Christmas Specialties - John Smucker

Good morning to all of you. I went to greet you in the name

of Jesus. It's good to be here again to share with you. I

would be very happy if someone else is up here, but I will attempt

to share some of the things that God has brought to my mind for you

today. As we all know, today is the day before Christmas, and

for the Laman mentioned a little bit about that, and so I went to

focus a little bit this morning on the day of Christmas, the holiday,

the season, however you want to look at that. But to get into

that, you know, if I was to tell you that today was a

special day, I wonder what you think. You might sit there and think,

well, oh, something, something special must have happened in his life

at some point that makes December twenty fourth a special day. Or maybe you

would think, well, there's something extraordinarily planned, extraordinary plan for today that

makes it special. Or maybe there's something in my life that happens every time

every December twenty fourth, and so because of that regularity, December twenty fourth

is a special day. Well, I'd like to take you back a week

to a different day and tell you a little story about that day. December

seventeenth. That is a special day to me, very special. Fifty three

years ago, as I understand it, there was a young couple, a

young married couple who were anxiously awaiting the birth of their second child. And

as I understand it, that day was a cold day. Then they decided

fairly early in the morning that it's time to go to the hospital. It's

time for this baby to arrive. But because the weather wasn't very nice that

day, it was cold, and there was potential of ice on the roads

on the bridges, they had to be careful. So the young father drove

as care as carefully as he could, but as quickly as he could to

get to the hospital, to get there in time so the baby could be

born there. Back in those days, the hospital did not let the father

be in the room with the mother when the child was born, and so

this father was relegated to the waiting room and said he had been told he

needed to wait there. But everything went well that day on December seventeen,

nineteen seventy, and a healthy little girl was welcomed into the world by a

happy mother and father and older brother. Well, that little girl is my

wife of thirty three years, December seventeen is a special day for me as

well as for her. You know, that event that happened fifty three years

ago made that date special every time it comes around. You know, Laura

was a special child to the family. Then she became a special wife to

myself, then a special mother to five children, and now a special grandmother

to three grandchildren. It is a special date because of a special event connected

to a special person, the person that we all know today as Laura.

And as everyone knows, you and I are approaching another special date, another

date that remembers the birth of another child. That date is December twenty five.

And if you could just lay aside you're your ideas about whether that's the

right date or not, it probably isn't. But the reality is that the

world celebrates December twenty five as the date for the birth of Jesus. It

is again a special date because of a special event connected to a special person,

and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. So what makes Jesus so

special? For you to answer that question, what meanings and truths are wrapped

up in the birth of Jesus? What elements of Christmas? Does God want

you and me to remember when we celebrate the birth of Jesus is Christmas this

morning intended to be more than the gifts, the decorations, the songs,

the school programs, and the family get togethers. Well, I think it

is. I think we all would agree that these things that I mentioned may

have their place and how you and I celebrate Christmas and remember the birth of

the Lord Jesus Christ. But there are a lot of other things that God

would have us to focus on during these times, and many of those things,

many of these other things, He doesn't want us to forget in the

midst of the worldly hype that surrounds this particular holiday. And it is some

of those things that I like to speak about this morning, some of those

things that I believe God wants us to remember. You know, this morning.

I don't want to make light of or condemn any of the things that

any of you may do to celebrate Christmas. I would caution you to be

careful in your celebration of Christmas that it does not become a diluted form of

the way the world celebrates it, because that is not the way God would

have us to remember it. I don't believe necessarily But rather than talk about

all of the ways that the world celebrates Christmas and tell you why they're wrong

or why they're not wrong, I'm not going to do that this morning.

Rather, I just ask you to consider your methods of remembering this day.

