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Gal. 4:1-7
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. When Christmas is on Sunday how does that affect your whole approach to the day? Is it bad timing, and an inconvenience because you “have” to hurry up and get to church? When you get to church, are you really “here” to worship, or is your mind at home thinking about all you have to do today? Are you secretly thinking how much easier it would have been to skip worship today like so many have, because there just isn’t enough time! Besides, God will understand, after all Christmas was His idea! I wonder how those who think worship on Christmas morning isn’t important or necessary come to the conclusion God understands there is ever at time it’s okay not to worship, let alone Christmas! Or, are you one who considers it extraordinary when Christmas is on Sunday because every 6 or 7 years you get to worship and celebrate the birth of the Savior on His day? Is this time special and precious because you know you are the recipient of the most valuable gift any person could ever receive? Does this day remind you just how much God really cherishes you, and planned from eternity past to adopt you as one of His children? As you know the actual date of Christ’s birth is unknown. According to the Caesarean calendar Christ was born in 4 BC. Dec. 25 is just a traditional date set long ago by Christians to celebrate His birth. One important truth to remember is the date is not important, the event is the focus! Let’s consider this Christmas morning:
THE GOD WHO IS SOVEREIGN Read Gal. 4:4, 5. God operates all events of history and of the future according to the strictest timetable. Every event happens at exactly the right second. The incarnation or The Christ event as it is sometimes called, is no exception. From Eden to Bethlehem God had given the world both proof and time to see its total depravity and helplessness. That same proof and time continues 2K years later to us today. So “in the fullness of time…” at exactly the right time in human history God became Man! Is that how it is with you this Christmas morning? Is your heart secure and content in God’s sovereignty knowing that “in the fullness of time” He will minister perfectly to you?
THE GOD WHO SENDS, Gal. 4:4. The simple phrase “God sent forth…” reveals to us another aspect of God’s heart toward rescuing Mankind from eternal hell! It is simply God sending is God redeeming. “But God,” turns despair into desire, and condemnation into comfort. On his own, man is lost and without direction or any hope of survival; but God… brings salvation, purpose, harmony, and unity to life! So if God does not send His Christ, we are always slaves to sin, and can never slaves to the Savior!
GOD WHO SAVES! 4:5. We must always remember – it is God Who comes for us! God not only sent His Son into the world at exactly the right time, God comes to us at exactly the right time for us to be saved. On this Christmas morning, have you stopped to thank God that He sought you out and gave you the greatest gift a person can have? Many of you have, because you live your entire life in gratefulness because you are saved. No person is ever saved, without receiving at least one spiritual gift immediately! Every spiritual gift God gives is alive and powerful and is to be applied in our daily lives in 2 specific ways: 1st to glorify, or, to show God’s honor an excellent reputation, through our daily life. We must remember salvation is designed to permeate our entire life. The 2nd specific way our spiritual gifts are to be used is for our own spiritual development, and our ministry to others. Probably one of the hardest truths to learn about being a Christian is “it is not about me!” True salvation changes a person’s entire outlook from it’s all about me – to, it’s all about God 1st, then you!” This sovereign God Who sends and saves is also:
THE GOD WHO SECURES. V.5 Beloved, anyone who has given any study to Scripture and learning about our Great God knows there is no greater security than being one of God’s adopted children. The security of knowing you belong to God as one of His adopted children is the ultimate security. What a comfort to our hearts to know that no matter what this fallen, sin-filled world hurls at us, we cannot be snatched out of our Father’s hand because He is greater than all!
If we can help you with your spiritual questions, call us at 574-643-9419.
