Christmas 2002

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

The Christ of Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

December 1, 2002

¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."
²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Thanksgiving and Christmas all in the same weekend! 

What if there was no Christmas?

Isaiah 9:6

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” 

The birth of Christ means: 

1.  God loves us.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2.  The power of Satan and Death has been destroyed.

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."

Hebrews 2:14

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil

3.  We can be rescued from our sins.

Matthew 1:21

  “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus – “the Lord saves”

4.  God is with us – He cares!

Matthew 1:22,23

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."

Hebrews 13:5,6

God has said,
   "Never will I leave you;
       never will I forsake you." ⁶So we say with confidence,
   "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
       What can man do to me?“

Are You Ready?:

To celebrate with a new awe?

 To take a new look at the “gift that keeps on living”?

 To get the perspective of the manger before the panic of the mall rush takes over?