Do your methods pattern themselves after the methods of the world, or do they

pattern themselves after the methods after the reality I'm sorry of biblical truth. I

would like to call each of you today to make Christmas primarily a time when

you remember what is special about this date, just as I remember what is

special about December seventeen, remember what is special about the one whose birth we

are remembering. The title of my message this morning is Christmas Specialties. Christmas

Specialties. So I'm going to use a question here many times throughout the rest

of the message, and you'll probably hopefully it will be something that will get

into your brain and cause you to think. The question we're going to consider

and try to answer in a few different ways is the question what is special

about Christmas? And when you think about that question, you might think,

well, what's special about Christmas is the family get togethers. What's special about

Christmas for the children is the gifts. What's special about Christmas related to those

who love music is the songs. I don't know where you go with when

you try to answer that question, but what is special about Christmas? I'm

going to share with you this morning a few things that I believe the Bible

teaches us are special about Christmas. But I've ventured a guess that many of

us forget about them because we're caught up in the hype and the adventure and

the activity of what's going on. What is special about Christmas? Mankind has

been given away to be saved from their headlong dash towards eternal condemnation brought about

because of sin. Luke TWI, verse eleven says, for unto you is

born this day in the City of David, a savior, which is Christ's

the Lord. There was a savior that came into the world. There was

a savior that arrived to bridge the separation that comes as a result of sin.

And I don't know if there's anybody sitting here this morning that has that

problem in your life, that you're facing some separation. Maybe it's maybe it's

separation in a relationship, physical relationship, Maybe it's separation between you and your

heavenly father because of sin. To the story of a girl who was something

happened to her in her home one day. She got rather irritated at something

that went on, something that between her and her mother, and that girl

decided that she oh, she got upset and the next thing, she next

thing heard her mother knew she was out the door and disappeared angry about what

had happened. Well, that particular day, her dad was also at home,

and her mom went to her father and said, you know this don't

know what's going on. This girl's not happy about something. And she she

stomped out of the house, and now what do we do? So the

dad decided to go and find his daughter, and so he went outside looking

for this child. Eventually found this child back in a back corner somewhere on

their property and engaged that child in a conversation and soon found out what the

problem was. No, didn't find out what took place between mother and child,

but found out that there was a separation. In fact, it was

obvious there was a separation. This child was way out on the back forty

mom was in the house. What caused the separation? It was a sin?

It was a realization in the heart of that child that she had done

something wrong. She was separated. She needed salvation for that relationship. You

know, salvation is what Christmas is all about. That's why Jesus came so

that you and I can experience salvation from our sins, so that you and

I can experience a restoration of relationship as this girl was able to experience with

her mother. Salvation completely removes the sin that's present in our lives. Psalm

one hundred and three, Verse twelve says, as far as the east is

from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Sin.

Sin is a burden. Sin removes joy and makes us irritable. Sin

creates a weight and makes us tired. Sin attaches to our lives like a

parasite and sucks the life right out of us. That's sin. But you

know what, Jesus came to give life, and to give it more abundantly,

so that sin no longer has to have control in our lives. That's

salvation this morning, and when you think about Christmas, when you celebrate Christmas

tomorrow, remember salvation. Salvation gives hope when there is no longer any hope.

My mind goes to the story of an older gentleman. It was actually

a news story that I happened to see on the news report. I believe

it took place somewhere in Washington, if I remember correctly, But it was

a news video. And in that video, there was a vehicle caught in

the middle of a raging river, but it wasn't where there was supposed to

be a raging river. There was flooding going on and he was caught.

And this older man was sitting on the top of his pickup truck. He

didn't look very hopeful because there was water all around him. There was no

way for him to get to safety. As the video proceeded, suddenly I

saw a man come down out of the top of that picture and there was

a helicopter above him, and you can see the man looking up and you

could see his face changing from hopelessness to hope because there was salvation. He

wasn't looking at being doomed to death in that raging flood. That there was

salvation for him. And you know, that's what Christmas has done for us.

Because of Christmas, we have hope, at least I hope you do

If you don't have hope, then you don't know what Christmas is all about.

Christmas is only gifts, It is only family get togethers, It is

only a party if you don't have hope. Salvation this morning is a special

part of Christmas that I want you to remember and to think about. You

know, I don't know if there's anyone here sitting anyone sitting here this morning

that isn't born again, isn't saved. Christmas is one of the best times

to become saved because Christmas is about the Savior, and I encourage you to

consider that. Or if there's separation between you and God because of something in

your life that shouldn't be there, Christmas is about being saved from that problem.

