Finding Hope and Worship in the Christmas Season
Summary
In today's gathering, we focused on the profound message of hope and worship that the Christmas season brings, even amidst life's challenges. We began by acknowledging the many needs within our community and the importance of lifting each other up in prayer. This season, while often portrayed as joyful and bright, can also be a time of deep sorrow for many, as it reminds us of lost loved ones and unmet expectations. Yet, it is precisely in this darkness that the light of Jesus shines brightest. The story of the wise men, or Magi, from Matthew 2, serves as a timeless reminder of the hope and direction that Jesus brings into our lives.
The wise men embarked on a journey, guided by a star, to find and worship the newborn King. Their story teaches us about seeking Jesus with all our hearts, looking in the right places for fulfillment, and giving the right gifts. They did not find Jesus in the expected place of Jerusalem but continued their search until they found Him in Nazareth. This persistence in seeking Jesus is a lesson for us all, especially during the Christmas season.
Christmas is not about the perfect meal, the perfect gift, or even the perfect family gathering. It is about worshiping Jesus, the King who came to save us from our sins. The gifts of the wise men—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—symbolize Jesus' kingship, priesthood, and sacrificial death. As we reflect on these gifts, we are reminded to give ourselves fully to Jesus, offering our hearts, minds, and lives in worship.
In this season, let us seek Jesus above all else, look to Him for our joy and fulfillment, and give Him the gift of our lives. May we be followers of Jesus, not just in name, but in our daily walk, seeking His guidance and presence in all we do.
Key Takeaways:
1. The Power of Prayer and Community Support: In times of need, the power of prayer and community support is invaluable. We are reminded that Jesus, our great high priest, intercedes for us, understanding our human struggles. This Christmas, let us lift each other up in prayer, knowing that God hears us and is with us in our darkest moments. [35:31]
2. The True Meaning of Christmas: Christmas is a time to worship Jesus, who came to be the light in our darkness. The story of the wise men teaches us that Christmas is about seeking Jesus and worshiping Him for who He is—the way, the truth, and the life. Let us not lose sight of this amidst the holiday hustle. [41:48]
3. Seeking Jesus in the Right Places: The wise men teach us the importance of seeking Jesus in the right places. They did not find Him in the expected place of Jerusalem but continued their search until they found Him. This persistence is a lesson for us to look for Jesus in our lives, especially during the Christmas season. [47:42]
4. The Gifts We Bring to Jesus: The gifts of the wise men—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—symbolize Jesus' kingship, priesthood, and sacrificial death. As we reflect on these gifts, we are reminded to give ourselves fully to Jesus, offering our hearts, minds, and lives in worship. [01:17:01]
5. Living a Life of Worship: Worship is not just a Sunday activity but a daily practice. By seeking Jesus and worshiping Him every day, we align our lives with His purpose and experience His presence in all we do. Let us commit to living a life of worship, seeking Jesus in every moment. [01:07:36]
Youtube Chapters:
- [00:00] - Welcome
- [35:31] - Community Prayer and Support
- [41:48] - The True Meaning of Christmas
- [47:42] - Seeking Jesus in the Right Places
- [52:17] - The Struggles of the Season
- [55:47] - Finding Joy Amidst Challenges
- [01:01:23] - Worship as the Heart of Christmas
- [01:03:00] - What Do You Seek?
