Luke 2:9-14 - THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

LUKE 2:9-14

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

Laura Young’s parents owned a Variety Store in a small town. The Christmas season was always a busy one. Part of her job was to help get the dolls out of the boxes and straighten their hair and dresses so they could be put on display. Her Dad would set up a little place in the back of the store and assemble the wagons and tricycles. She always enjoyed helping him and her brother put together these toys. This was a service that her daddy provided and it kept him very busy.

“Christmas time was a mixture of happiness and sadness when watching parents shop for their children's Christmas presents. Happiness at knowing that some children would wake on Christmas morning and have the gifts they wanted from Santa Claus. Sadness at knowing that some would wake on Christmas morning with little under the tree and be disappointed.”

One Christmas season a little girl came into the store looking at the dolls on display. After looking at the dolls, she said that there was one special doll that she wanted Santa to bring her. Her dad, a farmer, came into the store just before Christmas to shop for Christmas presents. He picked out some socks and underwear for his daughter. Laura’s dad told him that his daughter had been looking at one particular doll and asked him if he wanted to see it. The man said that it had been a bad year for the crops and money was scarce. He could not afford to buy any toys. Even though this was in the 1950's and toys were not very expensive, it was still expensive for him. Laura’s Dad told him that it was near Christmas and he did not want to keep any toys in his inventory so several of the dolls were on sale. He told the father that this doll was on sale for one dollar. The father said he could afford that and bought the doll.

A couple of days after Christmas the little girl came into the store carrying her doll. Beaming with joy, she told Laura’s Daddy that Santa Claus had brought her the doll that she wanted. With tears in his eyes, he told her that he was happy that Santa had been so good to her. This really made the true meaning of Christmas, which is giving, come alive for Laura’s dad. He had turned what could have been a sad time for that little girl into a happy one.

I think that you will agree with me that this true story from Laura Young reflects what most people would call the true spirit of Christmas. Tonight as we are have put most of the cleaning, running, shopping and wrapping behind us, it is indeed time to take inventory and ask ourselves, “Do we have the true spirit of Christmas?” What good is Christmas if we haven’t entered into the true meaning of Christmas?

I believe that the Spirit of Christmas is reflected in the Words of the Angels which we read earlier.

Luke 2:10-14 - And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. [11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. [12] And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, [14] Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Based on this Scripture I would like to suggest to you that,

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF FAITH

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF JOY

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF PEACE

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF GOOD WILL

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF FAITH

Have you noticed how much faith was involved in the first Christmas?

· Zacharias was disciplined by God because he didn’t believe the message that he would be the Father of John the Baptist.

· Mary was visited by the Angel and told that she would be the mother of God’s Son. It took faith for her to believe and accept this.

· Joseph was told by God that his intended wife was pregnant through the work of God’s Holy Spirit. It took faith for Joseph to accept and believe that.

· Simeon was told that he would not die until he saw the Lord’s Christ. That required faith.

· The Wise Men followed a star by faith, looking for the Promised Messiah.

· And the shepherds. They received a message from angels that the Savior, Christ the Lord was born in Bethlehem. They believed that by faith and went to see Him.

Listen again to the message of the Angel to the shepherds.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

The spirit of Christmas is the Spirit of faith.

You can’t truly enter into the Spirit of Christmas with out having faith that a Savior has been born, and that he’s your Savior.

You are a sinner who has broken God’s law.

You deserve eternal punishment.

But God in his love sent His sinless Son, to receive the punishment you should receive.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 - For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; [4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

The price for your sin has been paid.

It requires faith on your part to apply that payment for sin to your account.

You must accept Jesus as your Savior, as the one who paid for your sin.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

If you haven’t entered into the true spirit of Christmas by trusting the Lord Jesus as your Savior, I beg you to do so this evening.

And I want to remind those of us who know Jesus as our Savior that he is also “Christ, the Lord”. That is something you and I must accept by faith. If Jesus is the Messiah, and if Jesus is Lord (and He is!), then we must accept that by faith and allow Him to be Lord of our lives.