Remember that. What is special about Christmas? I'd like to read a

few verses from Matthew and John here as we go into this next answer what

is special about Christmas? Matthew Chapter four, humanity is given light. I

like to show the way Matthew four. I'd like to read verses twelve to

seventeen in Matthew chapter four, Verse twelve. Now, when Jesus had heard

that John was cast into prison, he departed under Galilee, and having and

leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Caprinaium, which is upon the sea

coast, in the borders of Zabulen and Naphalim, that it might be fulfilled,

which was spoken by Sayas the Prophet, saying, the land of Zabulen

and the land of Nephelim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles. The people which sat in darkness saw great light.

And to them WI sat in the region, and sat in the region,

and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to

preach and say repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The

people that sat in darkness saw what they saw a great light. Christmas this

morning. It's special because of that light. Sometimes I have to get up

in the middle of the night for whatever reason and go out into the living

area of our house, and sometimes there are no lights on out there.

Now I know the house, I know it well, I know the layout,

but I'm telling you, when I go into that area, it is

dark and I can't see where I'm going. If there's something in the way

that isn't supposed to be there. Well, I'll run into it because I

don't know it's there. I can't see it. Other times I'll go out

and there might be an artificial candle, one of those things that looks like

a candle, but not a candle that's burning out there, or something else

that's putting a little bit of light. And I'll tell you, it's a

lot nicer to go out there when you can see then when you can't.

Light shows the way that the darkness of the world so often wants to hide.

Light provides away. The Sunday school teacher was talking about how he's not

married and doesn't have children, and he wonders how parents figure things out with

their children. You know, that is that that can be a dilemma sometimes,

but you know, because of Christmas, because of this light, parents

have that in their lives. When they're trying to direct their children, when

they're trying to train them when they're young, when they're trying to teach the

adolescent, when their children when their adolescents, when they're giving guidance to their

children when they're young people, when they're giving advice to their children when they're

married. You know, these can be perplexing and tough to know how to

answer. But there is light, and that light this morning is because Jesus

came to the earth. That's Christmas light this morning invites others to come and

be warmed and to be fed. I gave this message last week at our

home congregation, and I mentioned this the name here I'm about to mention,

and it was interesting to note who knew who I was talking about, who

did not. But I don't know how many of you remember Thomas Kincaid.

And some of you older what I shouldn't say older, some of you that

are, I don't know how to say it. You do remember him.

I haven't seen a painting of Thomas Kinkaid's for a long time. But Thomas

Kinkaid was a painter back I don't know, thirty years ago, twenty five

years ago, and he was known as the painter of light. Wellhy was

he known as the painter of light? Because every one of his paintings had

light. He never painted a house that was dark, He never painted a

lighthouse that wasn't showing light. Everything was Every painting he painted was a painting

with light. And those paintings were inviting, you know, it was nice

to get ahold of one of those, get a puzzle and put together a

puzzle of one of Thomas Kinkaid's paintings, because it was inviting. And that's

what light does. It invites those who are hurting to come and receive care.

It invites those who are tired to come and rest. It invites those

who are alone to come and receive fellowship. And that's Jesus this morning.

That's what Jesus does. He is the light. He is that light that

is present for all who follow Jesus, even when the problems that they have

in their lives are about to overwhelm them. Natural lights, you know,

are a real part of Christmas. It's a real part of the way the

world celebrates Christmas. And they're beautiful. There's a lot of Christmas lights that

are out there that you see them, and they are quite amazing, and

it's not and they're beautiful to look at. But you know, Jesus offers

a whole lot more than Christmas lights to our lives today. This is what

Christmas is about. It's not about Christmas lights. It's not about what kind

of a display you can put in your yard, on your house. But

it's about the light of the world. It's about that light that came into

the world to lighten the path of every individual who has committed themselves to the

Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the light of the world. This is what

Christmas is all about. You know, I'd like to sing a verse of

a song here. The light of the world is Jesus. So if you

join me on the first verse, the whole world was lost in the darkness

of sin. All right, let's sing the whole The whole world was lost

in the darkness of sin. The light of the world is Jeesus, like

sunshine and noonday. His glory shone in the light of the world is Jeesus.