- [01:05:56] - The Wise Men's Journey
- [01:07:36] - Living a Life of Worship
- [01:09:06] - Reading the Word Together
- [01:10:58] - Unfulfilled Expectations
- [01:17:01] - The Gifts We Bring to Jesus
- [01:22:17] - The Significance of Myrrh
- [01:24:11] - Jesus' Sacrificial Love
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide
Bible Reading:
- Matthew 2:1-12
- John 14:6
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Observation Questions:
1. What was the significance of the gifts brought by the wise men, and how do they symbolize different aspects of Jesus' identity? [01:17:01]
2. How did the wise men's journey demonstrate persistence in seeking Jesus, and what challenges did they face along the way? [47:42]
3. In what ways did Herod react to the news of Jesus' birth, and what does this reveal about his character? [47:42]
4. How does the sermon describe the role of Jesus as our high priest, and what does this mean for us during the Christmas season? [41:48]
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Interpretation Questions:
1. How does the story of the wise men challenge our expectations of where and how we might find Jesus in our own lives? [47:42]
2. What does the sermon suggest about the importance of community support and prayer during difficult times, especially during the Christmas season? [35:31]
3. How can the gifts of the wise men inspire us to consider what we are offering to Jesus in our daily lives? [01:17:01]
4. In what ways does the sermon encourage us to seek Jesus as the source of our joy and fulfillment, rather than the material aspects of Christmas? [01:10:58]
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Application Questions:
1. Reflect on a time when you faced unmet expectations during the holiday season. How can you shift your focus to seeking Jesus as your source of joy this Christmas? [52:17]
2. The sermon emphasizes the power of prayer and community support. How can you actively participate in supporting someone in your community who is in need this season? [35:31]
3. Consider the gifts of the wise men. What is one specific way you can offer your time, talents, or resources to Jesus this Christmas? [01:17:01]
4. How can you incorporate daily worship into your routine, not just during the Christmas season but throughout the year? What changes might you need to make to prioritize this? [01:07:36]
5. The wise men persisted in their journey to find Jesus. What is one area of your life where you need to show persistence in seeking Jesus, and what steps can you take to pursue Him more diligently? [47:42]
6. How can you ensure that your Christmas celebrations are centered around worshiping Jesus rather than getting caught up in the holiday hustle? [01:01:23]
7. Identify a specific distraction that prevents you from focusing on Jesus during the Christmas season. What practical steps can you take to minimize this distraction? [01:10:58]
Devotional
Day 1: The Power of Prayer and Community Support
In times of need, the power of prayer and community support is invaluable. We are reminded that Jesus, our great high priest, intercedes for us, understanding our human struggles. This Christmas, let us lift each other up in prayer, knowing that God hears us and is with us in our darkest moments. [35:31]
Hebrews 4:15-16 (ESV): "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Reflection: Think of someone in your community who is struggling. How can you reach out to them this week to offer support and prayer?
Day 2: The True Meaning of Christmas
Christmas is a time to worship Jesus, who came to be the light in our darkness. The story of the wise men teaches us that Christmas is about seeking Jesus and worshiping Him for who He is—the way, the truth, and the life. Let us not lose sight of this amidst the holiday hustle. [41:48]
John 1:9-10 (ESV): "The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him."
Reflection: Amidst your holiday preparations, how can you intentionally focus on worshiping Jesus as the true light of the world?
Day 3: Seeking Jesus in the Right Places
The wise men teach us the importance of seeking Jesus in the right places. They did not find Him in the expected place of Jerusalem but continued their search until they found Him. This persistence is a lesson for us to look for Jesus in our lives, especially during the Christmas season. [47:42]
Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV): "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."
Reflection: Where are you currently seeking fulfillment in your life? How can you redirect your search to find Jesus in unexpected places?
Day 4: The Gifts We Bring to Jesus
The gifts of the wise men—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—symbolize Jesus' kingship, priesthood, and sacrificial death. As we reflect on these gifts, we are reminded to give ourselves fully to Jesus, offering our hearts, minds, and lives in worship. [01:17:01]
Romans 12:1 (ESV): "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
Reflection: What is one area of your life that you can offer to Jesus as a gift of worship today?
Day 5: Living a Life of Worship
Worship is not just a Sunday activity but a daily practice. By seeking Jesus and worshiping Him every day, we align our lives with His purpose and experience His presence in all we do. Let us commit to living a life of worship, seeking Jesus in every moment. [01:07:36]
Colossians 3:16-17 (ESV): "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Reflection: How can you incorporate worship into your daily routine, beyond just attending church services? What specific actions can you take to make worship a part of your everyday life?