By faith, we should make Him ruler over all we say, all we think, and all we do. We should agree with the chorus that goes,

He is Lord, He is Lord,

He is risen from the dead and He is Lord.

Every knee shall bow,

every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Christian, by faith, let Jesus rule your life.

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF FAITH

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF JOY

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

God intended Christmas to be a time of joy.

If anybody should have the Spirit of joy at Christmas, it should be you and I who are Christians.

· We should have joy remembering the birth of our Savior.

· We should have joy practicing the presence of Jesus in our lives.

· We should have joy sharing the precious message of salvation with friends and loved ones.

· We should have the joy of knowing that one day we will be with Him for all eternity.

· We should have the joy of looking for His return.

· We should have the joy of allowing Him to lead and guide us.

Philippians 4:4 - Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Nehemiah 8:10 - …the joy of the Lord is your strength.

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF FAITH

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF JOY

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF PEACE

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The wish here is for peace on earth.

In one sense, right now, Jesus does not bring peace.

Those who share the Gospel often produce unrest in the hearers. That’s the conviction of the Holy Ghost.

And Jesus told his followers that they would be persecuted for His Sake.

But Jesus came to earth to bring peace to anyone and everyone who will accept it. Jesus brought peace.

Sin produces separation between God and man.

Because of his sin, man is God’s enemy.

He shed His blood for us so that we can be declared right with God, or justified.

Romans 5:9 - Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

When a person trusts Jesus as Savior and is declared right with God, he is no longer God’s enemy, but God’s child.

John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

When a person trusts Jesus as Savior, but he is no longer God’s enemy he has peace with God.

Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

But let’s me honest, although we are at peace with God, we often lack the peace of God. We are often restless, up tight, bent out of shape, worried, and or anxious. Why?

First of all, we lack peace because we fail to focus on God.

We focus on business instead of focusing on Jesus.

We focus on fun instead of focusing on Jesus.

We focus on our problems instead of focusing on Jesus.

But when we focus on Jesus everything else will fall into perspective and we will have peace.

Isaiah 26:3-4 - Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. [4] Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:

If you don’t focus on reading God’s Word you’re not focusd on Jesus.

If you don’t focus on meditating on Scripture, you’re not focused on Jesus.

If you don’t focus talking about the things of God, you’re not focused on Jesus.

If you don’t focus on prayer, you’re not focused on Jesus.

This leads to the second reason for a lack of peace. We fail to commit all our problems to the Lord in prayer.

Philippians 4:6-7 - Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. [7] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Christian to have the true spirit of Christmas, you must have peace. Focus on the Lord and commit everything to Him in prayer.

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF FAITH

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF JOY

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF PEACE

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF GOOD WILL

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

One of my favorite Christmas stories is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The star character is Ebenezer Scrooge, a skin flint old miser who claimed that Christmas was a “humbug”.

At the end of the story Scrooge is a changed man. He then starts showing good will toward men by buying his employee Bob Cratchit a turkey, and generously sharing with people in need. He also raises Cratchit’s salary and he pays for medical attention for Tiny Tim.

And that’s generally our idea of good will towards men.

But for the Christian good will towards men goes further than that.

Yes, we are to do kind deeds to those in need.

Galatians 6:10 - As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

But good will towards men means ceasing from anger.

And good will towards men means forgiving others and not holding grudges against them.

Ephesians 4:26-27 - Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: [27] Neither give place to the devil.

Ephesians 4:31-32 - Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: [32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

If you are unforgiving and/or bitter, you do not have the spirit of Christmas!

And one more thing, “good will towards men” would include seeking the Spiritual well being or all, Christians and non-Christians alike.

A non-Christian can not be truly happy without Jesus.

A Christian can not be truly happy without walking and growing in Jesus. You can help each of them with your personal concern and input into their Spiritual well-being.

Make sure this Christmas that you have the spirit of Christmas.

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF FAITH

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF JOY

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF PEACE

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IS THE SPIRIT OF GOOD WILL