Come to The light is shining for thee sweetly. The light has done

upon me what I was blind, But now I can see. The light

of the world is Geus. And don't forget that the light of the world

is Jesus. That's what Christmas is all about. What is special about Christmas?

For you today? I like to read a verse from Luke Chapter two,

verse thirty eight. What is special about Christmas? Every person is given

the possibility of redemption. There was an old lady in Luke chapter two.

Who wanted to see the who wanted to see Jesus, wanted to see baby

Jesus. She's known as Anna. And when Anna saw Jesus, she said

this the verse thirty eight Luke, chapter two. And she coming in that

insitant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them

that looked for redemption. In Israel Christmas, every person is given the possibility

of redemption. What is redemption to you? What does it mean? Have

you been redeemed? Do you really realize do you really think that you had

enough value for somebody to redeem you? You know, we could take the

picture this morning of a of an old tractor. It's been sitting in the

weeds of this of this pasture for a long time. It's decrepit, wheels

are falling off of it, it's rusty, it's covered with all kinds of

things, weeds and everything undesirable. But a man comes along and he sees

that, and he says, huh, that's a tractor. That's a tractor

that needs to be refurbished. You know, I could take it and I

could haul it away to the scrap yard. And gets kind of value,

A little bit of money from the scrapyard for it, and it'll be demolished,

or I can refurbish it and make it what it was intended to be.

That's redemption. He decided that that tractor had enough value to be redeemed.

And that's what Christmas has done for you and me. Jesus came so

that you and I could be redeemed. We have enough value to be redeemed.

God could have said, well, every one of us sitting in this

room, we're just too decrepit, we're too sinful, we're too ugly,

we're too undesirable, and I don't want anything to do with it. I'm

going to take him to the scrapyard and just get whatever I can get out

of them. But that's not what Jesus, not what God said. God

said, I'll send Jesus because I see that you have value. Redemption is

because somebody realized the value this same old tractor. This man pulled it carefully

into his shop. He saw really how bad it was when he got it

there. But this man realized that under all of this stuff that he could

see was something of value, and because of that value, he was determined

to do what he needed to do to redeem that tractor and make it what

it could be. Redemption because somebody realized the value. Jesus came, because

somebody realized that you have value. Somebody realized that, and because of that

value, we have Christmas. The man began working on this project with this

tractor, and before long he realized that this was not going to be just

a simple little endeavor. Is going to require lots of hours of work.

He was going to have to buy many parts and replace what was no longer

functioning. Should he continue? Could he continue to redeem this tractor? He

got to the end of that particular day when he was working on it,

and he went home, and he went into his office and he opened his

desk drawer and pulled out his check book. He'd looked at the balance in

that check register, and he thought to himself, is there enough here to

fix this tractor? He carefully considered the numbers, and he concluded that yes,

there are enough funds to redeem this tractor and make it what it was

always intended to be. Redemption this morning is so much a part of Christmas.

Redemption. Too many times you and I find ourselves crunching numbers at Christmas

time to determine if we have enough funds to buy all the gifts that need

to be bought and to do all the things that need to be done.

That in itself is not necessarily bad. But I urge you to consider redemption

when you think about Christmas and realize in your heart that God has enough funds

to redeem you and to make you what He wants you to be. And

because God has enough funds to redeem you, because God's all value in you,

he sent Jesus, this is Christmas. This is what Christmas is all

about. Now, I'm not here to tell you that you shouldn't have family

to get togethers, you shouldn't have gift exchanges, you shouldn't do any of

that. Not the point. The point is for you to look a little

deeper and to see what is really what really makes Christmas for what it really

is? All right? What is special about Christmas? I'd like to go

now to the book of Isaiah and take the rest I guess, except for

the last one. Take the next three or four out of one verse in

Isaiah Isaiah chapter nine, verse six. It's a familiar verse one you've heard

different times, but it's got some beautiful things in it about Christmas. Isaiah

nine, verse six. For unto us the child is born, unto us,

the son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called Wonderful counselor the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,

the Prince of peace. What is special about Christmas? According to this

verse all humanity. To answer that question, it's special because all humanity is

