Christmas and Advent Sermons

Sometimes "the world out-Herods Herod." The nightmare after Christmas is the symbol of the ghastly power of evil which contradicts the goodness, and love, and life of God. And if you listen, you can still hear Rachel weeping for her children. Yet, in Jesus, this Christmas sermon proclaims, we have God's promise that iin the fullness of God's redemptive purpose, the brokenness of our lives will be healed, too.

In the commonplace of man's everyday, God delights to break through, declare and relate Himself to His creatures. No Gospel event shows this more vividly than the song of Simeon. This Christmas sermon encourages us to live expectantly as Simeon did.

In a wartorn world, what does, "Peace on earth" mean? Christmas peace, says this sermon, begins with peace with God, and that peace is the result of becoming a disciple of Jesus.

This Christmas sermon celebrates the unabashed fun of of the season. All of the fun things and fun times of Christmas remind us that the greatest gift of God Himself was Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That's why we've got all we want for Christmas through Him.

In an age of anxiety, how is it that we can come on Christmas day and celebrate "peace on earth"? This sermon reminds us that the "peace on earth" that the angels proclaimed has come to us in the Prince of Peace, who brings peace with God, peace with others, and peace with ourselves.

The real truth about life and history is not found in the forces of oppression or in the dynamics of bloody revolution; the final truth cannot be seen in the practice of inequality or the presence of poverty. The real truth, as depicted in this Christmas sermon, is in the future that Mary saw and that Jesus lived. And when we open our eyes to see it and move our limbs to live it, we, too, like Mary, will sing for joy.

This sermon encourages high expectations as we approach the baby born on Christmas. Whose Child is this? This is the child who transformed all life and will transform our lives if we let Him.

In this sermon, Christmas calls us home. And "home" in the divine economy is a relationship with a person, the person of Christ. Home is more a state of being than it is a place. It is not a goal to achieve, but a child to receive.

This Chritmas sermon looks at the story of the wise men and calls us to be, as they were, seekers, not sitters!

Mary and Joseph were people of faith and courage. Regardless of gossipy townspeople, regardless of the uncertainty of the future, they were committed: Joseph to his wife and to the child growing within her, and Mary to giving birth to this Little Stranger. Christmas started with a woman's shame and a man's humiliation, with the reproach of Christ and the power of the Spirit of God. This Christmas sermon invites us to be similarly weak in God's service, so we can watch him be strong!