The Crisis of Christmas

There is a crisis this Christmas! A crisis of faith.

You see, if Jesus is really Lord of my life, then He is Lord of my:

Priorities

Family

Relationships

And Christmas

My relationship with Jesus has to be the most

intense & intimate

relationship I have.

And I have to submit EVERYTHING to Him!

Let me encourage you to ask yourself two questions:

First, what has power over me?

Do People?

Do Things?

Do Problems?

Second, how would my life be different if JESUS had power over me?

Christmas has to be more than:

The Finale to a Frantic Shopping Season

Sentimental Music

Tinsel on a Tree

A Children’s Pageant

Boozy Good Will to the World

Christmas, like Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls, is staking your life on the revelation of God in Jesus.

Christmas, like Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls, requires the Necessity of Faith.

There is a great picture of faith in Matthew 13. Jesus tells the story of a farmer who is out planting his crop in His fields. After Jesus tells the story, His disciples come and ask why He teaches the way He does, in parables. They were really asking what this story meant. Jesus tells them in verses 19-23.

Matthew 13:19

Someone who hears the word about the kingdom but doesn’t understand it. The evil one comes at once and snatches away what was planted in him. This is what the seed planted along the road illustrates.

This is a picture of the INSENSITIVE.

They hear the word but it doesn’t speak to them interiorly (in their spirit). For them, the word is meaningless.

They are like the people that God speaks to in Isaiah 29:13. The Lord says, “Since these people turn toward Me with their mouths, and honor Me with lip service while their heart is distant from Me, and their fear of Me is just a human command that has been memorized.”

Matthew 13:20-21

The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it at once. But they don’t have deep roots, and they don’t last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.

This is a picture of the SUPERFICIAL.

This people are open - too open! They are ready to receive everything, but nothing takes root.

They are like Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:13, 18-19. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Simon was open, but he didn’t get it. He was focused on the things of faith, not the object of faith - Jesus.

Matthew 13:22

And what is the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching but lets worries about this life and the temptation of wealth stop that teaching from growing. So the teaching does not produce fruit.

This is a picture of the DEFEATED.

They have fought long and struggled for their faith, but their passion for Jesus has gotten swallowed up in trivial concerns.

In Revelation 2:4 Jesus shares a concern with the Church at Ephesus. This church has so much going for them. They are hard working, preserving, right believing, but Jesus says, “You have forsaken the love you had at first.”

They had lost their passion for Jesus.

Matthew 13:23

The seed that fell on the good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s Word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.

This is a picture of the VICTORIOUS.

Now, even among the victorious there are levels of submission to Jesus and in surrendering to do His will, His way.

The 30% are the pillars of the church. They are nice, with good morals, and helpful people. They like their church and serve because it is a good thing to do. They produce some fruit. They, however, shirk back from the radical demands of the Gospel.

The 60% are genuinely others-centered. Some focus on relationships. Others are social activists. Others are just people persons. They want to help and make a difference. They produce much fruit.

The 100% are totally surrendered to the person of and will of Jesus. They are surrendered to doing what Jesus says no matter what the circumstances are. They are submitted to following Jesus no matter where He leads.

These people show the attitude that Paul shares in Philippians 3:8-9. More that that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things - indeed, I regard them as dung! - that I might gain Christ, and be found in Him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.

Yes, Paul says that compared to knowing Jesus and serving Jesus, everything else in his life is animal poop.

The beginning of Christmas is Jesus.

Luke 2:9-11

The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you - wonderful, joyous news for all people. Your Savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord.”

It was at Christmas that God became human. It was at Christmas that the Kingdom of God came to the earth.

Christmas, just as Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls, means we are to drop everything and run to Jesus.

We are not to be intimidated by the cultural patterns of doing Christmas.

We are to celebrate Christmas as though Jesus is REAL - He is!

We are to celebrate the realness of Jesus with our:

Motives

Speech

Behavior

The way that we celebrate Christmas will reflect our faith in Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about celebrating Jesus 365 days of the year. It is about making Christmas about the birth of Jesus our Savior.

In Celebration Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

Joe