given the opportunity to experience americal. You say miracle. There's no miracle in

that verse. Yes, there is the word wonderful. Look it up means

miracle if you look it up in the Hebrew. All humanity has given the

opportunity to experience a miracle. Now we look at Christmas and we say that

was americal. It was a miracle that Jesus was put into the womb of

Mary. It was americal. And there's lots of people today that look at

that reality and say it could not have happened. There's no way she could

have become pregnant that way. It had to be Joseph doing something on the

sly or somebody else doing God. How could somebody become pregnant from God,

you know, and they take that thought and they take it all down,

all kinds of horrible trails. But it's a miracle. It's a miracle,

and that miracle is something that you and I benefit from. You know.

As we think of Christmas, we realize the miracle of a new life,

and we understand that. We see that, we see that demonstrate it over

and over again as children are born, and we step back and we realize

the miracle of that child. How this ever could have become? You know,

And we understand the natural processes that make a child to be born.

But in this case, God said, I'll give you my son. I'll

give you a marria. This is Christmas. There's the miracle of a changed

life. All humanity has given the opportunity to experience a miracle. Their experience

the miracle of a changed life. People can can experience freedom from the bondage

of sin, freedom from things that they can't take care of by themselves.

There was an older gentleman that called the hotlines of the cam Hotline. He

was a truck driver, if I remember correctly, and he was fed up

with his life. He told the man he was speaking to he said,

I can't do anything about it. I just can't stay away from this stuff.

I keep falling into sin. What should I do? That team member

was able to speak with him, and today that man is no longer driving

a truck. He lives down in the south somewhere, and he lives with

his wife. He's faithful to his wife. Now why because of a miracle,

the miracle of Christmas. Had Jesus never come, that man would still

be stuck in the ruts and the bondage of his sin. But his life

is changed because of Christmas. Then there's a miracle of being able to know

that God is good when life is hard. Now, I don't know how

many of you have experienced hard things. Some of you have, maybe all

of you have. But that's a real test for you to be able to

step back in the midst of a hard circumstance and say God is good.

It's one of the hardest things, in fact, for an individual following the

Lord Jesus Christ to do. But I was struck by a man that I

don't know real well. I've met him one time, talked to him on

the phone a few other times. But I called him the other day to

talk with him about something. He lives in the South, and he picked

up the phone and we chatted a little bit. And I don't remember exactly

what led to the conversation, what led to this detail in the conversation,

But eventually suddenly he was telling me about the situation in his family. He's

younger than I am, probably early forties, I don't know, late thirties.

I'm not sure how old he is. His wife is the same age,

similar age. But he said, yeah, he said, we're going

through He said, we're going through some hard times. I was like,

well, what's going on, what's happening. Well, he said, several

weeks back, his wife discovered a bump, a lump growing on her neck,

somewhere on her neck, I don't know where it was exactly, And

he said, it's growing. We don't know what it is. We don't

know what's going on. We don't know what's happening. Have young children.

They have five or six children, if I remember right, I don't remember

for sure. I was in their home for a meal and I don't quite

remember how many children were sitting around the table, but it was a family

with children who need their mother. It appeared to me. We talked a

little bit about this. He told me a little bit about what's going on,

and it's being tested and they're trying to find out information, and they

were it was a little it was they were having a little difficulty getting information

about this lump on the neck of his wife. Throughout that conversation of maybe

five or ten minutes, this man just would interject this statement, God,

God is good. He told me that. I mean, this man told

me that, And then we talked a lot more, and then pretty soon

said, but God is good. And after a while he said, but

God is good. And I suppose you could sit back and say, well,

he was just trying to console himself. He was just trying to figure

out a way to deal with the reality that his wife might have cancer,

and his wife might lose her life because of cancer. You know, they

don't know if she has cancer or not. They're planning to remove that lump.

He told me just a few days ago when I emailed or called him,

I can't email. I think he told me to email, And they

don't know for sure if it's cancerous or not. But I'm here to tell

you that that man was not just trying to console himself. He was not

just trying to get through a hard time by saying a try phrase that God

is good. He believed it. It was very clear to me that he

believed it. It was something that came through in spite of the harsh reality

of what could be for him and his family. You know, Christmas is

a wonderful time of good memories, and I hope it continues to be.

