Christmas Presence

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The Youth Pastor Ben gave the Sunday message, that in this time of frenzied gift buying, giving and receiving, to not miss the meaning of Christmas, God’s Gift of Emmanuel – God with us – Jesus the Christ and what that truly means to us all. God gave His unmerited grace to us. Out of unconditional love, God gave His Son, Jesus, as an undeserved atoning sacrifice in our place to pay the penalty of our sins, that we may find salvation and eternal life in Him alone.

Mark 1:14-15 Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

The Lord Jesus, who we celebrate the birth of at Christmas, was ultimately saying, “I have some good news and some bad news.” Yes, there are two sets of news. There are two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan’s worldly desires. There are two trinity groups, the holy trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or the unholy trinity of the devil, the lawless world and the sinful flesh. There are two places to spend eternity, Heaven with God in endless joy or Hell, separated from God and in endless torment. God gives us the choice of which kingdom and trinity to follow in this life and our choice of our eternal dwelling place after this life. Either we choose to say, “Lord God, Thy will be done.” Or our Creator God will say to us,”Thy will be done.” Through Adam & Eve, we all inherited our sin nature, so no choice is not an option, and believing that these choices or the choice giver do not exist is as not believing in gravity. We can deny, ignore and pretend all we want, but truth prevails in the end. But the "good news" is that, through Christ, we have a choice that will transform us, our lives and our destiny.

Philippians 3:17-20 “Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.”

Some deceive themselves into thinking that they can go through dishonest motions in a ceremony and/or say empty words for salvation that are not from the heart, in hopes of escaping the deserved consequences of their sinful iniquities against God, while willfully continuing in them. This is, essentually, saying: I want to sin against God and not pay the penalty for my disobedience. Saying that Jesus may be my Savior, but He cannot be my Lord. Saying, God obeys me; I do not obey God. Bottomline, this would be saying that God is not God, I am! Do not fool yourself, because God looks at the heart and you can’t have it both ways, so the question is: “Where does your allegiance lie?” A Christian means to follow Jesus as a believing disciple, not out of fear, but in awe and reverence of God's mercy and grace, in the joy of your salvation, in the free gift of Jesus. This is why Jesus was born. This is what Christmas is all about and proclaims to all who do not know the Lord and the love of God.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The Lord is ever present. His grace is greater. His peace is purer. His devotion is dearer. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it is still a gift … and the greatest gift is Jesus Christ - John 3:36. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let Earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare Him room!
Merry Christmas, Brian