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Christmas Shopping (1 of 3)
Series: Decommercialized
Kerry Shook
This sermon includes the sermon outline and the full sermon transcript. Below you will see a preview of the outline and a portion of the full sermon.
• Luke 2:7 (NIV)
1. AN INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH GOD
• Luke 2:12 (NIV)
• Unplug
• Plug in
• Luke 2:15 (NIV)
2. AN INTENTIONAL COMPASSION FOR PEOPLE
• Matt. 22:36-40 (NIV)
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Whether you're in a crowded store or at a computer online, Christmas shopping usually involves one of these - a shopping cart. Now this cart here is filled with presents, but I have to admit I haven't even begun to do my Christmas shopping this year. So how are you doing with your Christmas shopping? How many of you are completely finished? Raise your hand. Both of you. That's good. No, there's quite a few of you. I'm impressed. You are the planners and we don't like you. You make the rest of us feel bad about ourselves. Thank you. How many of you were courageous and crazy enough to shop the day after Thanksgiving on black Friday? Raise your hand. Yeah, I'm impressed. You know some of the stores opened at 4am this year so that we could right each other to find the perfect gift. Maybe you feel like the dad in the movie "Jingle All The Way." He wants to please his little boy so bad so he tries to get him the latest and greatest and hottest toy for Christmas. Maybe you can relate to this. Just watch.
VIDEO
Can you relate? I have nothing against shopping and I love Christmas and everything that comes along with it. All the excitement and parties and the presents. I love Christmas, but when stores put their Christmas decorations out in October and Christmas advertisements are on television non-stop, it seems the commercialization of Christmas really tends to leave out Christ. I'm always frustrated when I see news reports of another community taking the nativity scene out of their town square or changing the name of the Christmas tree to the holiday tree. It seems ridiculous to me that some people are so afraid of faith, they try to take all references to Christ out of Christmas. But it's easy to point fingers to people who are attacking Christmas. But I have to say the bigger problem is with us who are believers. Between the parties and the presents and finding that parking place at the mall to get the perfect presents it seems that we're missing out on the power and meaning of Christmas in our own lives and families. That's why I'm starting a new series today that I'm calling Decommercialized. It's Christmas unplugged. Over the next several weeks we're going to learn how to unplug the Christmas machine in our schedules and in our lives and experience the power and miracle of Christmas in a whole new way. Now in this Decommercialized series we're going to have a lot of fun because we're going to do some take offs of some popular television commercials that are on today.
Series: Decommercialized
Kerry Shook
This sermon includes the sermon outline and the full sermon transcript. Below you will see a preview of the outline and a portion of the full sermon.
• Luke 2:7 (NIV)
1. AN INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH GOD
• Luke 2:12 (NIV)
• Unplug
• Plug in
• Luke 2:15 (NIV)
2. AN INTENTIONAL COMPASSION FOR PEOPLE
• Matt. 22:36-40 (NIV)
----
Whether you're in a crowded store or at a computer online, Christmas shopping usually involves one of these - a shopping cart. Now this cart here is filled with presents, but I have to admit I haven't even begun to do my Christmas shopping this year. So how are you doing with your Christmas shopping? How many of you are completely finished? Raise your hand. Both of you. That's good. No, there's quite a few of you. I'm impressed. You are the planners and we don't like you. You make the rest of us feel bad about ourselves. Thank you. How many of you were courageous and crazy enough to shop the day after Thanksgiving on black Friday? Raise your hand. Yeah, I'm impressed. You know some of the stores opened at 4am this year so that we could right each other to find the perfect gift. Maybe you feel like the dad in the movie "Jingle All The Way." He wants to please his little boy so bad so he tries to get him the latest and greatest and hottest toy for Christmas. Maybe you can relate to this. Just watch.
VIDEO
Can you relate? I have nothing against shopping and I love Christmas and everything that comes along with it. All the excitement and parties and the presents. I love Christmas, but when stores put their Christmas decorations out in October and Christmas advertisements are on television non-stop, it seems the commercialization of Christmas really tends to leave out Christ. I'm always frustrated when I see news reports of another community taking the nativity scene out of their town square or changing the name of the Christmas tree to the holiday tree. It seems ridiculous to me that some people are so afraid of faith, they try to take all references to Christ out of Christmas. But it's easy to point fingers to people who are attacking Christmas. But I have to say the bigger problem is with us who are believers. Between the parties and the presents and finding that parking place at the mall to get the perfect presents it seems that we're missing out on the power and meaning of Christmas in our own lives and families. That's why I'm starting a new series today that I'm calling Decommercialized. It's Christmas unplugged. Over the next several weeks we're going to learn how to unplug the Christmas machine in our schedules and in our lives and experience the power and miracle of Christmas in a whole new way. Now in this Decommercialized series we're going to have a lot of fun because we're going to do some take offs of some popular television commercials that are on today.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
