SERMONS FOR CHRISTMAS CHARACTERS
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Joseph - A Christmas Story
by Ron Clarkson
Welcome: Thank you for choosing to celebrate Christmas with us here at Oakdale. I hope you have enjoyed the evening and I trust that as we continue tonight that this will be a Christmas Eve that you will remember as being special to you and your family. Tonight we are going to go back in history to the time of the pregnancy of Mary leading up to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you join me in prayer. Prayer: Heavenly Father we thank you for the joy of the season. The excitement of the children, the warmth of loved ones, and the appreciation we show each other thru the sharing of gifts. Will you show us tonight an...
Joseph: The Forgotten Personality Of Christmas
by Dr. Ed Young
I invite you to open your Bible if you would to Matthew chapter number 1, beginning with verse 18; ''Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together she was found with child by the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying, 'Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit and...
A Son Is Born: Joseph's Story
by Roger Thomas
The Setting. This is Joseph's story. Little is known about the husband of Mary except for the brief account of the angel's visit to him in Nazareth some months before Jesus' birth. With the help of a little imagination, let's attempt to view the Christmas events from his perspective. The place: Joseph's shop in Nazareth. The time: three years or so after Jesus' birth. Joseph, Mary, and the babe born in a stable, now a toddler, have recently returned from Egypt where Joseph had taken his little family. Joseph has started up his carpenter's business once again. A foreign traveler has just walked in requesting repair work on a wagon...
Christmas Characters: Joseph (1 of 6)
by Jerry Vines
Does it seem possible to you that in just a little over a month we will have Christmas. Christmas has a way of slipping up on you. The air will be filled with the sights and the sounds and the songs and the stories of Christmas in just a little while. I want to try to get your mind (in this message) pointing in the direction of the birth of the Lord Jesus so that your celebration and enjoyment of the Christmas season will mean more to you this year than it has ever meant before. We are going to gather these messages around the manger scene and look at some of the characters which emerge from the Bible around the birth of our Lord. One of the...
Christmas Characters: Mary (2 of 6)
by Jerry Vines
For several weeks, as we approach the celebration of Christmas, I'm going to bring some messages about Christmas characters. It really is hard to believe that just a few more days over a month from now and we'll celebrate Christmas. This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. That's hard to conceive. In a few more days after that we will have the celebration of Christmas. November runs into December. December runs into Christmas. Christmas runs into money. So, we are heading very rapidly toward that time of the year when we celebrate the birth of our Lord. I'm bringing these messages on Christmas...
Christmas Characters: Shepherds (3 of 6)
by Jerry Vines
When Jesus was born representative groups came to attend His birth. There were Simeon and Anna who were the devout believers who represents spiritual -minded people who come to the birth of the Lord Jesus. The wise men came when Jesus was born. They remind us that studious people come to the Lord Jesus Christ. The keenest minds of all of the ages have been those who have humbly bowed at the manger of the Lord Jesus Christ. The shepherds came and they represent the simple, common, ordinary people who are drawn to this baby Jesus who is born in Bethlehem's manger. Life for the...
Christmas Characters: Wisemen (4 of 6)
by Jerry Vines
The characters of Christmas teach us a great deal about the meaning of Christmas. Their response to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ tells us what Christmas can mean personally and individually in our own lives. Shepherds came when Jesus was born. They represent working men. Wise men came when Jesus was born and they represent wise men indeed. In Proverbs 13:20 the Bible says, ''He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.'' So, we would be wise today if we would follow the example of these wise men. We do not know a great deal about these wise men actually. They are really known as magi in the...
Christmas Characters: Gabriel (5 of 6)
by Jerry Vines
When Jesus was born there was a flurry of angelic activity. Several of the characters of Christmas received an appearance of an angel. Zacharias, who was the father of John the Baptist, had an angel of the Lord named Gabriel appear to him and give him an announcement concerning the birth of his son and the birth of God's Son. Then, the angel Gabriel (the same angel) appeared to Mary and told her that she had been chosen by heaven to be the earthly vehicle through whom the Son of God would be born. Joseph received a message from the angels. In fact there were three appearances, as best I can determine, by...
Christmas Characters: Jesus (6 of 6)
by Jerry Vines
The characters of Christmas are very interesting to study as each one of them turns our focus toward the main meaning of Christmas. When the Lord Jesus was born, Mary His mother, is very important in the overall story. Then, there is Joseph, the strong, silent carpenter, who faithfully became her husband and the legal father of the Lord Jesus. When Jesus was born the wise men came from the east to worship Him. They have a part to play and they have a part in the meaning of the message of Christmas. Also, the shepherds came and they reminded us of many of the beautiful messages and meanings of...
Christmas through the Eyes of Joseph (1 of 3)
by Dave Gustavsen
If you are like most people, when you get into mid-December, and when you hear the word ''Christmas,'' it has a million associations in your mind. Right? You start to think about family traditions, and who you need to buy gifts for, and what church services you're going to attend, and how you're going to try to help the poor this year better than you did last year, and if you're cooking for people, the million details of that, and we're going to have all those people in our living room, but I hate that couch, so maybe it's time to get a new one, and why didn't that thing I ordered on Amazon come yet?-I hope someone didn't steal it off my...
Christmas through the Eyes of Mary (2 of 3)
by Dave Gustavsen
Good morning. We're taking these few weeks around Christmas to de-clutter our brains a little bit. Because for most of us, when we hear the word ''Christmas,'' our brain starts to chatter and buzz with songs and food and traditions and memories and smells and obligations and expectations and plans. Not that any of that is bad...but it can be distracting. So for these three weeks, we're trying to rewind the clock and put ourselves in the shoes of people who never heard the word Christmas and never even heard the name ''Jesus.'' And we're asking the question: When they heard this news, how did it affect them...and what does...
