Christmas Day service

Let me wish you a very, very happy Christmas.

In this Christmas message, I want to do really one thing.

! I want you to believe the impossible.

!

It's a miracle.

I want you to believe this morning the impossible.

Because, firstly, you cannot conceive of the Christmas story without understanding that there is a miracle,

a miraculous conception for the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you've got a Bible, make no mistake about it.

Look at verse 19 of Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

It's on, I don't know what page it's on, but you can find it.

Matthew chapter 1, and right at the start of verse 18, it says,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together,

she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And from the very first verse, describing the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,

it's telling you and I that Christmas is about a miracle.

A true miracle where the ordinary cause and effect of nature has been suspended by the deity, by God.

And it's called supernature.

Or supernatural.

And thus it is with the Christmas event.

And there is no way that you can even begin to understand Christmas or Christianity

until your mind is open to the miraculous.

We all know, don't we, that there are things that are very difficult to believe.

If you're a golf fan, you might remember the Ryder Cup, where there was the miracle of Medina.

If you're a Liverpool Football Club fan, you'll remember that they were 3-0 down in the Champions League final against Istanbul.

Against, no, who was it? Against AC Milan, isn't it?

And they came back and they managed to win.

And it's called the miracle of Istanbul.

And you might have seen the film Sully.

The miracle on the Hudson River.

Where a pilot, Sully, lands a plane of 150 passengers and five crew on a river.

They all survive miraculously.

There are, aren't there, unusual natural events.

I was in the post office on Greenford Avenue this week.

There was a big queue and somebody was there for a Christmas parcel.

It was all very fraught and very tense.

They'd been in a number of times for their Christmas parcel and hadn't got it.

It wasn't their first visit.

There was lots of frustrations and tears and a fair bit of anger.

The postmistress, in a slightly exasperated tone, said,

I will look one more time.

She disappeared into what was a vortex of parcels.

And she returns with the said parcel.

Much to the joy of the woman.

Cue more tears and exasperation.

The man in the queue turns to me and said,

It's a Christmas miracle.

We all know, don't we, that very unlikely things happen.

Things that are difficult to believe.

But when it comes to the conception of the Lord Jesus Christ,

it is impossible to believe because it is an impossible event.

That a woman could get pregnant without the benefit of a man.

Here is a real miracle that the Bible is wanting you to accept.

And what we are dealing with here is, it's not just a one-off,

but actually when it comes to Christianity, there are many miracles

that you must believe in order to be a follower of the Lord Jesus.

If you discount the miraculous,

you will not be able to know the Lord Jesus,

and you will certainly not be able to walk with him.

Because you will not believe the heart of the Christian faith.

Earlier in the service, we just confessed part of the Nicene Creed.

It's 1,700 years old this year.

And it is a summary of Christian belief.

What Christians, every Christian has believed down through the ages.

And it talks about the essentials of the Christian faith.

And they are all, almost all of them, miracles.

What do we believe about God?

We believe that God is three in one.

Tri-unity, or we call it Trinity.

We believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin.

We believe that Jesus Christ died a substitutionary,

he took the place atoning death on Calvary's cross.

We believe that Jesus Christ miraculously paid for my sin,

my wrongdoing on the cross.

How can that be? It is a miracle.

And on the third day, this Jesus who died,

and he was dead, cold in the tomb,

three days later, he rose from the dead.

That is a miracle.

He rose from the dead,

and anyone who wants to follow the Lord Jesus Christ

must believe in that bodily resurrection of Jesus.

But not only that,

40 days after that,

he rose from the dead,

he ascended into heaven,

and he is seated at God's right hand,

and he rules over the universe,

and the Lord Jesus controls every blade of grass,

and every falling leaf from a tree,

and everything,

and every human being.

That is a miracle.

And not only that,

but the Bible tells us that he's coming back,

and he's going to bring perfect peace,

he's going to bring the world that we all long for.

And he'll deliver us from all evil.

And that is a miracle.

And so can you see with me

that every plank of Christianity,

all the cardinal doctrines of Christianity,

they are miraculous.

