Exposition of Christmas: Traditions or Truth?”a>
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CAROLING AROUND THE WORLD
PART I
DESPITE OUR EFFORTS to keep him out, God intrudes. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin’s womb and an empty tomb. Jesus entered our world through a door marked “No Entrance” and left through a door marked “No Exit.” Peter Larson
CAROLS FROM ANCIENT LANDS (EARLY CHURCH)
Hymn #118 Of the Father’s Love Begotten
Hymn #123 O Come, O Come Emmanuel
CAROLS FROM WALES
Hymn #137 What Child Is This?
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-23 (unison #142)
CAROL FROM ITALY
Hymn #145 O Come, All Ye Faithful
Special: Lighting of the 4th Advent Candle
CHRISTMAS has really become a hopeless muddle of confusion. The humility and the poverty of the stable are somehow confused with the wealth and indulgence and selfishness of gift giving. The quietness of Bethlehem is mingled with the din of shopping malls and freeway traffic. The soberness of the Incarnation is somehow mixed with the drunkenness of this season. Blinking colored lights somehow have some connection to the star of Bethlehem. John F. MacArthur Jr., “The Incarnation of the Triune God”
CAROL FROM POLAND
Hymn #143 Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
CAROLS FROM THE UNITED STATES
Hymn #139 I Wonder as I Wander
Hymn #141 O Little Town of Bethlehem
Hymn #152 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Scripture: John 1:1-14 (responsive #635)
CAROL FROM SCANDINAVIA
Hymn #159 A Thousand Candles
Special: Prayer Time by Men
Break/Fellowship
PART II
WHEN Jesus was born, the voice of God became flesh and dwelt among us. And what the voice said was, “Console, console my people.” The consolation that God’s anger is past; the consolation that our heavenly Father has a tender affection for us in our weakness; the consolation that our sins are pardoned and “cast into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). John Piper, “Looking for the Consolation of Israel”
CAROLS FROM ENGLAND
Hymn #125 Joy to the World
Hymn #136 The First Noel
CAROLS FROM SCOTLAND
Scripture: Luke 2:8-14 (unison #130)
Hymn #131 Angels from the Realms of Glory
CAROL FROM FRANCE
Hymn #132 Angels We Have Heard on High
Homily: “Traditions at Christmas” (see outline below)
REJOICE, you who feel that you are lost; your Savior comes to seek and save you. Be of good cheer, you who are in prison, for he comes to set you free. You who are famished and ready to die, rejoice that he has consecrated for you a Bethlehem, a house of bread, and he has come to be the Bread of Life to your souls. Rejoice, O sinners everywhere, for the restorer of the castaways, the Savior of the fallen, is born. C. H. Spurgeon, “Joy Born at Bethlehem”
CAROLS FROM GERMANY
Hymn #144 How Great Our Joy
Hymn #160 Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12 (responsive #636)
Hymn #147 Silent Night! Holy Night!
CAROL FROM ALL THE WORLD
Special: Lord’s Supper by families
Hymn #148 O Holy Night
Closing Prayer
WHAT you do not understand, treat with reverence and be patient, and what you do understand, cherish and keep. Augustine of Hippo, Sermons for Christmas
A Sermon by Dr. Bob Griffin, Teaching Elder at Sovereign Grace Church
Jn 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”
TRADITIONS OF CHRISTMAS
A. TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
B. HOLLY AND MISTLETOE
C. CHRISTMAS TREE
D. SANTA CLAUS
E. CAROLING
F. GIFTS
Lk 2:10 the joyful tidings of angels echo in millions of family circles around the world and, even where Christ Himself is not known
What God gave us?
>>Gift of Salvation from hell (Eph 2:8-9) “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God“.
>>Gift of Physical power in life (I Cor 7:7) “But every man has his proper gift of God one after this manner and another after that”
>>Gift of Living for God now (II Tim 1:6-7) “Wherefore stir up the gift of God, which is in you. For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.
>>Gift of Eternal Life in Heaven (Rom 6:23) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
So, is it sinful to have a tree? to sing carols with family who may not be saved? No. We are part of the past, our families and cultures, our roots and traditions. These are not evil of themselves, only when they replace truth.
In the songs and festivities, food and presents, twinkling lights and “ho, ho, ho”, we must never put tradition first and lose sight of truth