Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Christmas Offering
WELCOME
Good morning family.
hear the Word of the Lord from Isaiah 9:6-7...
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
At Christmas we often celebrate the birth of a baby in a manger, God the Son coming to this world to rescue us.
And we should.
But let’s also celebrate the Father who sent His Son.
It was His zeal, His passion, His commitment, His covenant love that performed this.
We’re going to learn more about that love in the text for today’s sermon in Galatians 4:4-7.
Turn there now.
While you’re turning, 4 quick announcements:
1) A word about PBC.
We are Servants.
Every Christian has been given gifts to serve the body
One way to serve is by getting involved in our Fellowship Groups...
2) Fellowship Groups
Begin the second week of January
Sign up at poquosonbaptist.org or at the blue flag
If you’ve signed up, encourage someone near you to join your group too
(the power of a personal invitation)
3) PBC Kids Christmas Program
Tonight at 5:30 PM in the chapel, refreshments to follow
4) Christmas in Boutopia
December 19 from 3-6 PM.
Now look in your Bibles at Galatians 4:4 as Gloria Insley comes to read for us.
Scripture Reading (Galatians 4:4-7)
Prayer of Praise (Christ Our Joy), Gloria Insley
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
His Mercy Is More
Prayer of Confession (Derick Dickens), Lack of self-control
I Stand In Awe
NEW CITY CATECHISM #50
PASTORAL PRAYER (Mike Lindell)
SERMON
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
But not for everybody.
[1]
Consider Lindsay, for example.
His father, a distant and severe man, worked him especially hard during the holidays.
Lindsay was given extra chores at the family ranch, and his old man whipped him if he didn’t work hard enough.
Lindsay lived in fear of these beatings, which sometimes drew blood.
But there were also verbal floggings, name-calling, insults, and belittling put-downs.
His father seemed especially harsh at Christmas.
The memories stayed with him all his life, tormenting him like demons every December.
One friend said, “Lindsay was never able to find happiness.
He became a hard-drinking hell-raiser who went from woman to woman and couldn’t find peace or success.”
Lindsey once said, “I hate Christmas because of Pop, and I always will.
It brings back the pain and fear I suffered as a child.
And if I ever do myself in, it will be at Christmastime.”
Some people dream of white Christmases, but it seemed like Lindsay’s were always dark.
So in December 1989, Lindsay couldn’t take it anymore.
He angrily watched “White Christmas” on television one last time, then ended his life.
You see, Lindsay’s father was Bing Crosby himself, the man who sung that famous song “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.”
But for Lindsay Crosby, the Christmas season was a reminder of the pain he endured at the hands of his father.
I wonder if there is anyone who can relate with Lindsay.
Your dad probably didn’t have Bing Crosby’s fame and fortune, but like Bing your dad was (or is) both fallen and frail.
In your dad’s fallenness, he may have been...
Abusive
Absent
Distant—like my dad’s dad who never told his son he loved him until just before he died.
In your dad’s frailty, he may have...
Lost his ability to do what he used to do—like my dad whose life was upended by a stroke a few years ago
Lost his memory—like my mom’s dad who suffered a decade with Alzheimer's before he passed away
Lost his life
All of us have some sort of pain in our relationships with our dads, because even the best fathers are frail and fallen.
Except for One Father.
Christmas really can be the most wonderful time of the year...
not because the kids are jingle-belling or there’s parties for hosting or there’s much mistletoing...
...but because you understand the love of the Father.
Turn to Galatians 4
Last week we looked at this text briefly as a springboard to take a birds-eye view of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity
This morning we’re going to zoom in and begin a study on each of the three persons of the Trinity in this text and in the Christmas story.
You cannot rightly tell the Christmas story without the love of the Father who sends.
Galatians 4:4-7—“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba!
Father!”
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Three simple truths about the Father’s love:
1) The Father PLANNED to Send the Son
On November 10, 1984, the University of Maryland football team was trailing the Miami Hurricanes 31-0 at halftime.
Maryland’s head coach decided to bench the starting QB with a backup QB named Frank Reich.
The new QB completed 12 of 15 passes for 260 yards, threw three TDs, ran for another, and led Maryland to a shocking comeback victory, winning the game 42-40.
I think many people think that’s something like what happens in the story of the Bible.
God the Father is like the starting QB who gets things going in the Old Testament.
But for whatever reason He falls behind really quickly.
He creates a perfect garden paradise, but Adam and Eve sin.
He floods the earth to start over, but that doesn’t work either.
He calls a nation to reflect His glory, but they mess up repeatedly.
He governs them by a long list of laws, but none of it works.
So God the Son comes along in the second half—the New Testament—as the backup QB and He wins the game!
Of course, nobody would say it just like that, but you’ve probably heard people say that God the Father is the God of the Old Testament and Jesus is the God of the New Testament
Here’s the problem: The coming of the Son isn’t a change in the Father’s plan.
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