Sunday Sermon Notes 12.13.09

What kind of Christ do you worship at Christmas? Since we want to keep Christ in Christmas, what kind of Christ are we keeping? The shepherds were invited to go and worship the newborn King. These days we celebrate the brilliant arrival of God as a vulnerable baby. The incarnation - God taking on flesh - is pretty important to our understanding of Christmas. But is it enough for us to just focus on Baby Jesus at Christmas time?

How big is your Christ? The Christ you worship at Christmas - what is he capable of? Does the Christ you worship inspire you or is he pretty easy to ignore? Is Jesus just a newborn baby or is he really a Savior able to rescue? Charlie Brown cries out: Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about? And what does Linus provide for an answer? He quotes Scripture. The emphasis is on a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Paul crafts a poem to capture the vast capabilities of this Savior:
The Son is the appearance of the unseen God,

the firstborn over all creation.

For in him all things were created:

things in the heavens and on the earth, seen and unseen,
whether seen thrones or unseen powers or seen rulers or unseen authorities;
all things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning, the firstborn from out of the dead,
so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

What kind of Christ does Paul worship? One that inspires confidence and prompts hope. This is the kind of Christ that is worth trusting. This is a Christ that is way bigger than any problem you could ever face. You know how big your problems have been, how big they could get. And Christ is bigger.

This Christmas - with whatever problem you are facing, with whatever fears you are harboring, give them back to Christ the Lord who comes as a humble yet very effective Savior. If Christ holds all things together - he can hold your heart together, he can hold your life together. Whatever is breaking or cracking or drifting or ebbing away in your life, Christ can restore and renew and reconcile.

This is what Christmas is all about - trusting Christ the Lord born as a Savior to us. Let him save you; let him use you to save others. Our world - your world, still needs a Savior. Let Jesus be the Savior, you be his hands and feet. Let Christ be the Lord, you be the Anchor.