Revelation 3:20
“Christ’s Presence at Christmas.”
By Pastor Mark Taylor
Many people are thinking about "presents" at Christmas time, when we should be thinking about "His presence"
In one sense, everything in the Bible is either about God's presence or about a lack of God's presence.
God was present in Christ before His birth, after His Birth, at His resurrection, and with Him today.
Matthew 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 14:16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."
We can experience God's presence in our public and private worship. When our lives are pure; When our hearts are passionate; When God's power is displayed with our actions; We can experience God's presence.
Is the Lord present in your home? Does the Lord influence how you act toward each other? Are you kind to each other? Is the Lord honored in your home so that others will want a home just like yours? The Lord is looking for homes where His presence is evident.
We can experience God's presence in our hearts today and God's Presence will be with us in the Future.
Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 22:20 - "He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."
Our culture has turned away from this being a celebration of Christ’s birth and into just a time when we are out trying to get the best deals.
One of the ways to overcome this cultural slide that is invading the church was to truly worship Christ. Not just by showing up on the weekends to sing songs, but to worship Him through our obedience, our submission and through our sacrifice, like they did at the very first Christmas.
God’s favor has come upon us in the form of His Son being born in a manger and this is “good news of great joy” and it is something to celebrate with people because it is “for all the people & Christmas is a time when we should share the joy of what Christ has done for us by giving and sacrificing and loving and celebrating in honor and recognition of the birth of Christ. But, like many things though, over time, the things that started out in a good way get corrupted by a sinful humanity and it ends up bringing pain or stress and a lack of joy.
It is through a relationship that respects the Lord and listens to and obeys Him that we will find peace and contentment in life. We will never buy fulfillment and contentment and we will never be able to give it to anyone by buying it for them. And when we do strive for that peace and contentment by buying things or by thinking we can give it will only increase our stress and leave us empty and anxious as we continually seek the latest and greatest thing to make us content.
God came to be with us on this first Christmas. He gave His presence. Jesus gave us His presence. We honor God as we give like Jesus gave by giving our presence into people’s lives. It says you are important in my life and I want to be part of it.
An envelope to your wife or husband and to each of your children with a promise of your time with them personally and individually. “On a certain day we are going to go any where you want to go. We are going to eat what you want to eat. We are going to spend time with each other.” It would probably be one of the best gifts you got.
Yes, we still want to give gifts, but we want to give gifts to those who are close to us in a way that we can give them our presence which is really and truly a gift to be cherished. Give like Jesus gave and give more “presence” this Christmas.
Spend less Money, but spend more Time So often we spend money so we don’t have to spend time. We often find time to be a more valuable commodity than money.
Maybe you can make some sort of remembrance keepsake for someone in your family like a book or a video with pictures and music. The time we spend thinking about what someone would like and then spending time to make it or put something together is part of a gift that will last much longer than a toy.
The shepherds spread the word about Jesus’ birth and what the angels had told them:
Luke 2:17-18 “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”
We want to help Keep Christ in Christmas not only in our families, but to see His name exalted and His Kingdom expanded around the world. Giving to missions is one way you can share God’s love with those who need it. Share your own presence to those you care about, along with sharing the presence of God and the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