But underlying all of the wonderful memories of Christmas is a wonderful miracle that we

remember at this time. It's the miracle of Jesus Christ, born of a

virgin God, come to the earth. Also that you and I can experience

the miracle of new life and freedom from the bondage of sin. That's what's

special about Christmas today. What is special about Christmas? This verse gives another

name counselor what is special? People? All is special because people all over

the world have been given someone who has answers and gives counsel for every situation

that anyone finds himself in anywhere. You know, counselor I don't know what

you think about when you think of what comes to your mind when you think

of a counselor. You know, yet that's for troubled people. That's for

people that have hard things that they can't figure out how to get through.

No, it's not, it's for you. Jesus is your counselor. Jesus

has the answer for every problem. He never says to anybody who comes to

him with a problem, I don't know what the answer is. He never

says that, have you ever said that? Oh, I'm sure you have.

I've heard it said many times in phone conversations where questions are asking the

you know, our team members as well. I don't know. Jesus never

says that. God never says that counselor. Jesus has the best advice concerning

every decision to be made. You know, he never offers advice to you.

He never gives direction to you and then later says, well, I

got advice now, is better than what had just told you two days ago.

You know, let's do this. He gives the best. He's the

counselor. That's who he is, and that's what Christmas is all about.

That counselor came to us at Christmas time. He's a counselor who understands Jesus.

He never approaches your problem and says, wow, you know, this

is a new one for me. I've never seen this before, never heard

of this before. I never thought of this before. Man, I'm glad

you brought it to my attention. Well, he never says that he's your

counselor, and that counselor has an answer for every problem and every situation you

find themselves in. Christmas has brought us Jesus, our counselor, who never

leaves us or forsakes us, One who goes through the valley of the Shadow

of Death with us when we find ourselves there, one who holds our hand

when we walk through the deep waters, one who picks us up when we

fall, and counsels us concerning what we should do next. He says to

us, here is the way. Why don't you go this direction? That's

because he is our counselor. Because of this reality, Christmas is really special

to you and to me as his children. All right, what is special

about Christmas? The next name given to Jesus here in this verse is the

Mighty God. It's special because everyone, without exception, has been given a

power option that will overcome any power tool, that Satan introduces into your life

and mind. Power. Would you like to have power that can overcome everything

and anything that you find yourself involved in? When you like to have power

to chase the devil and his demons away when they tempt you. When you

like to have power when you find yourself falling back into that old habit that

you thought you thought you weren't in anymore, but suddenly it's back in front

of you again. That's who Jesus is. That's Christmas. He is the

mighty God. Nothing is beyond that power you have been given because of Christmas.

The power to resist the devil, it says in the New Testament,

resists the devil and he will plea from you. That's not somebody just imagining

and hoping that it will happen. That's a reality. Because of Christmas,

the Mighty God, we are given power to overcome temptation. The Bible says,

he has experienced the temptation that we have. He knows what we're going

through. And that power because of Christmas that we can receive through the Lord

Jesus Christ allows us to overcome any temptation that comes our way. We have

power to do good in the face of evil, that is, to heap

coals of fire on the head of someone who is not treating us so well.

You know that doesn't come easy, it doesn't come natural. In fact,

you and I can't do it unless we have that power. And that

power is here because of Christmas. What is special about Christmas? You have

power. Sometimes we can feel so powerless, our desires for what are not

right can be so strong, and our minds can rationalize things, all of

these things that we want as being harmless. Have you ever been there before

where you've wanted something so badly and you know you shouldn't, but you're like,

well, okay, this is one time it won't hurt or okay,

just a little bit, I won't go all the You know, we've all

been there, and we've all wished we wouldn't have been there, and we

fall. Do you know the impulse is to humor things in our lives just

because we want them on an impulse can catch us off guard. Christmas has

brought to us the Mighty God. Nothing is beyond the power that Jesus has,

And the beauty of Christmas is that this power has come to you and

me and has been made available for us to experience every day. What is

special about Christmas? Humanity has given a Father who is everlasting or eternal.

