“Have you invited Jesus to His Birthday Party?”— R Nelson
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
ENCOURAGING WORD:
Once again, we are entering the season of Joy where we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I remember back when I was a child, Christmas time of year was a time when everything just felt so right. Christmas trees were being decorated, Christmas music playing holiday favorites as you walked down Main Street looking at all the window decorations, and shopping for those special gifts for the ones that you love. Churches were lit up with holiday cheer, many of them playing music well into the evening. I remember our church had a night where the children would put on their Christmas play. There would be one lucky little girl that got to be “Mary,” or a lucky little boy who got to be “Joseph” and they would station themselves around the baby Jesus lying in the manager. Of course, we had young boys dressed up like shepherds, but if you were lucky, you got to be a Wiseman. I always got to dress up like a Shepherd because I was always too much of a wise guy to be Wiseman. Those of you that knew me, know exactly what I am saying. Then all the other children got their opportunity to share a word of wisdom right from the Word of God. As each child said their special peace, family, friends, and people that you may have never met, sat, and smiled as each child spewed out of their mouths their very short but meaningful line. Some of which were very loud and some you could hardly hear. Things were so special this time of year.
As the years went by, all this special attention toward our Lord and Savior started slowly fading away, which brings me to the present and the purpose of this message. First, I am going to share this all too important scripture from the Bible that most of us have heard. Luke 2: 8-14; “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwilltoward men!” For those of you that have seen “A Charlie Brown Christmas” remember when Linus took center stage and quoted these verses to Charlie Brown and when He was done, he said, “This is what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown”
Well, this is certainly what Christmas used to be about, but over the years our nation has taken an evil turn away from Biblical teaching, so far that the name of Jesus Christ is very seldom even mentioned this time of year. Christmas has become a time of year when the main focus and in some cases, the only focus, is shopping for gifts, going to parties where Jesus isn’t even invited and other forms of celebration that have nothing to do with the main reason for the season. I have a hard time even finding a Christmas card that mentions Jesus Christ any more. Most of them say, “Happy Holidays” with no mention of what holiday we are even celebrating. They have no idea what Christmas is all about. Now, let me share the next few verses with the rest of the story, Luke 2:15-20; “So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” Please read and meditate on the verses in Luke 2:8-20 until they sink in so you can know what Christmas all is about.
I also want to clarify something that is causing people to fall away from celebrating Christmas. People are making a big deal out of celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25th. Let me be the first to tell you if you haven’t heard it already, there is solid biblical evidence that proves Jesus Christ could not have been born on December 25th. Here is my point, “so what.” Those that understand this, are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ regardless of what day it was on. We are celebrating the season of Jesus’s birth, not the day. If you have stopped celebrating Christmas because of this reason, you yourself are missing the whole meaning of this wonderful season. Just for the record, Jesus was most likely born in late September or early October. This is a topic that is highly debated because no one knows for sure of the day that He was born, so stop arguing about it. In all reality, we should be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ 365 days a year for those of you that are bent out of shape as to the exact day.
