Preaching Christmas Day
Background.:I originally planned on preaching part 3 of my Christmas series on Christmas Day and finishing ir up. Then I got the service plan and realized I wouldn't have enough time to do what I wanted with that sermon. Instead I decided to take all the parts I had cut out of parts 1 & 2 about the Incarnation and preach those.
Message.:
This was part 2.5 of the series of Christmas Messages. It was on the "Christmas Miracle." I talked about the incarnation with a lot of cues taken from J.I.Packer's Knowing God chapter 5. I gave him credit and quoted him at least four times in the sermon.
I talked about how the Christmas Message (fancy term for the Gospel) depends on the Christmas Miracle. If the wiggling, wriggling, noise-making baby in the manger wasn't God, we're sunk.
I talked about the power of believing in the miracle and compared it to how other belief systems handle the Incarnation.
There was one funny part that I didn't know how it would go over. Our congregation isn't exactly used to hearing funny parts in sermons. You really have to give them a heads up. But the biggest problem with this 'joke' is that it's totally horrifying until you figure out Mormons believe a lot of wild things like this and you don't take them too seriously any more. Anyway, the part came when I was talking about how JW's and Mormons deal with the virgin birth. I said the JW's don't have a problem with it--it was just an angel and not God in the flesh, so they don't believe in the incarnation. The Mormons don't have a problem with it either except they have to define it in a special way. In Mormonism Mary was just a "technical virgin." They believe God the Father literally came in the flesh Himself and fathered Jesus the traditional way and that, apparently, "doesn't count." Shocking at first, but later extremely ridiculously funny. No one laughed whatsoever. A couple of jaws dropped. I probably ruined the joke part of it myself by sounding angry when I said it.
J.I. Packer points out that believing this miracle makes everything else obvious. If that baby was God, of course He could atone for sins. He's the same one who will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty! If that baby was God, of course He could rise again. He's the author of life! (Peter seems to be thinking of this same logic in Acts 3:15)
This idea was not attacked as part of the Christian faith for the first 1500 years after it happened. Then in the age of enlightenment it was assaulted with all manner of human wit and fallen wisdom. The attacks continue today.
Jewish people call it a fable and one that wasn't even prophesied. Muslims would say it demands a blasphemous belief in polytheism. Any Jewish or Muslim person assenting to it would have to convert.
The admonition/ application came with a commendation to believe everything the Bible says about the Christmas miracle. Jesus was 100% God. 100% Man. 100% Awesome. There were a lot of visitors that day so I wanted to make sure the Gospel call came across clearly. And at least one guy in the congregation (not a member) doesn't believe that and still thinks he is a Christian. Pray for him.
Analysis.:
It was great preaching on Christmas day. What a great thing to do on the day. On the other hand it was kind of hard. I believe this was the first time I had ever been to a church meeting on Christmas Day. All growing up we either didn't have any church services during the week for Christmas or the service was on Christmas Eve. So, it was my first time to go to a church meeting on a non-Sunday Christmas Day and my first preaching on Christmas all at once.
The sermon went really well. It felt great.
God especially helped me in the re-preparation for this sermon. I was just preaching from some simple notes stuck in my Bible. Sometimes that is great. Sometimes it is disastrous. My sermon manuscript had been stolen two days before... more on that to come.
Love y'all.
posted by T L @ 16:09
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