It says here in this verse, the everlasting Father. Life now has meaning

and purpose. You would be amazed and how many people live their lives with

no meaning and no purpose. They don't know why they're here. They don't

know what they're doing here, They don't know where they're going. They don't

have any idea what life is all about, other than to go to work

and to come home and to cook dinner and to watch TV. And then

to go to work and to come home and to cook dinner and watch TV

and all of that. You know, that's all they have. Because of

Christmas, we have an everlasting Father, which gives meaning and purpose to our

life. There's more to life than just here and now. The eternal Father

has brought to us the possibility of eternal life. Life has a serious element.

It's not all fun and games. What I think and say and do

will make a difference, and in fact will make an eternal difference. You

and I are busy. The here and now is full. They here and

the now fill our lives completely full. We're occupied with a lot of good

things. And it seems to me as I look on that at Christmas time,

life gets even fuller and busier, and we can almost get overwhelmed.

Seasonal activities. You know, they're enjoyable, they're fun, we make a

lot of good memories, and they have a lot of good value. But

if Christmas did not confirm the reality of eternity, if Christmas didn't confirm that

all of those good things that you're going to enjoy tomorrow, maybe today,

maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, all of those good things would be

worthless, absolutely worthless. They would mean nothing. But because of Christmas,

where God took on the form of humanity for the believer, life now has

a wonderful eternity that each one of his followers can anticipate. All right,

the last one in this verse, what is special about Christmas? It's special

because mankind is given away of peace. It says here his name shall be

called the Prince of Peace. John fourteen twenty seven says peace I leave with

you my peace. I give unto you. Not is the world giveth give

I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be

afraid. John twenty verse twenty six. And after eight days again his disciples

rose in, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being

shut, and stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you.

Peace. What's peace? Oh, I guess peace is when you're not fighting.

I guess peace is when you don't have strife. At least we think

that might be what it is, but I think it probably is deeper than

that. But when we think of peace, you know, our minds immediately

go to all of the conflict. We're gonna talk a little bit about this

and these things in his devotional the suffering and the problems and all of that.

Christmas offers peace to us in the midst of a world that's that's full

of strife and problems. Christmas offers peace to us in our daily lives where

misundercan misunderstandings can so easily happen. You know, the world we live in,

the instant communications, all of the written messages, with all of the

symbols and all of the read between the line messages are just are just a

recipe for disaster when it comes to attaining peace. You know, have you

ever gotten a message, read it and then read it again and say,

I wonder what that person really means behind this. See that doesn't do much

for bringing on peace. But Jesus says, I am here to give you

peace. Peace we can have during hard times when human logic and explanation falls

so short. And I could give you many illustrations of that which I won't

take the time to but just understand that Christmas is peace. Peace. Sometimes

this seems like a commodity that's pretty scarce. You know, too many times

our body language says to others, don't talk to me, don't say anything.

I'm angry and I want to be angry. Our texts that we send

are full of cynicism and bubbling frustrations. Our faces reflect bitterness and anger.

Our responses initiate strife and tension. In all of these situations and many more,

Jesus offers peace because of Christmas. Jesus, the one whose birth you

and I are celebrating, says peace. I leave with you my peace.

I give unto you. Not is the world giveth, give I unto you.

Let not your heart be trouble, neither let it be afraid. When

you celebrate Christmas, raise your hands to raise your hands to heaven and say

thank you God for giving me Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Find me.

Then, what is special about Christmas? Every individual is given the possibility

of a restored relationship. John says in one John five twenty. And we

know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding

that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that

is true, even in his son, Jesus Christ. This is the true

God and eternal life. As I said at the beginning, sin will separate

us. Christmas provides a way to restore that relationship. Pride will raise ourselves

up above others. Christmas offers a way to come down and to be humble.

Selfishness will focus on me. Christmas gives you and I the means to

serve others relationships. This morning, Take two, I can't have a relationship

with myself. Relationships are always under attack. Your relationship with your spouse,

your children, your parents, your friends, they're under attack. Satan wants

to get in and destroy and he's been very successful in too many times.

