Sermon Tone Analysis
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ATTN
Did you ever miss a great party?
Now, I’m not talking about getting drunk or anything like that, I’m talking about a great party with friends and good food and all the things that make a party, a party.
Did you ever miss one of those?
ME
I did.
It was my Senior year in High School.
I was living in Deerfield Beach, Fl., and someone told me about “Senior Night.”
It was exclusively for High School Seniors who were graduating in the state of Florida.
On a certain night in April, all seniors were invited to one location. . .
and not just any location . . .
one location.
Know where it was?
Disney World!
That’s right!
Can you imagine as a senior being able to join all the other seniors in your state at Disney world for a senior party?
But that wasn’t the most amazing thing!
O no!
The most amazing thing is that I had actually talked my Dad, who wasn’t usually excited about me going to any kind of party, I convinced him to let me go.
The pastor of a sister church in Miami was taking his daughter and a few others, and they had invited me to go, and dad said yes!
I looked forward to this thing for months.
I did.
I was so excited, but then, I did something.
I won’t bore you with the details, but I betrayed my mom and dad’s trust in me and I got grounded.
I was so mad and disappointed I thought about running away from home.
But how’s a guy with a part-time job, no money and no place to stay, who likes to eat . . .
how’s that guy supposed to do that.
So, when everyone else headed to Disney World, this little piggy stayed home.
I missed the party!
YOU
You ever have the experience?
You ever have something that you just know is going to be a lot of fun that you just miss out on?
Well, usually, while those times are disappointing, they really aren’t damaging.
You miss a party, you’ll live, right?
Well, that’s right unless . . .
unless God’s the one throwing the party.
You miss that one, you suffer real loss.
Yet so many do.
NEED
And it’s not because they don’t have good excuses.
Many are just too busy.
Like the Pharisees when Jesus came, they could give you a long list of important duties that make their presence impossible.
They are much too busy to spend any time in a stable visiting a little baby.
Many of us are like that.
We hear God calling us, and we know that we need some change in our lives, but we’re just too tied up to listen.
And being too busy is just a symptom of another problem.
You see time priorities are a function of our thinking.
The reason we think we don’t have time to be at God’s party is because we just don’t see it as being that important.
We make time for what’s most important to us and, since this “Jesus” thing really doesn’t matter to our lives, we decline the invitation.
So, here’s my goal this morning: I want you to reconsider the invitation to God’s party.
I want to tell you just what you’re missing out on, and I want to tell you what you must do to join the celebration.
BACKGROUND
So, let’s start at the beginning, ok? Where’s that?
Well, God’s party begins with it’s purpose.
God’s not just having a celebration just to have a good time.
There’s a reason He’s celebrating.
He’s is celebrating because He has something for you.
It’s a unbelievable, wonderful gift.
You read about that gift in Luke 2:8
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Hey, God’s not like some husbands who give their wives a vacuum cleaner for Christmas.
(If you do that, feel free to call me for some marriage counseling, cause you might just need it!)
God gives us a personal, expensive gift, which is exactly what we need.
I say that because His gift is His Son.
Notice how the Son is described.
This baby brings salvation.
V11 says that unto us is born a “Savior.”
The idea is that of the Knight on the White horse who rides to the rescue of someone who is in great danger.
Jesus is a Savior.
He rides into the sin and bondage of our lives, lifts that sin upon His shoulders and rescues us.
He brings salvation.
But He also brings God’s presence.
He is called a “Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
This is the first time Luke will call Jesus “the Lord,” but it will not be the last.
When He calls Jesus “Lord,” He is saying that Jesus is God.
Elsewhere Jesus Is called “Emmanuel” which means “God with us.”
It’s amazing!
The creator of the universe, whom time and eternity cannot contain, is literally confined to a hole in the floor, (which is precisely what a manger usually was)!
The eternal God came to be with us.
Jesus is God’s PRESENT and Jesus brings God’s PRESENCE.
The baby brings salvation and God’s presence but, more than anything else, this great Gift shows us the Father’s love.
When the angel choir breaks out into a song, notice what they say.
They say “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
That last phrase speaks of God’s great love.
Literally in the Greek it reads, “and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.
What a statement!
The Holy God who should be annihilating man for His sin is pouring out His favor on men.
Why? It’s because He knows that this gift He is giving will one day go to the cross, pour out His blood, and take all the punishment for sin.
John wrote in His gospel, “For God so loved the world that He GAVE . .
.”
God’s gift shows us His great love.
And that’s the reason for the party.
God’s got this amazing gift He wants to give you, but there is a catch.
You say, “O I knew there would be; there always is! Anything that sounds too good to be true always is.” Well, before you just shut me down, will you listen?
The rules of God’s party two very simple ones.
Let me describe them to you.
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