Now, let me get back to the purpose of this message. Have you invited Jesus to His birthday party celebration, regardless of what day He was born, or is it all about the presents, the meal and all the other things that have consumed the days that lead to December 25th? Let me put this in terms that you can understand, What if people that you knew were going to throw a birthday party for you, but did not invite you to the party? Some people may say, so what, well then that just clarifies what kind of person you are to start with, and I probably would not invite you either, but outside of those that do not care much about anything, how would you feel? What most of us do not understand is this, Jesus has a heart bigger than life itself and can easily be grieved (to feel grief) by our mistreatment of His Holy name. We read this in Ephesians 4: 30-31; “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” This verse spells it out very clearly that we can grieve the Holy Ghost (The third part of the Holy Trinity). Jesus Christ (God Incarnate) came to earth with one purpose in mind, to save mankind from what would have certainly lied ahead in the afterlife. He did this by living a perfect sinless life, then He spent the last three years of His life teaching the Gospel of Salvation, not religion. All which lead Him to the cross to suffer the punishment that was meant for us, but because of His sacrifice, we have a free gift called “grace” and when received, will bring you to a relationship with Jesus Christ where you will spend all eternity with Him in a paradise that is so wonderful that the Bible has this to say in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10; “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”
ACTION POINT:
As I say in all my messages, you make up your own mind whom you will serve, but ask yourself this question, whom will you serve, the world and all the evil that dwells within, which in and of itself is cold and ruthless, or will you submit your life to the one that loves you more than earthly words could ever express? So, I have this to say in closing, if you want to continue to celebrate Christmas in your own way, (or the holiday season as many refer to is as) go ahead, but know this, there is a much larger celebration waiting for those that truly love Jesus Christ and are walking with Him according to His ways that will eventually lead all the way to heaven. Personally, it is a day that I eagerly wait for. This world has nothing to offer that even comes close to what God has prepared for them as it says in the verse above. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. Do you want to miss out on the biggest celebration imaginable, or continue in the ways of the flesh? The choice is yours, please make the right choice today! “Written To the glory of God, Inspired by the Holy Spirit!” Amen!
From our Chaplin—R Fritz
Have you invited Jesus to His Birthday Party
I think a lot of people put Jesus on hold during this time of year. Too busy with activities associated with the holidays. People are concerned about gift giving and parties. They forget Jesus was the gift that happens all year. The gift to take care of your sorrows and the gift that gives you eternal life. 1 John 5:11-15 says “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son of God hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hear us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” God has given us the gift of eternal life and if we believe in confidence, he will answer our prayers. This is the Birthday party that gifts were not needed or asked for. We just need to Love him, believe, and obey. He hands out the gifts. Some gifts were given to us when were born (spiritual gifts), some when we choose him (eternal gift) and some later. The gift of “Love” that changes our life and how we see it. Love was another gift from God. We might think we understand love, but God’s love is a whole different matter. 1 John 4:7-8 says “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” We need to love everybody including the people who have hurt us. This will tell us where our heart is and if we are able to forgive. God’s love does not keep a record of wrongs people have done to us. What I have seen is somebody that has wronged me did not even know that they offended me. Jesus asked forgiveness for those who were involved with his crucifixion in Luke 23:34 and it says, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what thy do.” If Jesus forgives the people who have killed him, we can also forgive! It was also a case of divine grace and his death was the debt paidfor our sins, he had none. That was “Love.” Jesus also says this about love in John 15:13-14 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” The Lord has done so many things to show his love. Let me share something that happened to me. When I first chose Jesus Christ, I was at work and standing on a truck when I felt this incredible hug with nobody around. I cannot describe it because the love I felt I have never felt in my life. That is why I say people do not understand love. Until you been hugged by God, you cannot know. Man’s love and God’s love do not compare! I agree with Ron if you study it out Jesus was born in late September timeframe. This is what I did to a relative. I told the relative at Thanksgiving get together that Jesus was not born on December 25 and gave her the scriptures to back it up. 1 year later, when I see her, she said your right. She apparently started asking different pastors and other people. The reason I mention this was not to debate Jesus’s birth, it was to say by me mentioning this was the step that brought this person to Jesus Christ. This person is now Born Again and has a relationship with Jesus Christ. People struggle with the words to give to somebody that they want to be saved and Born Again and have that relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to encourage you to sometimes let family and friends investigate something and let it go and let God be God. This took actually a year and I forgot about it until she brought it up.
This time of year is a stressful and depressing time for a lot of people especially people that do not make a lot of money or have depression. There are so many people who believe the number of gifts or special gifts shows how much we love them. We need to show them the love that Jesus Christ can give and sometimes it just to spend time with them. I tried to show you the love Jesus showed us. We were given the 2 greatest commandments in Matthew 22:36-40 and this is Jesus speaking after a question from the Pharisee’s Master, which is the great commandment in the law? “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like, unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Jesus is “Love.” With all the things going on in the world, I pray to show the gift that keeps giving “Jesus Christ.”
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