You know, you might think, well, there's nothing that can ever destroy

this particular relationship that I have. Well, I hope that that's true,

but just rest assured that Satan wants to destroy it. Christmas is all about

that relationship remaining and being strong. It is the relationship that Jesus demonstrates so

well in the story of the Prodigal Son, where this prodigal son said,

I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father,

I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy

to be called thy son. Make me as one of the hired servants.

And he arose and came to his father. And when he was yet a

great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell

on his and kissed him. This morning, there's a father looking down the

road and wondering where his son, where his daughter? Where they are?

Every day he looks, and every day he hopes. Because of Christmas,

you and I have the opportunity to run back to the father and have that

relationship restored, have that relationship that sin caused to be broken. What is

special about Christmas? You know, there's a lot more things I could say.

I'd just like to end up with giving you. Another illustration of December

seventeen is a special day. We just came past. December seventeen was well,

let's say it this way. We just came past two years since the

since that group in Haiti was kidnapped. Of course, that group included our

son Austin, And you know, we went through those sixty two days with

a lot of worry and anxiety, a lot of hopelessness, a lot of

questions, and a lot of struggles. But you know, God did a

wonderful miracle. He saw fit to provide away for Austin and the rest of

those people in that group to be saved. He demonstrated his mighty power to

overcome the intent of Satan in relation to those serving God in Haiti. You

know the story of the kidnapping. I'm not going to go into that,

but I would like to tell you a little bit about December seventeen, two

thousand twenty one. I believe it was December sixteen when we got our we

got the phone call from Austin when he told us he was alive and he

was free. It's on December seventeen. Laura and I got onto it,

got onto an airplane and Redmond, Oregon and headed east. You know,

we did this with a lot of joy and thanksgiving to our heavenly Father,

because every passing day for the previous two months, with every passing day,

you know, our hope I've ever seen Austin alive again had wavered and struggled

to remain clear and constant in our hearts. You know that that day,

December seventeen, we anticipated seeing Austin at the hotel in the evening where the

group was staying there in Fort Lauderdale, Texas. I'm sorry, in Texas,

Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But then you know, we flew through Salt

Lake City and we got in there, and I don't quite remember any more

of the details. I think we got in there in plenty of time,

but somehow we got delayed a long time out on the runway, and by

the time we got into the terminal we had hardly any time. I raced.

I told Laura, you come as quick as you can. I'll try

to get to the gate in time. And I ran, and of course,

as you know, fade often has it, it was a long run,

and I didn't get there in time. I got there in time to

see the airplane backing away from the gate. So eventually Laura showed up and

we went to find a way to find another way to Fort Lauderdale. Well,

as it turned out, we did, but instead of flying directly from

Salt Lake City to Fort Lauderdale, there was one flight a day that we'd

missed that one, so we ended up going to Atlanta, and we didn't

get into Fort Lauderdale until midnight, and we were supposed to get to the

hotel by four in the afternoon, so that was kind of a disappointment,

but we did go to a hotel and slept in the Next morning, this

would have been December eighteenth, we went to the hotel where the group was

staying and it was just it was just amazing to see to see Austin come

into that eating area where they all gathered that morning. You know, it

was it was a sun that had been alive and then had basically died,

as it were, and now is alive again. You know, the events

of that journey on December seventeenth, and I know, I can't remember all

the details there at the airport. It's amazing how they recede in your mind.

But the idea and where we were going and what we were going to

to do will be forever imprinted on our memories. And for that reason,

December seventeen will always remain special for Laura and I. You know, Christmas

is so easy to lose sight of the holiday because of how the world has

chosen to remember it. But this morning I urge you to remember what is

special about Christmas. There's a savior, a light, a redeemer, a

miracle, a counsel or, a mighty God, an everlasting Father, a

Prince of peace. And because of these specialties, and probably a lot more

that you could add to the list, Christmas is something worth remembering for each

person who is a child of God. And my prayer for you this morning

is that God would help you to remember it this year and every year,

in ways much deeper than the gifts and the lights and the wonderful family get

togethers that we all enjoy Isaiah nine, verse six. For unto us a

child is born, unto us, a son is given, and the government

shall be upon his sh shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful counselor

the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. God bless

you today,