Sermon Tone Analysis

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Anger
Disgust
Fear
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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
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.
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.
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
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.
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