Quotes
"In our corporate prayer time this morning, I want to do something just a little bit different. I, like you, sense a lot of, there's a lot of needs. Bill talked about it a little bit. There's a lot of needs among our, every staff member right now of this church is having major, many of them major, major issues going on in their lives, and I got a sense that a lot of you. Probably are the same way. So here's what I want to do." [00:34:23] (34 seconds)
"I want to ask you, would you just bow your heads with me, please? Every, every head bowed. And then I'm going to ask if, if you would like, if you said this is Lord, boy, I need God to work in my life this morning. I need, I need some prayer. I need God to answer prayer. I need God to move in my life. There's some specific needs. Nobody looking around. I'm just going to ask you. Would you just stand? Would you just stand to your feet? If you said, boy, I really need prayer this morning. Would you pray for me? Would you just be willing to stand where you are right now?" [00:34:56] (35 seconds)
"So I'm going to ask some of you that are prayer warriors to come gather around these people. Would you just, those of you that are our prayer folks and you're willing to pray for people, I want you to stand up, look around and go find some of these folks. You're going to have to scatter out in a lot of different positions here, and I want you to pray with. There's people standing all over this room, and I need your help. Deacons, elders, prayer warriors. Would you just come? You're going to have to gather around different people. You can't all go to the same one. Gather around some folks right here." [00:35:35] (29 seconds)
"And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then being divinely worshiped, they formed in a dream that they should not return to Herod. They departed for their own country another way. And when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, arise and take the young child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there till I bring you word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. And when he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord, through the prophet, saying, out of Egypt I called my son. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the beautiful story of Christmas, that in the darkness of that day, in the horror of a person like Herod the king, that you would send forth hope in the form of a baby boy named Jesus, who would save not only his people, the Jews, but he would save the people of Egypt, but he would save the world from our sin. Thank you for that precious gift. And as we study the story today of these wise men and how they wandered around trying to figure out the next step, remind us that sometimes in our lives we wind up wandering around trying to figure out what are you doing? What's the next step we need to take? Where do we need to go? And I pray you'd speak direction into our hearts here this morning. You would speak power by your Holy Spirit into our lives to give us the strength to do that. Give us courage to take that next step and to follow you and to look for you and to seek you with all of our hearts, just like these wise men were looking for Jesus. Help us to seek out Jesus for our life and for our direction. And I pray for your glory and honor to be seen and known and work here in this place today. And we ask all of this in the name and for the glory of Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Again, thank you for being here this morning. Kind of." [00:49:26] (136 seconds)
"Jumped right into prayer time, but thank you for being here, for your attendance, for our guests. We're so glad you guys are here with us today and others, our church family. And we've got several out sick and a lot of folks. And, boy, somebody ought to thank Lauren again for her one -man show today. That's incredible. There is a lot of struggles and a lot of sickness and stuff going around and a lot going on with our staff, and pray for them. A lot of songs we sing at Christmastime are reminders that we're supposed to be happy." [00:51:42] (34 seconds)
"Christmas is about understanding who Jesus is, the Son of God has come out of heaven, taken on the form of human flesh, that one day he might go to the cross and pay the debt for our sin. Christmas is about worshiping Jesus for who he is and what he's done for us. That's what Christmas is all about. It's not about what present can I get or what present can I give. All that's important, and it has its place. But don't lose sight of the fact that Christmas is really about worship." [01:01:42] (38 seconds)
"Every part of the story of Christmas that's in the New Testament is pointed towards worshiping Jesus. When the shepherd died, he was worshiping Jesus. When the shepherd died, he was worshiping Jesus. Show up, they worship Jesus. When the wise men show up, they worship Jesus. When the angels come and give glory to God, they're worshiping Jesus. And so the picture of Christmas is about, it's about worshiping Jesus. And I think there's some things we can learn from this as they come and find that newborn king, all the events that are going to happen around there, and the struggle, the problems. Because it's not without its own set of problems there." [01:02:24] (39 seconds)
