Pastor's Pulpit

Time has really flown by this year. It is hard to believe that Christmas is 2 weeks away! I love this time of year, because of the meaning of Christmas, and because this is the time of year that I got saved 37 years ago. I praise the Lord for giving me so many wonderful years of blessing. Not only did the Lord save me, but He called me to preach and He has given me a wonderful church to serve Him as a pastor. I have failed Him so many times, but Praise His name, He has never failed me.
Just wanted to give testimony of His grace in my life and His continued goodness.
You preachers who check out this blog from time to time may have read some of the messages I have posted here. Most of the ones on this blog are messages the Lord has given me and yes some of them are messages I have used from other men of God. I try to recognize the messages of the men I used if I knew where the message came from. I use material from the Sword of the Lord, Dr. Jack Hyles, Dr. Lee Roberson and others. I have been blessed by Dr. Clarence Sexton's messages and enjoy especially his recent studies on the Psalms. Dr. Paul Chappell from California has some wonderful alliterated messages.
One website that has good messages and outlines is The Bible believing Fundamentalist, by Bro. Mike O'Neal. Brother O'Neal has given me permission to use his messages whenever I can, and I have found them very helpful to get started and even have preached the entire message on occasion. This past Sunday I preached a Christmas message that I had in my files from several years ago.  Here is that message as preached at GIBC.

What is Christmas all About?

Matthew 2:1-11

Christmas is just around the corner. Decorations are everywhere - bows, tensile, lights, stars, manger scenes, yes even reindeer and Santa Clauses!! We hear the admonition every year: " Don't forget the real meaning of Christmas! " So many get caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping, and spending- buying bigger and more expensive presents, so often we do lose sight of what Christmas is about. What is Christmas about?
Christmas is a national holiday, even though in recent times it is a subject of controversy - as liberals and God-haters do everything that they can to remove the name of Christ from the public places in America.
It's shocking that many public school age children don't know anything about the birth of Christ or any spiritual Christmas songs. Secular traditions take precedence over the true meaning of Christmas.
What should be the Christians attitude toward Christmas? What is the Biblical view of Christmas?  What is Christmas really about?

I. Christmas is about a mixture.
( Matt. 2:2 ) They came to worship Him. Christmas has become a mixture of truth and error. You won't find the word Christmas in the Bible. The definition of Christmas is: The celebration of the birth of Christ, usually Dec. 25. No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth. Unger's Bible handbook says: 
 " Our traditional date of Dec. 25 was set in the 4th century. It was the day settled upon by the Western church. The Eastern church celebrates Jan. 6 ( old Christmas ). " Actually the day is unknown, yet I believe it is good to recognize Christ's birth into the world.
 The Catholic church has mixed tradition and error in the mass, the story of St. Nicholas, from where Santa Claus evolved. It amazing that the wise men came to worship the new born King, and brought their gifts to Him. Today we give gifts to one another rather than to Him.

II. Christmas is about Money. ( I Tim. 6:10 )
1. Christmas is about greed. Department stores make lots of money during this time of year. Have you ever notice that Christmas is celebrated earlier every year. It isn't even Thanksgiving and they are advertising sales and black Friday specials.
2. Christmas is about generosity. There are many needy people this time of year: homeless, orphans, and the poor. The Salvation army is positioned outside of stores and people donate to help others.
Food drives and clothing for the those in need. Toys for tots, everyone gets into the spirit of giving and are more generous because of Christmas. That's good, but let's not forget about the greatest Giver of all - God!! The greatest Gift - The gift of His Son. ( John 3:16 )
" Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."  ( II Cor. 9:15 )

III. Christmas is about a Miracle.
( I Tim. 3:16 ) ( Matt. 1:23 )
Even with all the pagan traditions - the main theme of Christmas is the Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. It was truly a miracle.
1. The Birth of Christ was a physical miracle. ( Luke 1:26-37 )
The power of the Highest overshadowed her. Through the power of the Holy Spirit that body was formed within her - a body that partook of the sin of neither man nor woman. There are some who object to the virgin birth on the grounds that it is not scientific. To the one who complains that this birth is out of the ordinary, we must say that the first Adam did not come through natural generation, and neither did the second Adam. It was a supernatural birth.  All births are supernatural, but Christ was pre-existent, and He became flesh. We have the incarnation, Christ came into this world through the virgin birth. Mary asked, " How shall this be? " Luke 1:37 explains it very clearly: " For with God nothing shall be impossible. "
2. The Birth of Christ was a prophetic miracle.
( Isa. 9:6 , 7:14 ) We have a child that is born, a Son is given. God's Son, given to the world.
In Micah 5:2 we have the birth place predicted, so all this was given to Isaiah 700 years before Christ was born. Notice in the geneology of Christ, the " begats " in Matthew 1, then in verse 16; Joseph didn't begat Jesus - Mary was the esposed wife of Joseph. Jesus was the begotten of the Father. Thank God for the virgin birth, because of that Jesus was sinless and He alone was worthy to die for our sins.

IV. Christmas is about a Man.
Notice Matt. 2:11, They worshipped Him. This is not a fable.  This really happened. The events that took place over 2,000 years ago really occurred. These wise men came from the East to worship the new born King of Israel. Though He had no palace, or earthly throne, though His birth was a lowly one:
1. Jesus was a real man. He was the God-man. Christ was born and His life is recorded for us in the Gospels. ( Gal. 4:4-5 )
2. Jesus was a rejected man. ( John1:11-12 )  ( Isa. 53:3 )  He would seek the lost and yet many rejected Him. Today still many reject the Lord and fail to realize who He is really is.
3. Jesus is the Redeeming man. ( Isa. 53:4-5 ) He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. He shed His blood to redeem us from Hell. ( Gal. 1:4, 3:13, 4:5 ) He has redeemed us from the curse of sin. The law demanded death. " The soul that sinneth shall die. " Romans 6:23, Redemption means, " to deliver by paying a price. " Jesus delivered us by paying for that price on Calvary. ( I Tim. 2:5-6 ) Christmas is about Christ.

V. Christmas is about Mercy and Grace.
( John 1:14-17 )
Titus 2:11 Jesus brought grace. God loved us and was merciful to redeem us when we didn't deserve it.
He gives eternal life and a home in Heaven simply by faith. You accept Christ like accepting a gift at Christmas. Just open the one that has your name on it. Christmas gives us the opportunity to share Christ with the world around us. May we share the message of Christ with others this Christmas.
Have you accepted Christ? If you have, then you know the true meaning of Christmas. You understand what it is all about. If you haven't received Christ as your personal Saviour, trust Him today. Ask Him to come into your heart by faith.
God bless you and Merry Christmas!

Pastor Taylor