The Divine Plan: Understanding the True Meaning of Christmas
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
"In the beginning the word was with God and the Word was God, telling us that in fact from before even time began it was God's plan and purpose to provide for a rebellious world the gift of a savior that he was sending into the world as John says in his prologue he was sending the True Light into the world which gives light to everyone in the world." [00:02:45]
"The Bible makes clear that God has made himself known in the world that he has made he has made himself known in his word that he has given to us to ponder and he has made himself known finally and savingly in the person of his son again in the opening part of the Gospel of John here John makes perfectly clear no one has ever seen God." [00:03:55]
"God is completely and infinitely Beyond us it is not for us to be able to access him on our own time or on our own terms but God himself chooses to make himself known he shows up if you like and the story of Christmas is essentially Beyond Comprehension that God has in the person of Jesus moved into our neighborhood." [00:04:21]
"John simply States it as a fact causing us to ponder meditate if you like on this fact that Jesus was born in the same fashion as any one of us is born but he was God's Eternal son so unlike us he did not start to exist a few months before his arrival because he was always God's son." [00:05:13]
"What is far harder to ponder is the notion that somehow or another out of Eternity God takes the initiative to step into time and in such a strange way to be born to a lowly Hebrew girl probably maybe 16 17 to be born in such an unusual place to spend part of his life as a refugee along with his mom and dad in Egypt." [00:06:06]
"Jim Parker says the crucial significance of Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps down that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary and we do not understand it till we see it in this context in short order it's virtually impossible possible to get an angle on Christmas without seeing it through the prism of Easter." [00:07:37]
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ CS Lewis at a meeting in Oxford years ago was in conversation with a number of people and somebody said to him um how how would you explain the difference between Christianity and other world religions to which Lewis replied that's easy one word, Grace." [00:08:16]
"Every other encounter with religion starts from here in an attempt to find God to appease God to please God to be accepted by God the story of Christianity is the exact reverse this is the story of a God who despite our disinterest in him sends his only beloved Son as a Shepherd for his people as a light in the darkness and the Darkness has never actually been able to put it out." [00:09:19]
"The story of Christmas is that God places himself where we deserve to be in the place of punishment now I want to stop but I want to say just one other thing just a word to the skeptic um the person who says well I can tell you're relatively sincere about this but I really I'm I'm not tracking with you if Christianity is false it is of no no importance." [00:12:02]
"Are you ready for Christmas are you are you ready to accept the gift that God sends to us in Jesus just to welcome him are you ready for Christmas sufficient to bow down your knees before him and worship Him am I ready for Christmas to say you know ultimately no matter what I get where I go where I go that all that I really have in heaven is you." [00:13:01]
"All that I have all the wealth I have everything else goes in a garage sale everything else will be gone you're everything do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you through his poverty might know all the riches there's a new biography um three part somebody told me one of my colleagues told me the other day." [00:13:31]
"Let's go out into our broken culture let's go into the unfulfilled lives of the well-healed and tell them the greatest story the world has ever known that he step down into time to forgive us to fill us to use us a brief prayer together we say together words on the screen gracious and Triune God Father Son and Holy Spirit we praise you that your glory Shone out in highest heaven when Jesus the son was born." [00:15:51]
Ask a question about this sermon
"The Bible makes clear that God has made himself known in the world that he has made he has made himself known in his word that he has given to us to ponder and he has made himself known finally and savingly in the person of his son again in the opening part of the Gospel of John here John makes perfectly clear no one has ever seen God." [00:03:55]
"God is completely and infinitely Beyond us it is not for us to be able to access him on our own time or on our own terms but God himself chooses to make himself known he shows up if you like and the story of Christmas is essentially Beyond Comprehension that God has in the person of Jesus moved into our neighborhood." [00:04:21]
"John simply States it as a fact causing us to ponder meditate if you like on this fact that Jesus was born in the same fashion as any one of us is born but he was God's Eternal son so unlike us he did not start to exist a few months before his arrival because he was always God's son." [00:05:13]
"What is far harder to ponder is the notion that somehow or another out of Eternity God takes the initiative to step into time and in such a strange way to be born to a lowly Hebrew girl probably maybe 16 17 to be born in such an unusual place to spend part of his life as a refugee along with his mom and dad in Egypt." [00:06:06]
"Jim Parker says the crucial significance of Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps down that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary and we do not understand it till we see it in this context in short order it's virtually impossible possible to get an angle on Christmas without seeing it through the prism of Easter." [00:07:37]
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ CS Lewis at a meeting in Oxford years ago was in conversation with a number of people and somebody said to him um how how would you explain the difference between Christianity and other world religions to which Lewis replied that's easy one word, Grace." [00:08:16]
"Every other encounter with religion starts from here in an attempt to find God to appease God to please God to be accepted by God the story of Christianity is the exact reverse this is the story of a God who despite our disinterest in him sends his only beloved Son as a Shepherd for his people as a light in the darkness and the Darkness has never actually been able to put it out." [00:09:19]
"The story of Christmas is that God places himself where we deserve to be in the place of punishment now I want to stop but I want to say just one other thing just a word to the skeptic um the person who says well I can tell you're relatively sincere about this but I really I'm I'm not tracking with you if Christianity is false it is of no no importance." [00:12:02]
"Are you ready for Christmas are you are you ready to accept the gift that God sends to us in Jesus just to welcome him are you ready for Christmas sufficient to bow down your knees before him and worship Him am I ready for Christmas to say you know ultimately no matter what I get where I go where I go that all that I really have in heaven is you." [00:13:01]
"All that I have all the wealth I have everything else goes in a garage sale everything else will be gone you're everything do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you through his poverty might know all the riches there's a new biography um three part somebody told me one of my colleagues told me the other day." [00:13:31]
"Let's go out into our broken culture let's go into the unfulfilled lives of the well-healed and tell them the greatest story the world has ever known that he step down into time to forgive us to fill us to use us a brief prayer together we say together words on the screen gracious and Triune God Father Son and Holy Spirit we praise you that your glory Shone out in highest heaven when Jesus the son was born." [00:15:51]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Jan 05, 2024. Do you have any questions about it?