And so verse 19,

that Jesus Christ was conceived in the womb of a virgin,

it fits.

What a mystery that God intervened.

If you believe in a God,

if you believe in God,

and I assume you do,

that's why you're here this morning,

if you believe in God,

surely it's not too difficult, is it?

It's not too much to believe

that the same God who made the world

can act in his creation.

But it's more than that.

What it's telling us is that God

enters into creation

in the person of his son,

but why?

Why?

Well, it tells us,

you shall call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people from their sins.

Every single one of us

has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,

and are under his wrath and condemnation.

We have no way of earning our way

into his presence and to heaven.

We've lost that opportunity.

And so God sent his perfect son,

his only son,

who is very God of very God.

And because he is God,

his sacrifice of himself

is of infinite value,

and can cover your sin and mine.

And his righteous life

is of infinite value.

And so he can

take his perfect record

and give it to us.

And we enter into heaven

because of his miraculous substitution.

His atonement,

it is the wonderful grace of God

in giving us his one and only son.

It begins with a miracle.

But then secondly,

there's the problem with miracles,

isn't there?

Verse 20,

even good people,

kind people,

just people like Joseph

have a really hard time with miracles.

Joseph had a hard time with miracles.

When Joseph heard,

he was a just man,

he was a kind man.

When he heard that she was pregnant

by the Holy Spirit,

it says this,

it says that he was a just man

and unwilling to put it in shame,

he resolved to divorce her quietly.

Engagement then was different

to engagement now.

Engagement then was something

that you needed a divorce

to take a break from.

A biblical engagement

required a divorce to break.

And so Joseph,

who's made this promise to Mary,

and Mary with her father

has named that promise to Joseph,

she seems to have broken it,

doesn't she,

by being unfaithful to him.

Joseph doesn't want to put her

to public shame.

He decides rather than

doing it publicly,

rather than going to court

and embarrassing her,

he will do it in a kind of

amicable agreement

that won't embarrass her publicly.

He's a good man,

he's a kind man,

but he's going to divorce her.

It doesn't take,

does it,

a genius of logic

to figure out

that Mary has been messing around,

she's been sleeping about.

Unless, of course,

you believe in miracles.

And verse 21,

if you look there,

Joseph is immediately challenged

with the miracle of Christmas.

We'll see whether he believes

the miracle by what he does

after he gets word.

But that night,

in a dream,

an angel comes to him,

again, miraculous,

and explains to him,

and says to him,

Joseph,

son of David,

don't be afraid,

don't fear,

to take Mary as your wife,

for what is conceived in her

is from the Holy Spirit.

Again, it's really clear,

isn't it?

A virgin conception,

a virgin birth,

and she will bear a son,

she's going to have a baby,

and you will call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people

from their sins.

You'll call his name Jesus

because his very name

means that God saves.

He will save his people

from their sins.

And so, Joseph,

you are to take Mary home,

and you are to adopt Jesus,

and you are to rear him

as your son,

and in his circumcision,

you are to give him his name.

And I'm giving you the name.

You're the name in Jesus,

for he will save his people

from their sins.

It's some dream, isn't it?

And he is told that

this child is going to fulfill

what was promised

centuries before.

Behold, the virgin

shall conceive

and bear a son,

and they will call his name

Emmanuel,

which means God with us.

So, Joseph has the dream.

He has the word of God.

And Joseph is faced

with this great dilemma.

What will he do?

And so, the miracle,

the problem with the miracle,

and then the deeper question

is this.

Will Joseph believe it?

And then the question

for you and I this morning

is will you and I believe it?

And you can tell, can't you,

if Joseph is going to believe it

because he'll behave

one way or the other.

If he doesn't believe the dream,

if he doesn't believe the angel,

well, he'll divorce her quietly.

But if he believes

the mystery of the incarnation,

if he believes this miracle,

he will obey the angel.

In verse 24,

we're giving the answer.

Look at verse 24.

And when Joseph woke

from his sleep,

he did as the angel

of the Lord commanded him.

