SERMON - IT IS OUR TIME TO CELEBRATE

It is Our

Time to

CELEBRATE

 

Every year at this time we celebrate our Lord coming to earth and living amongst us. We might contest the actual time and date of the birth of Jesus Christ and speak out in protest of the Roman Catholic Church designating a date formerly used by pagans as a date of celebration. What we cannot contest is the fact that God became flesh and walked amongst us.

 

In all of my time reading and studying the Bible, God’s Word, I have seen that God works in a most orderly fashion. With that in mind we can ‘pin-point’ the date when the Holy Spirit came to all men. That day is the day of Pentecost. It stands to reason that if the Holy Spirit settled on man at Pentecost then that would be the time in which He came to Mary and the Conception was effected. By adding the gestation period, as set by God Himself, it stands to reason that 9 moths after what we know now as  Pentecost would be the date of God becoming man.

 

I say all of this as there are Christians that are almost ‘anti-Christmas’ in their teachings. I wish this was not so and to me this point of contention should not be something that should be of concern to any.

 

To most Christians this time of the year is one of celebration and happiness. I am one of those Christians that uses this time to spread joy as I wish any that I meet a Merry Christmas and tell them of my rejoicing at the thought that God loves us so much as to live and walk amongst us.

 

We see Christmas as a time of gift giving. God gave us His Son making that the first gift given at Christmas. Then there are those that speak out against gift giving. At the birth of Jesus three men, the Magi, brought gifts for the Child born to Mary.

 

Matthew 2:11 They entered the house where the Child and His mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before Him and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasure chest and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

 

There were a total of 6 gifts given by the Magi if you are careful in counting.

 

What? You ask. Six…There is the gold, the frankincense and the myrrh. Where do I get off by saying there were 3 more?

 

Simple…they fell down before Him and worshiped Him. The additional gifts were their hearts! Ask yourself, ‘do I worship my God and give Him my heart as I do so?’ I think the answer is yes…yes, with no question.

 

So, 6 gifts in all were given.

 

What I think is that the people that use this season, Christmas, are so bent on making a financial gain, are doing us wrong! We simply must not use this time of the year to be a time of gift giving with no thought being given to the actual gifts that are DUE!

 

I do not mean to speak against the exchange of gifts and the giving of toys to our children, I am saying that this cannot be seen as the ‘reason for the season.’ There is but one ‘reason’ and this is God coming to be with us.

 

The gifts that are due are not those to a child, a spouse, a friend or a relative. The gifts that are due are the gifts of our hearts to God Himself! Those gifts will not cost you are ‘red cent’ but they are more valuable than anything you could possibly give by buying them at any store. God gave us His Only Begotten Son; will we give Him the greatest gift we can give?

 

Now we must see the many that seek to deny us the right to celebrate Christ’s coming to us and ask, ‘Why?’

 

The answer is simple! They are jealous of our happiness and want us to be just as unhappy as they are!  In their way of thinking they, by stopping us from celebrating as we choose, think they are successful. What is really the reason for other ‘religious’ groups to interfere with our celebration?

 

Do we seek to show the Nativity Scene at Ramadan? At Yom Kippur or Chanukah? We surely don’t try to infringe on atheists as they have no day other than April 1^st!

 

Psalms 14: ¹ The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

 

Certainly anyone who seeks to place a writing that denies the very existence of God in a public place for all to see is worthy of the identification of, ‘fool.’

 

Aside from that…MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

 

(Closing prayer)

 

Heavenly Father, God of our fathers, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and of all creation, we give you our hearts. We love You Lord and celebrate Your coming to live with us and show us Your ways. May we be made wise enough to walk in Your path. We worship You O Lord and thank You for Your love and mercies.

 

Lord, we ask that You enter the hearts of those that oppose us in our happiness and open their eyes to Your wonders. Try as we might we have been unable to do anything but sow the seed by telling them of Your Good  and we ask that You water that which we have sown and bring them to life.

 

Father, we ask that You continue to show our military forces Your loving mercies and see them safe. We ask that You continue to guide our elected officials and Lord, those that refuse to follow Your guidance, awaken their hearts.

 

Please shower Your Blessings upon our Judges, Police Forces and the many men and women that see to the security of this nation. Touch their hearts and minds and afford them protection and be with them.

 

We also pray that You will accept our love and heartfelt thank You for the deliverance You offer. May we be seen as worthy.

 

Father, we repeat, our hearts are Yours. Please accept them as gifts and continue to guide our walk in this life. In Jesus’ name we pray, who is One with You and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever,

 

Amen, amen and amen.