Joyful Christmas

 

Intro: Christmas should be a time of joy. Jesus wants our joy to be full. People tend to multiply activities during this holiday season and in their business forget the One whose birthday we are celebrating. So their joy is not full and complete. They wind up tired, exhausted and depressed when it's all over. This is not what God intends!

I. Christmas is about joyously thanking God for His gift to mankind. 2 Corinthians 9:15  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! The greatest gift ever given was God's gift to the world: the gift of His only begotten Son. No greater gift could ever be given. Since God has given us the supreme gift, we should respond in joy by giving Him our thanks. Jesus left the glories of Heaven and came to this earth to save us from the penalty and power of sin and to give us eternal life. Isaiah 53:4-6 ⁴  Surely Jesus has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. ⁶  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The apostle John says in; John 1:12 As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. Moses brought the law to mankind but Jesus brought us His grace and the right to become the children of God.

II. A joyful Christmas is making Jesus our focus as we celebrate. Matthew 2:1-2 (NKJV) ¹  Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²  saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." Matthew 2:10-11 ¹⁰  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. ¹¹  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The wise men traveled many miles on camels to find Jesus. They brought Him their best gifts fit for a king. They brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. Nothing was to good for Him. They bowed and worshiped the babe who was King of kings and Lord of Lords, Savior of all mankind. We should seek Jesus this Christmas season as they did. We shouldn't let the worries of this world take our focus off of Jesus. We shouldn't let our problems take our focus off Jesus. He is the problem solver. We shouldn't let Santa, trees, lights and gifts take our focus off Jesus. When we celebrate someones birthday we don't leave them out of our celebration. We honor the one whose birthday we are celebrating. As we focus on Jesus and what He has done for us we can't help but have a joyous Christmas.

III. A joyous Christmas is giving Jesus gifts fit for a King. People sometimes get so involved in doing good things around Christmas they forget the One who is the reason for the season. Like Martha in the bible. She was so busy serving she missed the most important thing, focusing on Jesus and what He had to say. Christmas can become mechanical. It can become a ritualistic celebration with no real meaning. It can become routine, done with no thought of giving a gift to Jesus. One of the greatest gifts we can give Jesus our King is our total self, our love, devotion, attention, worship and praise. Deuteronomy 6:5  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Jesus longs for His children to have an awakened soul that thrills to the joy of His presence. He created us to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Jesus provides the gift of fullness of joy for our lives and our gift to Him is to glorify Him and enjoy Him by living close to Him and giving our hearts in service for Him. Our gift of praise to the Christ of Christmas will continue throughout eternity.
Revelation 5:12-13 ¹² "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!" ¹³  And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!"

Conclusion: Oh what a wonderful Savior whose birthday we will celebrate Dec. 25^th. May this be a time of joy as we respond to Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. May we thrill at the joy of Jesus' presence in our lives not only at this Christmas but for all time!

Invitation: Make sure you know Jesus before you celebrate His birth. Don't be a hypocrite! If you don't know Him as your Lord and Savior, confess your sins to Him and ask Jesus to forgive you. Invite Him into your heart to take charge of your life. This is what Christmas is all about! This is what life is all about!