Thank you for taking the time to read the Weekend Sermon this week. I am glad to be able to post these messages, and I hope that you like reading them and that they help you to learn more about the Lord and His word.
I want to thank the Lord this week for allowing me to get the job that I was discussing here on the blog last week. At this point, everything seems all clear for me to begin. Thank you for your prayers in this matter.
I also want to thank the Lord for providing me with quite a bit of writing work these past days. When I start the new job, I am going to shift focus and work on the book and get that finished off.
In prayer this week, please continue to pray for those in California who are dealing with the terrible fires. Pray that these fires will be extinguished. Pray for the family and friends of the firefighter who perished. Pray for the safety of those fighting these blazes.
Please continue to pray for those in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands who are recovering from the hurricane. So much still needs to be done to help.
Please pray about the problem of homelessness in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Pray that people will find help and shelter.
Let us all continue to pray for peace. Pray for peace in Syria, Congo, South Sudan and Yemen. Wherever you know that there is conflict, pray for peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in Ghana and Taiwan. Pray that many will hear the message of Jesus' love.
Today, I will bring the first of two messages about the Christmas season. We will pick back up with our series in Malachi after the first of the year.
Christmas at our house when I was young was a great time. One of my best memories of Christmas is of putting up the tree each year. Whenever, I got the Christmas tree out to set it up, that was my friend Toby's cue to go into action. He had to help with that tree. I would lay out the branches on the floor, and he would push them all over the living room. That was his way of helping.
I've written about this more extensively on the blog before, but one Christmas Eve that Toby and I spent was extra special. He had made it through a time of sickness and I decided to stay with him on Christmas Eve instead of going over to my brother's house with my folks. During that evening, I listened to a sermon on the BBC from a large cathedral. The dean of the cathedral spoke about having someone you love near you on Christmas and being thankful to the Lord for them. I was truly thankful that Christmas for another holiday with my friend. The dean led everyone in a prayer of Christmas thanks that I will always remember.
Christmas was a time to be with family and friends. On Christmas Eve, my Dad's older children and their kids would come over to our house or we would go to one of their houses. We would have a nice meal, and then we would open presents and have a wonderful evening.
Those are just some of the good Christmas memories that I have of when we were all together as a family. Those were great times.
While Christmas is about good times with friends and family, it is about so much more than that. Christmas has a deep spiritual significance. I just want to share a little of what Christmas means to me in this respect.
First of all, Christmas reveals to me the depths to which God would go to reveal His love for us. The Bible tells us plainly that God loved us even though we had sinned and turned away from Him. Immediately, when humanity turned away from Him, God set in motion His plan of redemption to bring the universe back into order.
On Christmas Day over 2,000 years ago, God sent His Son into the world in order to bring about the redemption of the universe. The Lord Jesus was God come in human flesh. He was willing to humble Himself in this dramatic way out of His deep love for us. He wanted to show us the way that we should live. He was willing to bear our sins as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. God was willing to send His Son to us because of His great love for us. May His name be praised.
Mary and Joseph reveal so much about the meaning of Christmas to me. God chose humble people who didn't have a lot of money to be the earthly parents of Jesus. Joseph was a carpenter. He was a man who worked with wood just like my Dad who worked in the lumberyard all of his life. God chose ordinary people to care for Jesus. To me, this demonstrates that God loves even those of modest means. He desires to share His love with everyone.
On the night that Jesus was born into the world, the angels told the message of Jesus' birth to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. Shepherds were considered to be on the lowest socio-economic rung of society in that day. But that is who first received the message of the birth of the Christ child. This shows us all that God loves and cares about everyone. His message of love and forgiveness extends to all people everywhere.
That includes the wealthy as well. The star was a sign in the heavens for the Magi to follow. They came bearing gifts to the one who was born as King. Even though they had great wealth, they were included in the scope of God's love. The Wise Men where willing to honor and bow down to the one who was the ultimate King of Kings.
There's one other important message that stands out to me in the Christmas story. Jesus is the light of the world. Just as the star spread its light for the Wise Men on Christmas Day, Jesus who is the light of the world shines His light into the world's darkness. His light is there to drive darkness and despair from this world. His light is shining and seeking to bring all to Him. He welcomes into the light of His love all those who would call upon His name and accept Him as Savior and Lord.
Christmas is about love, light, hope, joy, peace, forgiveness and so much more. I hope that during this Christmas season that you will meditate upon the meaning of Christmas and realize how much the Lord loves you. I hope that this love of the Lord will motivate you to love others and reach out and help the hurting and share Jesus' love with this world He came to save.
Next week, I will post another Christmas themed message. On Monday, I will post the verses for the week. On Wednesday, I will begin my annual dog, cat and animal book of the year awards. One each Wednesday. This Wednesday, I will announce the dog book of the year. May God bless you all. Amen.
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