Rev. David Holwick Christmas Eve
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 24, 2016
Galatians 4:4-5
WHAT TIME IS CHRISTMAS?
I. Time is woven into the Christmas season.
A. It begins with the anticipation of Advent.
1) Waiting week by week, day by day.
a) Even Walmart has a sign - Christmas: 5 days, 4 days...
2) It is especially tough when you are a kid.
Typical of last minute Christmas shoppers, a mother was
running furiously from store to store.
Suddenly she became aware that the pudgy little hand of
her three-year old son was no longer clutched in hers.
In a panic she retraced her steps and found him standing
with his little nose pressed flatly against a window.
He was gazing at a manger scene.
Hearing his mother's near hysterical call, he turned and
shouted with innocent glee: "Look mommy!
It's Jesus - Baby Jesus in the hay!"
Completely indifferent to his joy and wonder, she jerked
him away saying, "We don't have time for that!"
#34103
B. Our church's struggle to considering best times for services.
1) We made some tweaks this year due to conflicting events.
2) Late concerts and early weddings made us shuffle.
a) For the first time, we had a Christmas Pageant on
a Sunday morning. It came off rather well.
b) But everyone's personal schedule had to be adjusted too.
C. Arranging your time for relatives.
1) Some of you are going to have four to five Christmas Eves.
a) Every relative has to be placated.
b) Think of the calories you have to consume.
c) You dare not insult Aunt Bettie!
2) I have become part of the pressure.
a) My son's in-laws are in the next town, Randolph.
b) Who gets more time for Christmas?
1> I will be calculating, keeping a list...
D. Is there a perfect way to fit everything in?
1) Probably not, but we do what we can.
2) I trust your Christmas will be beautiful however it turns
out.
II. Baby Jesus took his sweet time.
A. The earliest prophecies of his coming were centuries earlier.
1) Future events were predicted, but no specific timetable.
a) Some Christians think they can deduce a timetable from
prophecies in Daniel, but it requires a lot of
tweaking.
b) Many experts are not convinced.
2) Every generation of Jews assumed the Messiah was imminent.
a) It was very similar to the Second Coming to us.
b) Some waited their whole lives and didn't see it.
c) And then a baby was born in Bethlehem...
B. Was he late?
1) Most babies are not born right on time.
a) Except for my grandson Weston.
b) We had a 3-day trip out to Denver and he was born just
before we had to leave. I am grateful to him.
2) The Apostle Paul felt that Jesus got it just right as well.
a) When the time had fully come, so he was born.
b) It didn't fit our schedule, but it fit God's.
III. How is time working out for you?
A. Many of us have a schedule in our heads.
1) At certain points in life, we want goals to be reached.
a) When you are young, you look to graduation.
b) In your 20s, you look for a spouse and a career.
c) In your 30s, you look for a permanent house.
d) In your 50s, you want your house to be empty of kids.
e) In your 60s, you consider your retirement.
f) In your 70s, there are things you don't want to consider.
2) Some have very specific goals in mind.
a) It has become popular to have a "bucket list" that
we check off before we die.
b) The challenge of a bucket list is that none of us knows
how much time we have left.
B. Do you have time for God?
1) Perhaps you are thinking of making major changes in your
life - later.
a) But later never seems to arrive.
2) Now is the time to get serious about God.
2 Corinthians 6:2 - "Now is the time of God's favor,
now is the day of salvation."
a) Repentance and change can be fleeting opportunities.
b) Once it passes, it may never come back.
1> Have you surrendered your life to Jesus?
2> He isn't just a safe little baby -- he is an
awe-inspiring lord.
C. There are two stages to believing.
1) The first is to accept certain facts as being true.
a) We must believe that God exists and has created us for
a purpose.
b) We also have to see that our selfishness and sin have
separated us from God.
c) Finally, Christ died for us so that our sins can be
forgiven and we can have a new relationship with God.
d) This is the first stage.
2) The second stage is to accept these truths for ourselves.
a) The second stage doesn't automatically follow the first.
b) Many people believe everything in the Bible but refuse
to take the step of commitment.
1> They're afraid of what they'll have to give up.
2> Only you can decide if Jesus is worth accepting.
IV. The time of his birth was not as important as why he was born.
A. He was born to redeem us, to buy us back for God.
1) He did this by laying down his life for us.
2) Our salvation cost him dearly.
B. He was born so we could be part of his family.
1) Every Christian is an adopted person.
a) My college alumni magazine just came out with an issue.
I always turn to the alumni news, to see who has
achieved something, and who has died.
This month’s issue had a note that surprised me.
Someone from my graduating year, 1978, was listed in
the Newcomers section.
That is where babies are listed!
I am 61, so my classmate must be....
They did not have a baby, but they had two new kids.
They had adopted two boys who are 10 and 12.
That takes courage!
2) We will receive a full inheritance from our Father in
heaven, if we believe and follow him.
=========================================================================
SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#34103 “We Don’t Have Time For That!” www.sermoncentral.com newsletter,
November 20, 2016; originally from “The Wonder of Christmas”
by Glenn Pease.
This and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Free HTML Help documentation generator