating this incredible gift from God.

1. So they began the tradition of Advent that reminds us not only of the first-coming of Jesus, but His immanent Second-coming.

i. That second-coming we remembered this morning as we partook of the Lord’s Supper together.

The Blessed Hope of all Christians which should give them peace because it tells us God is Still in Control — orchestrating humanity’s failures into His great victory.

2. Believers had (and still do have) such a sense of awe and overwhelming gratitude and wonder at what happened that first Christmas that they felt the need for a period of preparation immediately beforehand.

3. They could then not only take time themselves to meditate on it, but also teach their children the tremendous significance of Christmas.

III.The Rule of Conscience and Freedom

A. Having been in Christianity for a fairly long time (50 years) I have seen and heard a lot of things.

1. There are questions about what Christians should do about Halloween, Christmas and other holidays.

I had someone come after service and ask me about it.

B. As I mentioned last year:

1. The exact date of Jesus’ birth is unknown,

2. The date of December 25 eventually became widely accepted in Christianity.

3. And then, when Rome instituted Christianity as the state religion in the fourth century, the Roman church converted the pagan holiday, Saturnalia to a Christian holiday in order to commemorate Jesus’ birth.

4. Christians have celebrated it as such ever since.

C. The question then becomes, “Since our CURRENT celebration of the birth of Christ, Christmas, has its origins in pagan traditions, is it acceptable for Christians to celebrate it?”

1. The fact remains that, although Christmas has some associations with a secular (or even a pagan) holiday, Christians … CAN celebrate it to remember the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

2. That He became the prophesied Emmanuel — God with us.

3. As God said through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14 (NASB95) “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

D. Another question involves Christmas trees.

1. Now to be clear, if celebrating Christmas or having a Christmas tree is going to jeopardize your Christianity you need to forgo celebrating Christmas or having a tree.

2. Your relationship with Jesus is more important than holidays or trees.

E. General rules of Christian living are given in:

1. Romans 14:1–4 (NLT) Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. … 4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.

2. Romans 14:22–23 (NLT) You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23 But if you have doubts …. you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

F. If you have concerns about celebrating Christmas and/or having a Christmas tree, please feel free to speak to me about it.

1. Of course, the celebration of Christmas has turned from the birth of Jesus to the commercialization of gift-giving.

2. Buy, buy, buy!

G. But if you have no objections, with God’s help let’s refocus Christmas on the greatest Gift ever given: Jesus.

1. John 3:16 (NASB95) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

IV.Pagan Christmas Trees?

A. Many years back I was told that Christmas trees are pagan — associated with idol worship.

1. Based on: Jeremiah 10:1–5 (NASB95) and Isaiah 44:14–17

Jeremiah 10:1–5 NLT

1 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! 2 This is what the Lord says: “Do not act like the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them. 3 Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol. 4 They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over. 5 Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”

Isaiah 44:14–17 NASB95

14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. 15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

2. As the resource I mention next says, no one reading this text AND IS HONEST about the interpretation, thinks the text is talking about Christmas trees but rather carved images of humans/animals.

B. The resource: Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered put out in 2010 by Got Questions Ministries talks about Christmas trees and a lot of other Christmas-related subjects. They say (and I agree):

1. The modern custom of a Christmas tree does not come from any form of paganism. There is no evidence of any pagan religion decorating a special holiday tree for their mid-winter festivals, although the Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a festival called Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts.

2. Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring.

3. The first Christmas tree was decorated by Protestant Christians in 16th-century Germany. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these early German traditions, and the custom most likely came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio.

4. There is nothing in the Bible that either commands or prohibits Christmas trees.

It has been falsely claimed by some that Jeremiah 10:1–16 prohibits the cutting down and decorating of trees in the same manner as we do at Christmas.

However, even a cursory reading of the text makes it clear that the passage is one in which Jeremiah sets forth the prohibition against idols made of wood, plated with silver and gold, and worshipped.

A similar idea appears in Isaiah 44, where Isaiah speaks of the silliness of the idol-worshippers who cut down a tree, burn part of it in the fire to warm themselves, and use the other part to fashion an idol, which they then bow down to.

So unless we bow down before our Christmas tree, carve it into an idol, and pray to it, these passages cannot be applied to Christmas trees.

V. Point To Jesus

A. So, let’s instead use the Christmas tree to point to Jesus.

1.Let’s go to the foyer and light the 2021 Christmas tree

As we sing 2 verses of the Christmas Carol: O Christmas Tree

VI.Prayer

A. Prayer over refreshments.