12-30-07 #Disciple Bible Study titled: “LETS HAVE A RIGHT CHRISTMAS”

[Disciple]

“LETS HAVE A RIGHT CHRISTMAS”
“A Right Relationship”
Luke 2:1-7
INTRO
Now that Christmas has come and gone, did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? Everyone wants something for Christmas. We have become conditioned in our society to getting at Christmas time
Ill- Perhaps you can relate to this article that is titled ‘Christmas is…’ Christmas is everybody wants his past forgotten and his ‘presents’ remembered- Christmas is when Santa comes down the chimney and your savings go down the drain. Christmas is the time when mothers have to separate men from their toys.
Maybe you heard about Brian, for weeks before Christmas he had bugged his parents about getting a watch for Christmas. They got tired of hearing about the watch so his dad said, “If you mention the watch again, you are not going to get it, so stop bugging us about it.” So Brian did not mention it. One evening his parents asked Brian to say the prayer before supper. Brian said, “I’d like to quote a verse of Scripture before I pray” and this really thrilled his parents as they thought he was showing some real spirituality- then Brian said, “M ark 13:37- What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!”- that is some appropriate use of Scripture.
We spend most of our time around Christmas searching- we search for that just right gift, the biggest sale, the best bargain, the parking spot closest to the door.
A lot of people missed the first Christmas because they were too busy perhaps looking for other things. The only people who enjoyed the first Christmas were those who were looking for it.
The shepherds found Jesus because they went searching for him. The wise men found Jesus because they came looking for him.
And that raises the question for us today- ‘What are you going to find in your searching for Christmas? Understand this truth- you will find exactly what you looking for
There seems to be a renewed interest in the pursuit of spiritual things- People today are looking for something that gives their lives meaning and purpose
Ill- a Newsweek magazine article sometime ago was titled, “The Search For The Sacred”- it said- “Maybe it’s just a critical mass of Baby Boomers in the contemplative afternoon of life. Maybe its anxiety over the war and uncertain economic conditions, or maybe it’s a general dissatisfaction with the materialism of the modern world. For these reasons and more millions of Americans are embarking on a search for the sacred in their lives.”
The only way we can find the sacred, the only way that Christmas will have been right for us is to have a right relationship with God. Let’s consider the gifts that God wants to give you today
I. Forgiveness From Your Past
If we read again the Scripture about the birth of Jesus, what do you consider to be the most significant word? The significant word is ‘Savior’- Some people might wonder why they need a Savior- well, let’s cut right to the chase and answer that question.
Will you agree with me that heaven is a perfect place? Will you agree with me that only perfect people are going to be in heaven? Will you agree with me that you are not perfect?
Do you know what the means? It means that neither you nor I have any chance of getting to heaven on our own. I lost my perfection a long time ago. And so God sent us a Savior so we could get to heaven. This is the reason that we celebrate Christmas. The Savior has been born to us.
Every one of us needs the Savior. We cannot save ourselves. Someone has worded it very well- “If our greatest need had been for information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, so He sent us a Savior.”
Hear those words of good news again and allow them to sink into your heart……A Savior has been born to you….Luke 2:11
Yes, you can be forgiven and this is the most precious gift you can receive. Neiman Marcus doesn’t sell it. It is a priceless gift. But today God offers you this gift of salvation. God offers you the opportunity today to have your past forgiven so you can become a new person.
Isa. 1:18
We know that beautiful verse from John 3:16 that tells us because God loves us he gave his one and only Son that we can have eternal life. Sometimes we are not familiar with the explanation that follows that verse
John 3:17-18
Ill- Lifeguards know that they cannot save someone who is trying to save themselves- they have to allow the person to give up and collapse- when they give up trying to save themselves it is easy to save them- just put your arm around them and swim back to s****- that’s our problem- we are always trying to save ourselves- but understand that God cannot save until you let him- he wants to give you this free gift today and forgive your past
II. Peace For The Present
Peace is probably one of the most misunderstood words in our vocabulary. Everyone has an idea of what peace is. For some, peace means drinking until they’re so drunk they no longer can feel the pain in their hearts. For some, peace means jumping from one bed to the next, hoping to find someone to fill the emptiness in their lives, but no one does. For some, peace is staying busy all of the time so at night they can just collapse into bed and not have to think. For some, peace is sitting in a lotus position and going ‘ommmmm’- but that isn’t peace either.
So what is real peace? Real peace is having a relationship with Jesus Christ, God’s Son and becoming a friend of God. Real peace comes from knowing that no matter what you do God will never stop loving you. Real peace comes from knowing that no matter what happens God will never leave you or forsake you. Real peace comes from knowing that whatever happens in this new year, God will give me the strength to face it. Real peace comes from teaching our children to love and obey God and to live by his word so they have a solid foundation for their life.
Consider some things that will rob you of the peace God wants to give. Guilt will rob you of peace. Jesus came to save you from your sins, so you don’t have to live with your guilt.
Ps. 103: 11-12
Will you let God forgive your past and take away your guilt?
Grief will rob you of peace. We experience so many hurts in this life, the death of a loved one, the break-up of a marriage, a wayward child, the loss of a job. God knows the grief and hurt you are experiencing and he cares for you.
Ps 103:13-14
God wants to bear your burden and your heartache today- He loves you so much
Grudges will rob you of peace. Holding grudges causes you to become resentful. You are going to be hurt in this life. It’s inevitable. It will be either intentionally or unintentionally, but you are going to be hurt. How you respond to those hurts is going to determine how much happiness you have in life. You have to let those hurts go because being resentful only hurts you. Let go of your grudges your holding against other people so you can know the peace that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
III. A Happy Eternity
There are two very important facts about life we need to know today. First, we are all going to die someday. I know that isn’t the most pleasant thought I could give you today, but it is the truth. It is a fact. We do not need to go around fretting and worrying about it all the time. It could be today, tomorrow, next year, ten years. We don’t know when, but we do know that we all are going to die someday.
Second we are going to spend more time in eternity that we are on this side. We might spend 70 or 80 or more years here on earth and then death comes. But on the other side of death, we are going to spend the rest of eternity. It is utter foolishness. It is sheer folly, to spend this entire lifetime without preparing for that which you know is inevitable. It makes absolutely no sense to go through this life knowing that someday you’re going to die and not be prepared for it.
Alan Tison, said, “You are not ready to live until you are ready to die.”
For us the good news is that this is what Christmas is all about. God sent his one and only Son to get us ready to die. God wants to make you ready for heaven. God wants you to get ready for eternal life. That is why he sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sins.
Conc.
God says to you today, ”I’ll take care of your past sins and regrets, I’ll take care of your present problems, I’ll take care of your future fears. All I want you to do is have a relationship with me.”
What a perfect gift this is in Christ Jesus, God takes away my past sins, God takes care of my present, and God takes care of my future. No one on earth can give you that kind of gift. It cannot be found under the Christmas tree. It only can be found in the Man on the Cross.
Let me say now that if you do not have Jesus as your Savior then you have not received every gift you wanted or needed this Christmas.
2,000 years ago, wise men came to Bethlehem seeking the Christ child and I want to say to you now that wise men and women are still seeking the Christ today. The miracle of Christmas is not found on 34th Street. It’s found in Bethlehem. It is found in Jesus Christ.
I hope you have had the right focus on Jesus. The right pace marked by peace. The right response of worship and I hope you have the right relationship with God through Jesus Christ.