Christmas Is Christ's Mission

CHRISTMAS

Greatest Time of the Year

Most Stressful Time of the Year

A Great Spirit of Love & Peace

Totally A Spirit of Commercialism

A Great Time for Family

A Time of Family Conflict

Christmas seems to be many things to people. Some of those things are good and some are bad. Some of those things bring joy and some bring sadness and even anger.

What is Christmas supposed to be?

We are told what Christmas is to be in the name - Christmas.

Christmas means Christ’s Mass.

Oh, ok, but since I’m not Catholic, then I don’t go to mass. So what does mass mean for me?

The word mass has its origin in the word - Mission.

Christmas is Christ’s Mission.

What is Christ’s Mission?

Luke 19:10 says, “The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.”

Jesus’ mission was to look for the lost.

Jesus’ mission was to save the lost.

Christmas is celebrating Jesus’ mission of looking for and saving the lost.

How do we do that? We do it by joining Jesus in His mission.

Jesus’ mission is looking for the lost.

We as people who celebrate Christmas (Christ’s Mission) need to be where lost people are. Lost people are part of our everyday life. They are all around us.

They are at our work.

They are at our schools.

They are in our neighborhoods.

They are at the social events we attend.

They are even in our families.

Jesus didn’t spend that much time with the religious people of His day. We have only a few recorded times that Jesus was in the synagogue. Most times when Jesus did go to the synagogue He just ticked off the religious leaders.

When Jesus taught in the temple, He taught in the outer court (the Court of the Gentiles). He taught there because everybody could go there, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, believers and nonbelievers, good people and bad people.

Jesus spent most of His time out with the public in public places. He reached out to prostitutes, tax collectors, and other kind of “sinners”.

Many Christians just want to spend time with other Christians. We have made our church buildings strongholds to keep us from the “sinners” of our world. The only stronghold we should have and need to have is Jesus.

Jesus has called His followers to be fishers of men. You can catch fish unless you go where the fish are. And they are not in the baptistry.

The concept of Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is to get the church, the Body of Christ, the people on mission with Jesus, out in the world being transparent so we can show our awesome Lord Jesus to a world (people) that desperately needs Him.

Jesus calls us to be IN the world but NOT OF the world.

So let’s celebrate Christmas, Christ’s Mission differently than the culture celebrates.

Let’s celebrate Christmas 365 days a year by:

- Feeding the Poor

- Refreshing the Thirsty

- Befriending the Strange

- Clothing the Naked

- Serving the Sick

- Connecting with the Prisoners

Let’s celebrate Christmas by sharing day in and day out our Jesus Story (the gospel) with anybody and everybody.

Let our celebration not be about:

- Black Friday

- Decorations

- Family

- The Season

- Religious Traditions

Let our celebration of Christmas be about what the celebration was about when Jesus came into the world.

Luke 2:8-11

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”

The angels weren’t announcing an event. They were announcing a person, the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord - JESUS!

Jesus really is the reason for the season. Without Jesus there would be no Christmas. Without Christmas there would have been no Cross. Without the Cross there would have been no Resurrection. Without Christmas, the Cross, and the Resurrection there would be no SALVATION and we would be lost.

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about celebrating Christmas (Christ’s Mission) by connecting with God through a relationship with Jesus and joining Jesus in His mission to look for the lost and share the Person of Salvation - Jesus.

Joining Christ’s Mission Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

Joe