Christmas Eve Service - Amazon S3Eve+Sermon+Guide.pdf · 2016-11-07 · Christmas Eve Service Big Idea of the Series: This one-week message is designed to be used during your Christmas

Christmas Eve Service Big Idea of the Series: This one-week message is designed to be used during your Christmas Eve service. Included in the material are a number of Christmas illustrations that can be used during your message. Text: Luke 2:1-21 (reference Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25) Topic(s): Christmas, Faithfulness Big Idea of the Message: God used the ordinary faithfulness of Mary and Joseph to make way for Jesus’ entrance into the world. We may not feel like we have much to offer God, but He can use our daily faithfulness to reveal His glory to others. Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1.   At the time of her pregnancy, Mary was a young, teenage girl. Conversely, Joseph would have been humiliated by the fact that his betrothed “fiancé” was now pregnant. Yet—despite the pressure on each of them to renounce God’s plan—both chose to remain faithful to God.

2.   Also notice who became one of the first audiences to Jesus’ birth—shepherds! The magi came later. Jesus is not just for just the rich, powerful, or well put together, but for all!

3.   The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art holds hundreds of homemade Christmas cards in its collection. These are some of the first to ever be produced. Some of the cards are beautiful, some are strange, and others are downright creepy. Throughout time, the way we announce or celebrate the Christmas season has changed. In all this change, however, we must remember what Christmas is all about—Jesus. If it is about Jesus, then we must remain faithful to Him—even when it’s not easy. Source: http://www.aaa.si.edu/exhibitions/handmade-holiday-cards-from-the-Archives-of-American-Art

4.   Every year, re-enactors bring George Washington’s Christmas crossing of the Delaware River to life. They do this to remember one of the most important (and much needed) victories by the Colonies during the Revolutionary War. In that same way, we re-enact and celebrate Jesus’ birth every year because we are remembering the victory that He brought to us through His ministry on earth. Source: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/george-washingtons-christmas-crossing-2804141/

5.   “If you’re in Washington, DC, this Christmas, take a good, hard look at the tree decorating Capitol Hill. This year [2015], hanging next to the traditional bells and snowflakes, you’ll see plastic turtles, fish, and jellyfish. The brainchild of artist Bonnie Dillard, these unusual decorations are made from marine debris—plastic that had washed up on the beach where she lives on Kodiak Island, Alaska.” Application: In the nativity story, God allowed unlikely individuals to be a part of Jesus’ birth. Like the ornaments mentioned above, God can use individuals who are broken, young, old, or looked down on by society to radiate His glory. Source: https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/trashing-capitols-christmas-tree

6.   How did we come to celebrate Christmas on December 25th? The history is somewhat inconclusive. This information might work as a great example of how we are to live out Christmas during all 365 days of the year: “In the end we are left with a question: How did December 25 become Christmas? We cannot be entirely sure. Elements of the festival that developed from the fourth century until modern times may well derive from pagan traditions. Yet the actual date might really derive more from Judaism—from Jesus’ death at Passover, and from the rabbinic notion that great things might be expected, again and again, at the same time of the year—than from paganism. Then again, in this notion of cycles and the return of God’s redemption, we may perhaps also be touching upon something that the pagan Romans who celebrated Sol Invictus, and many other peoples since, would have understood and claimed for their own, too.” Source: http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/

7.   Does Christmas make you excited? As excited as this boy getting a Nintendo 64? We can rejoice in the Christmas season because Jesus has come to earth to rescue us from our sins. Source: https://youtu.be/pFlcqWQVVuU