And he took his wife,

but he knew her not,

he didn't sleep with her,

until she'd given birth

to a son.

And he called his name,

Jesus.

Joseph believed the miracle.

So let me ask you,

do you believe in the miraculous?

Do you believe

that God,

in his perfect will

and purposes,

suspends the cause and effect

that we know in nature

in order to accomplish

his deepest and greatest purpose?

Do you believe

that God

acted directly

in his world

on your behalf?

Because he wants you

to be present with him

for all eternity.

That God sent his one

and only son

to be conceived

in the womb

of a sinful woman,

to live a perfect life

that you can ever live,

and to lay down his life

on the cross

for you.

And to be raised

from the dead

for you

and to ascend

into heaven

to prepare a place

for you.

And if you believe that,

well that's going to

affect your life,

isn't it?

It's going to affect

my life.

It's a beautiful thing,

isn't it?

Joseph woke up.

He did as the angel

commanded.

And you can tell

this morning,

whether you believe

this or not.

How can you tell

whether you believe it?

Well,

you will be

one of the ones

who seek

to obey

the word of God.

Not perfectly,

none of us

do it perfectly,

Joseph didn't do it perfectly.

But repentantly

and seriously,

we seek to do

what the Lord commands.

We seek to do it

in our financial lives,

in our sexual lives,

in our relationships.

We seek to forgive

those who've sinned

against us

because the Lord

has forgiven us

so much.

And we believe

in the miracle

of the incarnation.

We seek to honour

the authorities

that God has put

in our lives

because God has

put those authorities

there.

and we believe

in the miracle

of God's

undeserved favour

to us.

And so it goes

into every relationship

and every opportunity

like water

on concrete.

It gets into

every crack.

So the grace of God

and the kindness of God

and the miracles of God

go into every

kind of corner

of our lives

in every relationship

and every opportunity

to obey him.

And those who believe

in the miraculous

rise up and do his will

because they know God.

And they know that God

has sent his son

in order to save them

from their sins.

Do you believe

in miracles?

Do you believe

in the Lord?

I wonder whether

this morning

this Christmas day

you've suddenly realised

that Christianity

is not about

asking you to try harder

and asking you

to do your best.

It is about God

intervening in history

and in your life

and in mine.

And maybe you've been

considering it for a while

maybe you've been in church

all your life

but maybe today

is the very day

when he says to you

come to me

because I am

the miraculous Lord

who can deliver you

from your sins.

And so bring all

your heartache

and bring all

your rebellion

and bring all

your sorrow

and bring your struggles

and bring your confusion

and bring your rebellion

and bring the things

that you can't live

with yourself anymore

and bring all

your regrets

and come to him

and give them to him.

because the Lord Jesus

who came as a baby

says to you this morning

come to me

and trust me

trust me

like Joseph did

many centuries ago

and because of this

Jesus was taken

because Joseph trusted

he was taken to Bethlehem

in the womb of his mother

he was born

in a humble stable

and the angels

cried out

glory to God

in the highest

and peace to those

on whom his favour rests

and to know that

to know that peace of God

to know the miraculous

that is the greatest

Christmas of all

and the best book

I've read this year

is written by a guy

called Rob Parsons

there's an article

on him on the BBC

I want to recommend it to you

it was put up this morning

and Rob and Diane Parsons

lived in Cardiff

and it was 1976

and on Christmas Eve

in 1976

a man knocked on their door

Ronnie Lockwood

he was a homeless man

and Ronnie Lockwood

on that night

asked to come in

he stayed

until 2021

from 1976

to 2021

a homeless man

they'd live with

it's an amazing story

you'll cry your eyes out

if you read the book

it's just beautiful

but it's a beautiful picture

of what God has done

it's a beautiful picture

of the gospel

and that in the miracle

of the incarnation

what God has done

is he's opened up

his home to you

and he says to you today

come in

come in

Jesus says

come to me

come to me

and you will find rest

rest

come to me

and you will find hope

all because of the miracle

of Jesus Christ

let's pray

God bless you

God bless you

!

God bless you

!