Title: The Heart of Christmas
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:11, Luke 2:19, Philippians 2:8, Luke 2:8-11
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
The reason ‘heart’ is used frequently is because it is the center of life.
Definition by Cambridge Dictionary for the word ‘heart’: ‘The central or most important part’ (of a matter).
Free Dictionary: ‘The most important, basic or fundamental essence of elements of an issue or matter at hand.’
- The Heart of Christmas – Giving
Matthew 2:11, ‘And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.’
Because three gifts were presented, tradition has asserted that there were three wise men
In the Ancient near East, one would never appear before royalty or a person of importance without bringing gifts.
Gold speaks of royalty, incense speaks of divinity, and myrrh speaks of death.
The infant Jesus did not use or spend any of these precious gifts, but His parents used them hopefully wisely, on His behalf and benefit.
Our theme for this year’s Christmas Eve Celebration: The Jesus gift.
We are fulfilling the heart of Christmas -giving. And there will be reciprocal giving.
Christmas is a season for giving, whether it is in the form of gifts, money, time or even love.
We are encouraged to be givers knowing that Jesus said in Acts 20:35, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.
- The Heart of Christmas – Family
Luke 2:19 says, ‘But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.’
Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. A vital part of our Christmas celebrations is the time spent with family, reminiscing of days gone by and sharing memories of God’s goodness to one another.
As a body of Christ, our bigger family is this church.
Verse 19 shows that Mary was building a storehouse of precious memories in her heart. She would need to relive and be strengthened by those memories, many time over, in the days ahead.
It is said that in order of importance, when it comes to priority in one’s life the placing it this: God, Family, Church. The heart of Christmas is family.
- The Heart of Christmas – Humility
Philippians 2:8 says, ‘He (Jesus) humbled himself.
At the heart of Christmas message, is humility It speaks of how the mighty Son of God, took on a human form and came down to earth in extremely humbling circumstances. He was born in a manger; not a palace. His parents were possibly peasants, not the rich of society. The message of His birth was announced to humble shepherds and not to those in the seats of power. His birth, His very life, showed a level of humility never seen before.
The bible compares arrogance to the sin of idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23)
Remember the song that said, ‘It’s hard to be humble, cause I’m perfect in ever way.’
Definitely we are not humble. On the contrary, Jesus was humble and yet he was perfect in every way.
James 4:6, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’
Matthew 23:12, Jesus promises, ‘whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’
Humility is glad that God gets all the credit for choosing us so that we boast only in him and not man.
- Humility happily admits that everything we have is a free gift from God, so that we can’t boast in it.
- Humility is glad to affirm that God sovereignly governs our heartbeats and safe arrivals, or non-arrivals.
- Humility gives itself away in serving everyone, rather than seeking to be served.
- The heart of Christmas – Christ
Jesus Christ is the heart of Christmas because he came to earth to give people love, hope, and joy, and to provide a way for people to be forgiven and transformed through faith.
We know God gave mankind the perfect Gift when He sent His Son Jesus. The Gift of Jesus meets all of the criteria for being a perfect gift.
Number one, Jesus reflects the One Who gave Him—God the Father.
Number two, God’s gift of His Son reflects knowledge of our needs.
Number three, the Gift of Jesus is of a nature and quality that will hold its value as times goes on.
