Rev. David Holwick ZP Christmas Sunday
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 24, 2000
Luke 2:1-7
|
I. Last minute stuff.
A. What hasn't gotten done?
1) Presents, decorating, Christmas cards...
2) (Finished my cards on Friday. Will they arrive on time?)
B. Maybe it's a memory problem.
Kevin Tully worked in a grocery store in high school.
They closed early, at 7:00 pm, on Christmas Eve.
The store had automatic doors, and the store manager instructed
the workers to lock the "in" door at 7:00.
Now there were shoppers still in the store, but Kevin noticed
a line forming outside the store.
Not by the "in" door, but by the "out' door.
When one of the customers inside the store left, and stepped on
the mat which operated the automatic door, two or three of
these folks outside the store would quickly run into the
store through the out-door.
The workers didn't mind it for a while; after all, it meant
more sales.
But then they realized that for every one customer who was
leaving, two or three were coming into the store.
At about 7:45, his manager told Kevin to go stand guard and
keep those folks from coming in.
Sure enough, the next time someone went out, two women tried to
come in.
Kevin said, "I'm sorry, we're closed."
The woman nearest him looked into his eyes and said,
"Oh please, please, please let me in.
I just realized that tomorrow is Christmas!"
#0
II. The first Christmas was hectic, too.
A. In a strange town (though ancestral).
1) Neither lived there; it was at opposite end of country.
B. Lousy time to give birth.
1) Lousy time to get pregnant!
a) (Christmas letter which mentions a surprise grandson.)
2) No room prepared.
C. But important stuff was done:
1) They had obeyed God.
2) They were where he wanted them to be.
III. Prioritize the important stuff in life.
A. Business.
1) Have goals, a focus.
2) Honor God with integrity.
3) Put people first.
a) (Brian Burd tracking down Josephine, woman who had
everything fall apart at Christmas.)
B. Family life.
1) Take a personal weekend with spouse.
2) Drive to Dover to see notorious Christmas lights.
C. Personal growth.
1) "Sports Authority" billboard - pumpkin pie, Christmas
cookies, then running shoes... I am paying attention.
2) More time with creative hobbies, less with TV or internet.
D. Personal faith.
1) Are you where God wants YOU to be?
2) Plan a special time alone with God.
3) Give a gift to God.
a) Help out a family you are not related to. (generously)
b) Give to a special mission project.
IV. Don't be caught short.
A. Herod was caught short, missed out. (good thing)
B. Be prepared like the Magi.
1) They anticipated something, got the sign, and went.
2) They focused on the ultimate, and met success.
C. Many modern people are caught up in fluff.
1) We hurry up to do things that don't matter in the end.
2) What will our lives amount to?
V. Don't be so preoccupied, you miss the party.
A. Now is the time.
Doris Hoss grew up during the Great Depression, when times
were hard.
She writes, "My family was poor. We had very little to eat.
Then my grandfather died and my grandmother came to live
with us, and there was even less for each one to eat.
But she was a beautiful person and we enjoyed her very much."
She continues, "I particularly remember Christmas.
We would have very few things and very small things under
our Christmas tree, but always something.
And we would open our gift, and then have Christmas dinner.
And then my grandmother would say, "Let me show you my
pretty things."
She would take me into her room where she had an old chest
she had brought when she came to live with us.
Grandma would open it up and start to lift out one little
thing after another she had saved all during her life."
"The thing she was most proud of was a beautiful linen
table cloth.
It had eight napkins with it.
She had the table cloth and napkins wrapped in very soft
paper and she would unwrap these things so lovingly and
spread out this table cloth.
And she would tell me all about how someday we would have
a big dinner with a linen table cloth and eight matching
napkins.
And then she would fold it up and put it away."
"Many years later, my grandmother died.
We went through her things after the funeral and there was
the tablecloth and the eight matching napkins, so
yellowed now with age that no one could use them.
They had never, ever, been used.
I thought about how many ordinary meals might have been
more special had we eaten them off a linen table cloth
with matching napkins.
I was sad because my grandmother never found the right time
to have a party."
#0
B. Believe the good news.
1) Don't imagine that you can live as you please and then
"catch up" with God at the last moment. You won't.
2) Salvation is not the one last thing to do, but the first.
C. Celebrate this holy day.
=========================================================================
SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#0 "There's Just One Thing Left To Do!" sermon by Rev. Kevin Tully,
Dec. 24, 1997; United Methodist Church Of The Good Shepherd;
Yukon, Oklahoma; sermon #4410 in Holwick Access 97 sermon
database.
These and 17,500 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Single source CHM, PDF, DOC and HTML Help creation