Category Archives: Christmas Sermons

God’s Blessings Come Through Little Things

Luke 1:39-46 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord ..

I have a video from Homicide Detective J. Warner Wallace. He is a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center and an Adjunct Professor of Apologetics at the Talbot School of Theology. It’s only about three minutes – but it answers the question “Are there many ways to God?”

What makes Christianity unique is Christ Jesus Himself.

He was uniquely born into this world, unlike anyone who has ever been born. It was prophesied of God in the Old Testament that the Messiah or the Christ was going to come into this world uniquely through the Prophet Isaiah. Of all the Prophets of the Old Covenant, ALL heard the Voice of God but very few looked into Heaven. Ezekiel saw into Heaven, … Continue reading

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God Used A Little Old Couple

How did we come by December 25th as the time to celebrate Christ’s birth? The earliest Pastors believed that Christ was crucified on the 15th of Nisan, 33 AD. Many Bible scholars consider this to be March 25th. Around 300 years after Christ’s crucifixion the Church came to believe that Jesus was concieved 9 months from March 25th, the day that He died on the Cross. … Continue reading

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Wise Men Look For The True King

Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem

WHEN was Jesus born? When we celebrate the holiday we call “Christmas”, we are celebrating the unique birth of the Son of God. First off, we do not know exactly when Jesus Christ was born. The Christian History Institute notes:

“{Church Pastor} Hippolytus, writing around 200, set 25 December AD 8 as Christ’s birthday, but he mentioned no celebration. Early in the third century, {Pastors} Africanus and Evodius both gave 25 December {as His birthday}. Apparently the date {of December 25th} was already an old tradition … Around AD 350, {Roman Catholic} Pope Julius I declared December 25 the official date for Christmas.”

December 25th is a tradition the that most of the Church follows. I believe this is a good tradition. America needs more of Jesus, not less. When we celebrate Christmas as Christians, we are not celebrating the birth of Jesus as we might celebrate your birthday or my birthday.

What we are celebrating at Christ is called “The Incarnation”

The word “Incarnation” speaks to “when the Holy Son of God became Perfect Human”. Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, is like no other Man who has ever lived. The Apostles believed that Jesus was – prior to His birth – co-equal and co-eternal with the Godhead. The Scripture says:… Continue reading

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Behold Simeon (After Christmas Message)

Luke 2:25-26 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. (26) And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Throughout the Scripture there are times when God gives us a STOP sign. He puts a “behold” (the Greek ἰδού idoú, [pronounced id-oo’]) in the text. When Joseph discovered Mary was with Child, he slept, and

Matthew 1:20 … behold (idoú) the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost…. Continue reading

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You Have Free Will (A Christmas Message)

Adam and Eve have both free will and the image of God. God told Adam that he was free to choose to eat of any tree in the Garden BUT the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). Someone asked me once, “Why did Adam have ONE tree that he could not eat of? Why did God even put that tree there?” Again, this is a fair question.

Free will assumes a person has a choice.

If I went to the market to buy bread, but say, only one type of bread – white Wonder Bread – was the only bread available. If that’s all you can get, there is no free will. Free will means a choice. If you had a Garden where absolutely everything is edible, you have no opportunity to exercise your free will. Free will would just be a blank concept, but would never be practically expressed. God gave man free will, then gave humanity a choice. Choose to do your job, and never suffer. Choose to disobey God and do the forbidden, then choose death over life (Genesis 2:17).

You know the story. Adam chose to disobey God. When you disobey God you lose His blessing. God has free will too. Humanity could enjoy the Garden while they obeyed the Owner of the Garden. But once they chose to reject God’s directive, they lost God’s blessing. God said to Adam:

Genesis 2:17-19 … cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground…

Man was creation’s caregiver. Because Adam fell into sin, creation fell into sin. The ground previously brought forth only fruit bearing plants. Now the ground is cursed – thorns and thistles along with other weeds come up. Man never had to use his sweat glands…. Continue reading

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Mary said …

We have always lived in a world that has two views of God. The first view is the Subjective View of God. This is the most popular concept of God. In the Subjective View we believe that God exists for our benefit. This view creeps into the pulpits of many different Churches, even Baptist Churches. I have heard preachers say,

“God created Adam because God was lonely and needed a companion. After creating Adam, God saw that “it is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18), so he made Adam a helper called Eve.”

What is foolish about this statement is that God has never been alone. In Genesis 1:26 God – the Hebrew Elohim – said “Let US make humanity in OUR image, after OUR likeness”. God has never been alone. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is complete in Himself. God created angels. He did not create out of a need for us. God created us for another reason, a reason the antichrists hate. God did not create us because He somehow had to do so or else He would suffer.

The Second View of God is the Objective View. In the Subjective View we say that God created us because He somehow needed us. In short, God exists because we exist. But the Objective View of God is that God created us because we need Him. We are incomplete without God. God made us in His image and in His likeness so that we could worship Him as God, and glorify Him for Who He is.

When we walk away from God we rip a hole in our very lives. We are made in the likeness, the image of God. We are not gods, but we were made to imitate and glorify Him.

Humans were created by Grace and Love flowing from God – but God does not need us to complete Himself. God lacks nothing. Our creation is an extension of God’s goodness…. Continue reading

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A Virgin Named Mary

“Behold, Thou Shalt Conceive In Thy Womb, And Bring Forth A Son”. Jesus will come into the world through Mary as a boy, a man. Mary would conceive Jesus totally apart from any man’s intervention. This will be a fulfillment of the first prophecy of the Messiah. God told Satan in the Garden of Eden:

Genesis 3:15 (NASB) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.

A woman does not produce SEED, but the EGG that the man fertilizes. Yet God said that the Avenger that would one day come and destroy Satan – that Old Serpent (Revelation 12:9) will be the “Seed of the Woman”. Later on in Scripture the Prophet would tell us in:

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel…. Continue reading

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Be A Good Steward Where God Puts You

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Ezekiel 34. We’re going to go on a journey today that will end up in Bethlehem. Get ready to travel!

We have a tendency to think that what we do does not matter. After all, who am I? But the Bible is very clear that everything we as Christians do is important. The Apostle writes:

Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV) Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

And this as well, Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

What you do (or don’t do) matters

Ancient Israel got into a mess because the leadership of the nation turned away from following God. The leaders didn’t do their jobs, and the people did not try to correct the problem. God told Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 34:2-8 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. 4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. 5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. 7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; 8 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

The “shepherds” or leaders in Israel … Continue reading

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The Best Christmas Ever!

Moses was the Chief Prophet of the Old Covenant of God. When Moses prepared to die he promised that another Prophet like himself would come.

Acts 3:22 … A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

Jesus Christ is that Prophet. Jesus took the place of
Moses as leader of God’s people.

There are a lot of similarities between the life of Moses and the life of Jesus. Both Moses and Jesus were preserved in their childhood. When Pharaoh wanted Moses dead, his mother hid her son in a little “ark of bulrushes” (Exodus 2:3), and hid him in the weeds at the edge of the river Nile. It was here that the princess of Egypt found Moses, and having compassion for him, brought Moses into the palace to raise as her own.

By God’s Grace Moses had access to the best food, the finest clothing, the best teachers, the most comfortable places to live. Moses grew up in a palace.

If Moses enjoyed the abundance of God’s Grace in the palace, you would think that Jesus Christ, God’s Only Begotten Son, would also be embraced… Continue reading

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And It Came To Pass

I have heard people describe 2020 as “a dumpster fire” … Continue reading

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