Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Scripture
Intro
A question we will undoubtedly hear many times between now & Dec. 25th is this, "Are you ready for Christmas?"
I suppose what is really being asked is, "Have you put up all your Christmas decorations?
Have you finished your Christmas shopping?
Have you mailed your Christmas cards?
Have you put on your calendar all the places you're supposed to go? Are you ready for Christmas?"
We meet ourselves coming & going, so we call it "the Christmas rush."
Sometimes the Christmas season becomes very hectic, & because of that we tend to forget much of the reason for the season.
There is a rather poignant Christmas story about a little girl who watched her mother & dad getting ready for Christmas.
To her, it seemed that dad was preoccupied with burdens & bundles, & mom was concerned about parties & presents, & they just had no time for her.
She felt that she was being shoved aside.
In fact, it seemed to her that she was always being told, "Would you please get out of the way?"
So one night in December she knelt beside her bed & prayed this prayer, "Our Father who art in heaven, please forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us."
You see, when I ask the question, "Are you ready for Christmas?"
I'm asking about more than your activities.
I'm asking about your attitudes, because every once in a while I hear someone say, "I just can't get into the Christmas spirit!"
Maybe you've said it too.
With that in mind, let's think once again about what Christmas really means.
Christmas says that "God became a human being.
God expressed His love by living among us, by walking with us, & talking to us."
That's what Christmas means.
But what are the right attitudes we ought to have so that Christmas can really happen in our homes & in our lives?
I. ACCEPT GOD'S WILL, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE
First of all, Joseph teaches us, "Be ready to accept God's Will, whatever it might be."
Joseph was open to the will & leading of God.
A. Put yourself in his position.
Joseph thought his life was pretty well planned.
He was pledged to be married, which means that he & Mary had made all necessary arrangements, & the wedding ceremony was soon to take place.
Joseph knew that he would marry Mary, & that they would settle down in Nazareth.
He would continue on in his carpentry business, & they would live happily together ever after.
But then Mary came to him & said, "Joseph, I am expecting a baby."
It must have hit him like a bombshell.
He thought that Mary loved him as much as he loved her.
But now, seemingly, she had been unfaithful to him.
He knew the child was not his, & so the only conclusion he could reach was that she had been unfaithful.
She had broken the bond that existed between them.
According to the law, Mary should be stoned to death.
But Joseph loved her so much that he didn't want that.
So he decided to divorce her quietly.
As he was thinking about this, an angel came to Joseph in a dream & in effect said, "Joseph, trust God.
He is in this.
You may not understand all that is happening, but just trust God & everything will be all right."
Joseph was evidently a man of faith.
But sometimes it is hard to live by faith.
If God always does what we expect Him to do, then maybe it's easy to have faith.
But when God doesn't do what we expect, then it's hard.
Joseph trusted God.
Even though he must have had a list of questions a mile long, he trusted God because he believed that God's will was best.
APPL.
We find ourselves in much the same position as Joseph.
Christmas comes as a time of peace, but there is conflict.
Christmas comes as a time of joy, but there is so much sadness.
Christmas comes as a time of love, but there is so much hatred in our world.
We cry out, like Joseph must have cried out, "God, how can this be?"
But like Joseph we hear a still small voice from God saying, "Trust Me."
God's ways are not always our ways.
His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, & we may never understand everything that God is doing this side of heaven, but God says, "Trust Me, & it will all work out."
Paul wrote, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
(Romans 8:28)
Christmas happened because Joseph trusted God.
And we need to learn to trust God, too.
II.
LEARN TO CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE
The second thing Joseph teaches us is this, "We need to learn to care about other people."
You know, Joseph's assignment was a pretty simple one, & that is the way we often portray him in our Christmas plays.
We picture Mary looking so angelic.
Over here are excited shepherds, & over there are the wise men with their gifts of gold, frankincense & myrrh.
In the midst of them all is the Christ child in the manger, looking so pure & clean.
Over there on the side stands Joseph.
His isn't a starring role, but his part is so important.
His task is this, "Take care of Mary & the baby Jesus."
Joseph had the important role of caring for the needs of others.
APPL.
Christmas comes once a year, & this season probably causes us to be more sensitive to the needs of others.
But there is so much that needs to be done that we often find ourselves frustrated.
But still we try.
Maybe the finest descriptive title that can be given a church is this, "a church that really cares."
ILL.
One of my favorite stories is about a young couple with an 18 month old son who had gone to spend a few days with the grandparents at Christmas.
Christmas Day fell on Sunday that year & the young father had to be back at work on Monday morning.
So right after going to church together, the young family said their "good byes" & set off for home.
There weren't many filling stations open since it was Christmas Day.
But they did find a truck stop that was open.
So they stopped to get fuel & something to eat.
They went inside the dimly lit restaurant & sat down, & found that they were the only customers there, or so they thought.
But then little Eric, their 18 month old son, said "Hidere.
Hidere."
He was putting together the two words, "Hi there" & made them into one, "Hidere."
And every time he said that, there was a response from a table in an alcove near the door, "Hi there, little boy.
Hi there, little boy."
They looked at the alcove & saw an old, ragged, tattered looking man.
His coat was several sizes too big, & it was old & torn.
His trousers drug the floor.
His shoes had holes in them, & his toes actually stuck out.
He had on an old hat tilted to one side, & his face was unshaven.
And when he smiled, it revealed that all his teeth were gone.
And yet, for some reason, little Eric was attracted to this old man.
He kept saying "Hidere, hidere," & every time, the old man would answer.
Finally the man said, "Little boy, do you know how to patty cake?" Sure enough, from across the room little Eric started patty caking.
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