The Real Miracle on 34th Street (3 of 4)
Series: The REAL Christmas
Steve Jones
Luke & Matthew
INTRODUCTION: Someone has joked that there's a move afoot by secularists to rename the classic Christmas movie "Miracle on 34th Street" to "Coincidence on 34th Street." I think I might find myself in the camp of the secularists on that one. "Miracle on 34th Street" is a 1947 academy award-winning film in which Kris Kringle, a department store Santa for Macy's in New York, is declared to be the real Santa Claus in a court of law. A skeptical little girl played by Natalie Wood becomes a believer when the gift she asked Kringle for, a house in the suburbs, is actually purchased by her mother's fiancé at the end of the movie. That's the miracle – the little girl's acquisition of the improbable gift. Is buying a house miraculous? No, but these days keeping it out of foreclosure might be!
What is the REAL miracle of Christmas? I'm in a sermon series entitled the REAL Christmas. I'm using this series to talk about the true spiritual realities that are highlighted by the birth of Jesus. So far we've talked about the REAL Grinch who tried to stop Christmas from coming (week one). Then we talked about the REAL Santa Claus and the fact that God is the one who is truly omniscient, omnipresent, and benevolent. Today I want to talk about the REAL miracle of Christmas – the virgin birth.
CNN Talk show host Larry King was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, "Jesus Christ." The questioner said "And what would you like to ask him?" King replied, "I would like to ask him if he was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me." (From Just Thinking, RZIM, Winter 1998)
More than anything else, the virgin birth of Jesus is at the heart of the Christmas story and holds huge implications for our faith. I want us to see four of those implications today.
Let's take ...
Series: The REAL Christmas
Steve Jones
Luke & Matthew
INTRODUCTION: Someone has joked that there's a move afoot by secularists to rename the classic Christmas movie "Miracle on 34th Street" to "Coincidence on 34th Street." I think I might find myself in the camp of the secularists on that one. "Miracle on 34th Street" is a 1947 academy award-winning film in which Kris Kringle, a department store Santa for Macy's in New York, is declared to be the real Santa Claus in a court of law. A skeptical little girl played by Natalie Wood becomes a believer when the gift she asked Kringle for, a house in the suburbs, is actually purchased by her mother's fiancé at the end of the movie. That's the miracle – the little girl's acquisition of the improbable gift. Is buying a house miraculous? No, but these days keeping it out of foreclosure might be!
What is the REAL miracle of Christmas? I'm in a sermon series entitled the REAL Christmas. I'm using this series to talk about the true spiritual realities that are highlighted by the birth of Jesus. So far we've talked about the REAL Grinch who tried to stop Christmas from coming (week one). Then we talked about the REAL Santa Claus and the fact that God is the one who is truly omniscient, omnipresent, and benevolent. Today I want to talk about the REAL miracle of Christmas – the virgin birth.
CNN Talk show host Larry King was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, "Jesus Christ." The questioner said "And what would you like to ask him?" King replied, "I would like to ask him if he was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me." (From Just Thinking, RZIM, Winter 1998)
More than anything else, the virgin birth of Jesus is at the heart of the Christmas story and holds huge implications for our faith. I want us to see four of those implications today.
Let's take ...
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