Sermons on Christmas
For the past few weeks, we have been exploring the biblical basis for the modern, Christmas carol “Sing We the Song of Emmanuel.” Verse one of this song begins with teachings on the fulfillment of prophecy and quickly move to focus on the incarnation of the ultimate God-Man. Verse two continues its focus on the…
Last week, we started a short sermon series for Christmas called: “The Song of Emmanuel.” We looked at the theology behind verse one of “Sing We the Song of Emmanuel.” Today, we’re going to look at the theology found in verse two. This second verse is rich in the theological teaching of the incarnation of…
The Bible is absolutely clear that singing is a central part of worship. We are to sing in all circumstances—in joy, in sorrow, in thankfulness and in distress. We are to sing to the Lord, and we are to sing to one another as a way to confess our faith, give thanks to the Lord,…
For the next several weeks, we’re going to be focused on the redemptive story of Scripture that was fulfilled through the incarnation of God the Son in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was born into this world as a baby and grew to be a man who would die on the cross to…
This month, we have focused on the themes of Advent—hope, peace, joy—and today we will be looking at love. It is difficult for us to understand the love that God has for us… the love that He demonstrated through the gift of His Son, but God’s love is a theme we find throughout Scripture. As we’ve considered these themes of Advent, we have focused on the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. These prophecies of the promised Messiah were written over 700 years before their fulfillment. We will look again to the prophet’s writings in a few minutes, but first I want us to focus on the writings of another of the Old Testament books of prophecy—the Book of Lamentations.
As we enter into this third week of our Advent studies, let’s pause for a moment to remember that advent refers to the coming of or arrival of the Messiah. While looking at the prophecies that foretold of His coming, we have seen several, overarching themes that have arisen. The first week, we talked about hope, and that hope is to be found in nothing other than Jesus Christ. The second week, we considered the concept of peace, and determined that only Jesus is able to provide us with real lasting peace. Today, we are going to focus our attention on the concept of joy.
If I were to ask for a show of hands, I wonder how many of you could honestly say that your life could be described as peaceful… We sing the words—“Silent night. Holy night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.”—but do we even know what peace looks like? As we continue our sermon series—Anticipating Advent—today, we will once again be looking at the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 2:1-5, there is a prophetic poem that addresses the future of Judah and Jerusalem. This poem “shows that when God restores Jerusalem and the family of Abraham, all people will be drawn to the Kingdom of God, resulting in peace among all nations.” Isaiah predicted that there would be a king—like His ancestor, David—that would bring peace to all nations. And in Isaiah 9, the prophet describes the arrival of this king.
The sermon series that we are starting today is a four-part series called “Anticipating Advent.” Today, we will be looking at the concept of HOPE as it relates to the prophesied arrival of the Christ child. Over the next three weeks, we will look at PEACE, JOY, and LOVE respectively. The Bible reading plan that I am inviting you to join will follow along with these same concepts.
Herod was a cruel and diabolical man. He was incredibly jealous and hopelessly suspicious of everyone. He was threatened by everyone and everything, and so he spent his entire life plotting the murder of people. There are accounts of multiple times when he killed someone (or groups of people) because they were somehow seen as a threat to him. His victims even included one of his wives and several of his own children. Herod had a lust for power, a constant suspicion, and an insane eagerness to avenge himself that enslaved the man all the days of his life. He was a cruel and bloodthirsty tyrant. I share all of this with you today to give you a glimpse into the heart of this evil man—his mindset and his character—so that we can better understand his role in the nativity narrative.
Some of you are thinking… Christmas is over! Why are we still talking about Christmas? Well, the nativity narrative includes events that occurred after the birth of baby Jesus. So, this week and next, we’re going to be looking at the final two characters in the Cast of Christmas—the Magi and King Herod.