Christmas Eve Message
Advent 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The evening of celebration has arrived. Sure, we celebrate Christmas day tomorrow, but as worshippers of God, we celebrate collectively tonight. What is it that we celebrate? To no one’s surprise, we celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Is there anything else we celebrate? I think it is appropriate to say that in celebrating Jesus’ birth, we also remember the reason why he came. And that is to save sinners.
What was it that made the shepherds so excited to hear of the birth of Jesus as Luke 2 tells us? That God fulfilled kept his word in having Christ be born of a virgin. When they showed up, there response was awe in that the way that God had explained to them the birth of Christ and how it was exactly as he said. And how about the wise men and the excitement that they had. They rejoiced because the star led them to the newborn king. They knew that it meant that the Messiah proclaimed in Micah 5:2 had been born.
This was no ordinary birth. Herod the king of the Jews at the time did not have the introduction that the Messiah had. There was no star hanging over the place where Herod lay. There were no wise men or shepherds to come visit him. We celebrate this evening because the same Messiah that the shepherds and wise men saw as the Savior of the world is the same Messiah who is still the Savior of the world. Again, a title that is attributed to none other.
The songs that we have sung this evening are songs of worship. Tonight, just as the shepherds and wisemen did, so do we, we worship the King! The songs that we sing, the candle lighting a precious tradition, and the time taken to be together are all wonderful things.
Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will open gifts and spend time with loved ones. These, too, are cherished times. May we enjoy these times with gratitude, not just for what we receive in the moment, but that we would remember, Christ, who is the greatest gift of all and the true reason for our celebration. May you hear the words of the angel as to how he describes the babe who would be conceived by Mary in Luke 1:35. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God.” O, that our hearts and our eyes would be fixated upon the precious babe of Christmas, who is the Savior of the world.