The Savior of Christmas
Text: Selected
Introduction:
A.
Wright
Brothers illus. In 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were
successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to
their sister Katherine: “We have
actually flown 120 feet. Will be home
for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to
the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice, the
boys will be home for Christmas.” He
totally missed the big news¾man had flown! Taken from The Daily Bread 12/23/91
B.
2
women were having lunch at an elegant hotel when they were approached by a
mutual friend who asked the occasion for the meal. “We are celebrating the birth of my baby boy.” “But where is he?” inquired the friend. “Oh,” said the mother, “you didn’t think I’d bring
him did you?” How we treat Jesus at
Christmas.
In
his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner
applies the modern science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding
Christ. He says, “The chance that any
man might have…fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th
power. That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000
(one hundred quadrillion).” Stoner
suggests that “we take 10 to the 17th silver dollars and lay them on
the face of Texas. They will cover all
of the state 2 feet deep. Now mark one
of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly…Blindfold the man
and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up that one
marked silver dollar. What chance would
he have of getting the right one?”
Stoner concludes, “Just the same chance that the prophets would have had
of writing those eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man…providing
they wrote them in their own wisdom.”
“God with us in our nature, our sorrow, our
lifework, our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, rather, we with Him,
in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendor.”
“Take
the year 1809. The international scene
was tumultuous. Napoleon was sweeping
through Austria; blood was flowing freely.
Nobody then cared about babies.
But the world was overlooking some terribly significant births...For example,
William Gladstone was born that year.
He was destined to become one of England’s finest statesmen. That same year, Alfred Tennyson was born to
an obscure minister and his wife. The
child would one day greatly affect the literary world in a marked manner. On the American continent, Oliver Wendell
Holmes was born in Cambridge, Mass. And not far away in Boston, Edgar Allan Poe
began his eventful, albeit, tragic, life.
It was also that same year that a physician named Darwin and his wife
named their child Charles Robert. And
that same year produced the cries of a newborn infant in a rugged log cabin in
Hardin County, KY. The baby’s
name? Abraham Lincoln. If there had been new broadcasts at that
time, I’m certain these words would have been heard: “The destiny of the world is being shaped on an Austrian
battlefield today.” But history was
actually being shaped in the cradles of England and America. Similarly,
everyone thought taxation was the big news¾when Jesus was born. But a young Jewish woman cradled the biggest
news of all: the birth of the Savior.”
Conclusion:
A.
Poem: “But Where is Jesus”
It’s Christmas time the
people say;
The signs proclaim¾the stores portray
Glittering trees and
ornaments rare¾
Scurrying shoppers everywhere.
Laden counters with toys abound
Children’s eyes so large and
round.
Happy faces and greetings
gay;
Laughter and mirth along the
way¾
But where is Jesus?
“Why it’s His birthday, don’t
you know?”
Says a smiling face ‘mid the
falling snow.
“He was born in Bethlehem
long, long ago,
So we give gifts to those we
know¾
to our children dear both
far and near,
To friend and kin we spread
our cheer.”
But I bowed my head with a
heavy heart,
Though to those we love we
do our part¾
But where is Jesus?
It’s Christmas time, God’s
word declares,
The savior came to answer
our prayers,
He came to those who loved
Him not,
To save their souls from sin’s
dread blot.
He came to give to those in
need,
And for the outcast His soul
did bleed.
Though the earth abounds
with need today
We ignore the needy along
the way¾
But where is Jesus?
We’ve gifts for John and
Mary and Sue:
We’ve love for them and
encouragement, too.
And this, my friends, we
ought to do.
But where is our fit for the
Savior true?
The gift He wants is loving
deeds,
A ready response to a lost
world’s needs,
Not wrapped in tissue with
ribbons bright
But embodied in flesh aglow
with love’s light.
But where is Jesus?
B.
Poem: “Suppose”
Suppose it were your
birthday
And all your friends would
come
and gather round your
fireplace
There in your happy home
They come with smiles and gladness,
And bring their presents,
too.
But when they start to share
them,
There’s not a one for you.
They give them to each
other,
A grand and costly lot.
But for the guest of honor,
They somehow just forgot.
You say such things don’t
happen,
Nor should it ever be;
It seems too crude and
cruel,
For folks like you and me.
But friend, have you
considered
Just this is what men do?
Not , of course, to humans,
But of our Lord, ‘tis true.
We celebrate His birthday
With all our pomp and style;
But give to one another
And grieve Him all the
while.
“Tis Christ we claim to
honor
At this glad Christmastime;
Don’t spend on friends the
dollars
And give Him just a dime.
To give to one another
Indeed is very nice;
But best of all to Jesus,
For Him let’s sacrifice.
His cause too long has
suffered
By thoughtless, selfish men.
Let’s bring to Christ the
firstfruits,
And give our best to Him.
¾Fred D. Jarvis
C.
Better to Give
“A friend of mine named Paul
received a new automobile from his
brother as a Christmas present. On
Christmas eve, when Pal came out of his office, a street urchin was walking
around the shiny new car, admiring it, “Is this our car, Mister?” he asked.
Paul nodded. “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.”
The boy was astounded. “You mean your brother gave it to you, and
it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy I wish…”
He
hesitated, and Paul knew what he was going to wish. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the
way down to his heels.
“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.”
Paul looked at the boy in
astonishment, then impulsively he added, “Would you like to ride in my
automobile?”
“Oh, yes, I’d love that.”
After a short ride, the urchin turned, and with his
eyes aglow, said, “Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big
automobile. But Paul was wrong again.
“Will you stop where those two steps are?” asked the
boy.
He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not
coming fast. He was carrying his little
polio-crippled brother. He sat him down
on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the
car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you
upstairs. His brother gave it to him
for Christmas, and it didn’t cost him a cent, and some day I’m gonna give you
one just like it; then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the
Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the little lad to the front
seat of his car. The shining-eyed older
brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday
ride.
That Christmas Eve Paul learned what Jesus meant
when he said, “It is more blessed to give…”