"you see and then you could point the finger at your kids don't look over there adam don't look at them right now they know they've disappointed you don't don't look at them and you know what kids can look at parents and go you've disappointed me i thought i thought we'd get to do more i thought we'd have more i thought you'd be able to do do better by us huh there's all these unfulfilled expectations that float around and they really come out seems like at the holidays don't they where are you looking we learn from the wise men they're wrong places and right places to look for that joy to look for uh what they needed at the christmas time they they started by looking at the wrong place they went to jerusalem jerusalem was the wrong place to go looking for jesus they thought it was the right place but it turned into the wrong place they looked you know you know why why did they go to jerusalem their human reasoning said if there's a new king then he's probably in jerusalem and if there's a new king the old king ought to know where the new king is coming from and they reasoned that in their minds and thought their human reasoning would figure out where they needed to go look and boy was that a wrong step because all it did was make herod aware the messiah had been born and he's going to destroy a bunch of people's lives a lot of families lives are going to be destroyed because they went to the wrong place the star indicated the birth of jesus in israel the wise men went there they go to jerusalem which was a horrible mistake when herod heard that now he sets out to destroy this this child this this newborn king of the jews and a lot of times we're tempted to look for christmas in the wrong places too we think if we give the right gift if we get the right gift if we do the right thing if we're with the right people and a lot of times we're disappointed by what we what happens to us at christmas time there'll be some family members in all likelihood that are missing from your family celebration it gets harder you know what as you get older i mean all how many of you that are my age and older or even younger can say it gets harder and harder to get your family together you get because everybody's families get pulled in a different direction and i understand that my our sons now have their wife and then they have their children and they want to be with them on christmas morning and it's harder to get together and you have to do things differently it's harder to get my family together we went last sunday night down to my brother's house and got most of our family together and got to hang out together as best we could it gets more difficult every year to get people together so if you're that's what you're looking for if that's the place you're looking for that excitement of christmas that fulfillment of christmas a lot of times it can be in the wrong place and i just say to you this morning quickly man look to god just like those wise men they look to jesus they went to find where they didn't give up they could have given up in jerusalem and said oh this is he's going to be born in bethlehem they go to bethlehem and he's not there either and it would have been real easy to give up and go okay hey we've done we've come here's the way i feel they probably felt and i feel this way too if i'm going to go that far you know sometimes i'll this is a minor example of of this kind of thing but i'll find myself i have to go go to kroger to get something and when i do i'm like i want to get everything i got to get while i'm here right i don't want to have to come back and fight for a parking space and fight for a buggy and get in and get let's do it i mean while we're here we've come this far let's go let's get it and i think that's what the wise men did we've come all the way for weeks they've been traveling maybe even for months they've been traveling to get there to that place why give up now and then they notice the star reappears and they are able to go and find the baby i believe in nazareth at that moment and they find when they look in the right place they look in the right place they find where jesus is and i just encourage you this morning look in the right place where are you looking look in the right place i'm thankful to god for all my family i'm thankful to god for all of you i'm thankful for what he's done in my life through the years and when it comes to christmas i don't want to christmas is about jesus right or it's supposed to be and in the church especially christmas is supposed to be about jesus reminder of jesus to all of us then why am i looking everywhere else to give me that joy and excitement when i need to look to jesus and secondarily you can look down the list you can look at other things but look for jesus in this christmas season look for what he's doing in your life and in the lives of people around you let me give you the last thing quickly" [01:11:46] (0 seconds)
"What do you give? What do you give? These wise men, they brought gifts. They didn't give their gifts to Herod. They didn't give their gifts to the priest and to the scribes. They didn't give their gifts out to just anybody else. As a matter of fact, you don't even know they have gifts until they find Jesus. And as they worship Jesus, they give gifts. The wise men came to Jesus' house bearing gifts. Those gifts they gave were entirely appropriate. Let's talk about the gifts for a moment. They gave gold. Do you know what gold is? It's a gift for a king. They understood. They clearly understood that this little baby boy, this little two -year -old boy, I wonder if Jesus had terrible twos, don't you?" [01:17:01] (48 seconds)
"Frankincense was a gift for a priest. Today, Jesus is our high priest. We don't have to go to a pope or a priest or a potentate or a pastor or the grand pooh -pah. You don't have to go to anybody and bow down before them and say, get me to God. You yourself can go directly to the Heavenly Father at His throne in Heaven through Jesus Christ. And I think if you understood that, we wouldn't have to beg people to pray. We wouldn't have to beg people to talk to Jesus every day. You wouldn't want to talk to Him because of the struggles and problems and heartaches, because of the worship that you have for what He's done for you. You wouldn't want to be speaking to Him because He's speaking to the Father." [01:20:12] (46 seconds)
"He's making our petitions known, the Bible says. He's taking what we, He stands between us and God. And He makes the needs of your heart, the needs of your life, He makes them, He whispers to the ear of the Father what's needed in your life and what you're asking God to do. If you really believed that was happening, look at me. If you really believed that was happening, nobody would ever, ever, ever have to beg you to pray again. And you know what I know happens? When your child gets sick, when your grandchild is sick, when your husband's in an accident, when you have a problem, when you go to the doctor's office and they give you that look, prayer's instant for you." [01:21:57] (47 seconds)
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