1.     I think all Christians understand that there are many things wrong with the modern-day celebration of Christmas – the drinking parties, the materialism and consumerism, and of course all of the paganism mixed in with Christianity.

2.     Certainly, to most people, Santa Claus is more important than the Lord Jesus Christ.  And Christmas is more about buying things than commemorating the birth of our Lord.

3.     Christmas in America today has become more of a secular holiday than a religious one.  For example, most of the popular Christmas songs have nothing to do with Jesus!   Interestingly, many of them were written by (non-religious) Jews.

·        Santa Claus is Coming to Town

·        The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

·        White Christmas

·        Let It Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! 

·        Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

·        Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

·        Holly Jolly Christmas

·        It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

·        Sleigh Ride

·        I'll Be Home For Christmas

·        Silver Bells

·        There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays

·        Jingle Bells 

·        Jingle Bell Rock

·        Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

·        Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

·        Winter Wonderland

·        I’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without You

4.     I am knocking these Christmas songs.  I enjoy most of them and perhaps many of you do too.  But I’d rather sing, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” or “What Child is This?” than “Jingle Bells”!

5.     My message this morning is entitled, “Why Celebrate Christmas?”

6.     Many Christians today are unaware that the Puritans banned Christmas in England in 1647.  They objected to all of the drinking and paganism associated with Christmas.  The ban was lifted after Oliver Cromwell died in 1660.

7.     I wonder what Oliver Cromwell would think if he saw what went on today?

8.     Christmas was also banned here in America from 1659 to 1681.  Even after the ban was lifted, most people did not celebrate Christmas.  The Puritan preacher Increase Mather said, “"The generality of Christmas-keepers observe that festival after such a manner as is highly dishonourable to the name of Christ. How few are there comparatively that spend those holidays (as they are called) after an holy manner. But they are consumed in Compotations (partying), in Interludes, in playing at Cards, in Revellings, in excess of Wine, in mad Mirth ..."

9.     The Puritans certainly had a point, but I think they went too far in banning Christmas.  My message this morning is entitled, “Why Celebrate Christmas?”

I. A TIME TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

1.     The birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was in many ways the most unusual birth of all.  First of all, his was a virgin birth (Matthew 1:23). 

2.     The substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the very heart of the gospel.  And the blood atonement necessitates the virgin birth of Christ.  Only a sinless Saviour could die on the cross as our Substitute.

3.     The incarnation of Christ, and the pre-existence of Christ necessitate the virgin birth.

4.     The deity of Christ necessitates the virgin birth – “God was manifest in the flesh” (I Tim. 3:16).

5.     Not only was the birth of Christ a virgin birth, it was also a prophesied birth (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Micah 5:2).  The birth of Christ was unusual in that it came after centuries of prophecies.

6.     Another unusual factor about Christ’s birth was that He was born without sin.  His birth was a holy birth.

7.     Every baby born into this sin-cursed world is born with a sinful nature.   David wrote in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

8.     Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”   “All” except the virgin-born Son of God!

9.     The hymn-writer expressed it so beautifully:

Gentle Mary laid her Child lowly in a manger;
There He lay, the undefiled, to the world a Stranger:
Such a Babe in such a place, can He be the Savior?
Ask the saved of all the race who have found His favor.

Angels sang about His birth; wise men sought and found Him;
Heaven’s star shone brightly forth, glory all around Him:
Shepherds saw the wondrous sight, heard the angels singing;
All the plains were lit that night, all the hills were ringing.

Gentle Mary laid her Child lowly in a manger;
He is still the undefiled, but no more a stranger:
Son of God, of humble birth, beautiful the story;
Praise His Name in all the earth, hail the King of glory!

10. The birth of our Lord was different from ours in that His was a pre-existent birth.  Micah 5:2 says His “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

11. Do you recall what our Lord said to the Pharisees in John 8:58?  “Before Abraham was, I am.”

12. Jesus is the eternal Son of God.   Christmas is a wonderful time to commemorate His birth! 

While by the sheep we watched at night,
Glad tidings brought an angel bright.

How great our joy! Great our joy!
Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!
Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!
Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

13. This is what makes Christmas a joyous time!   I remember a few years ago, a newspaper asked people here in NYC to define Christmas.  Some said, “A day for the family.”  Others said, “A big day for the children.”  Some said, “A time to give,” etc. but not one person said it was a day to commemorate the birth of Christ!

14. Our Lord’s birth was a royal birth.  The wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him” (Matt. 2:2).

15. And we are assembled here this morning to worship Him too – the King of kings and Lord of lords.  And we are here to worship Him, not just on Christmas Eve, but every day.

II. ATIME TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF CHRIST

1.     Acts 10:38 says Jesus “went about doing good.”  So Christmas is a good time for us to go about doing good. 

2.     Of course, Christians ought to do good all the time, but it seems to me that this is a time of year when the Lord gives us many opportunities to do good.

3.     This is a good time to commemorate the life of Christ.

4.     It is a good time to commemorate our Lord’s virgin birth, His sinless life, His amazing miracles, His wondrous teachings, His vicarious death, His resurrection from the death, His ascension into heaven, and His second coming.

5.     Psychologists and psychiatrists tell us that for many people, Christmas is a very lonely time.   Many folks are hurting; many are depressed.  Let us remember that Jesus was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

6.     Jesus wept over the death of his dear friend Lazarus.

7.     Jesus hung on the cross all alone, and cried out God in heaven, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

8.     Which brings us to my third and final point.  Christmas is a time to commemorate the birth of Christ, and the life of Christ, and also…

III. A TIME TO CELEBRATE THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

1.     One of my favorite Christmas carols is “O Holy Night.”

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.

2.     When I speak of the gospel of Christ, I am referring to His death, burial, and resurrection (cf. I Cor. 15:1-4).

3.     Our Lord was born to die.  The apostle Paul wrote, “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (I Tim. 1:15). 

4.     Are you saved?  Christmas is a wonderful time to get saved.

5.     Have you ever considered that over one-third of the Gospel narratives deal with the final week of our Lord’s life?   I have read scores of biographies, but no other biography devotes one-third of the book to the man’s death.

6.     When you add up the chapters in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you have a total of 89 chapters.  Out of those 89 chapters, 29 dwell on the days leading up to the cross.

7.     John the Baptist introduced the Lord Jesus Christ as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

8.     Peter says we have been redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Peter 1:19).

9.     Our Lord is referred to as “the Lamb” 26 times in the book of Revelation.   Christmas is a time to commemorate the Gospel of Christ!

CONCLUSION:

1.     Back in 1926, a man by the name of James Allan Francis published an essay, entitled, One Solitary Life

Let us turn now to the story. A child is born in an obscure village. He is brought up in another obscure village. He works in a carpenter shop until he is thirty, and then for three brief years is an itinerant preacher, proclaiming a message and living a life. He never writes a book. He never holds an office. He never raises an army. He never has a family of his own. He never owns a home. He never goes to college. He never travels two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He gathers a little group of friends about him and teaches them his way of life. While still a young man, the tide of popular feeling turns against him. One denies him; another betrays him. He is turned over to his enemies. He goes through the mockery of a trial; he is nailed to a cross between two thieves, and when dead is laid in a borrowed grave by the kindness of a friend.

Those are the facts of his human life. He rises from the dead. Today we look back across nineteen hundred years and ask, What kind of trail has he left across the centuries? When we try to sum up his influence, all the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned are absolutely picayune in their influence on mankind compared with that of this one solitary life…

2.     If you are not saved, this would be a wonderful time for you to receive the best Christmas present of all – eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.