Christmas Through the Eyes of the Magi (3 of 3)
by Dave Gustavsen
These past few weeks, we've been saying that it's hard to look at Christmas with fresh eyes, because our brains have built up so many associations around Christmas. And that's even true for this period after Christmas. We think of the dreariness of returning gifts, and other things like time off of school; time off of work; making New Year's plans; etc. And this morning I want to try to clear all of that away, rewind the clock 2,000 years, and ask this simple question: Now that Jesus has come, how does that affect the way I look at the future? Now that Jesus has come, how does that affect the way I look at the future? So two...
What the Angel said to Zacharias (1 of 4)
by Richard Bradley
At first glance it seems Zacharias played a minor part in the Christmas story. However, his very presence is a miracle in itself. Zacharias was a priest and therefore a member of the Sadducees. The Sanhedrin was made up of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Most of the Sadducees - the priestly class - didn't believe in much of anything. They didn't believe in heaven, in miracles, and especially didn't believe in angels. After his encounter with Gabriel in the Temple Zacharias changed his mind about a lot.In preparation for the first Christmas God instructed the angels to make four announcements. Gabriel's first announcement...
What the Angel Said to Mary (2 of 4)
by Richard Bradley
A lady told me that she could believe and accept everything in the Bible except the virgin birth. I responded that the entirety of biblical truth stands or falls on the virgin birth. In fact, the virgin birth of Christ is the foundation upon which all New Testament truth stands. Remove the virgin birth and the integrity of God's Word will fall flat like a house of cards.The virgin birth is what makes Jesus different. I could die on a cross for you and that would be a nice thing but my death would never make you right with God. Only the death of God's perfect Son could accomplish this. The virgin birth identified Jesus as God's lamb. Look at what the...
What the Angel Said to Joseph (3 of 4)
by Richard Bradley
Of all the characters in the nativity story perhaps Joseph's is the easiest to overlook. Mary played her part, Jesus certainly played His part, and at times it looks as if Joseph just came along for the ride. But this is not so. Joseph was just a simple carpenter, this is true, but he was more than that. He was of the house and linage of David. That is, he was a branch on the most prestigious family tree in all of Israel. As a direct descendent of David Joseph was the rightful heir to Israel's throne. However it wasn't just his bloodline that made Joseph important to the nativity story. It was what the angel said to him and what Joseph did...
What the Angel Said to Us (4 of 4)
by Richard Bradley
This fourth and last angelic visitation was decidedly different from the first three. The first three visits were to three different individuals: Zacharias, Mary, and Joseph. While this last message was first given to the Bethlehem shepherds I believe evidence will show that his message was really for all of us. After all, Christmas is for everyone. It's neither for the young nor even the young at heart. According to the angel, who I believe was Gabriel, we are all the targets of God's love. Notice what the angel promised to all of us that first Christmas. 1. FEAR WOULD BE REPLACED WITH JOY 10 Then the angel said...
Herod & The Wise Men (1 of 3)
by Scott Maze
Today, we begin a short Christmas series, entitled The Characters of Christmas. All throughout the story of Christmas, there are major and minor characters who play an important role in making the story of Christmas great theatre. Now, I love to watch a good movie and I imagine many of you are the same way. As some of you know, one of my favorite movies is the Back to the Future trilogy. Now if I had Doc Brown's DeLorean, his time machine... ...if I could fire up the flux capacitor, the Y shaped illuminated tubes inside the DeLorean.... ... then I would choose to skip over the Wild West of the 1800s, the...
The Angels (2 of 3)
by Scott Maze
If you want to get in the mood for Christmas, Texas Monthly says you have a lot of choices in Texas. Six hours from here over in Amarillo, there's the Christmas in the Gardens featuring 300,000 lights strung throughout their Botanical Gardens. Down in College Station, you see Santa, go for a horse-drawn carriage ride, and experience real ''Texas snow!'' And there's nearby Grapeview, the self-proclaimed Christmas Capital of Texas where you can explore the world of Whoville and see the largest lighted Christmas parade in North Texas. But of all the Christmas celebrations, the one that caught my attention...
Mary and Joseph (3 of 3)
by Scott Maze
Merry Christmas to your family and you! Christmas is just three days away - are you ready? Everything wrapped and under the tree? When I stop to think about it, it is still funny eleven years later... ...but Virgin Mary gave birth to 7.7 pound baby Jesus on Christmas Day in Peru eleven years ago. Can we show their picture on the screens? Then, 20-year-old Virgen Maria Huarcaya delivered her newborn son, Jesus Emanuel, in the early hours of Christmas in Peru's capital of Lima, Reuters reported. The baby's father, Adolfo Jorge Huamani, is a carpenter as well. Reuters reported that the boy wasn't placed in a manger. Today, we...
Zechariah's Story - A Story of Testing (1 of 4)
by Josh Malone
Advent is a great time for us to celebrate the fact Christ came, and to look forward to the fact that He is coming again... not as a baby in a manger, but as a conquering King! This Advent we are looking The Stories within the Story. -- The story of the coming of Christ is the greatest story ever told. - This time of year it gets told over and over again as it has for centuries. -- The star of the story is of course the Lord Jesus. -- But the Jesus story contains other peoples stories. Real people with real lives, who were involved and effected by His story. All of us are living our own stories. We all have distinct lives, dreams...
Mary's Story - A Story of Interruption (2 of 4)
by Josh Malone
ILLUS.- Christmas calendar - When I was a kid I used to love the little Christmas chains. Little paper rings linked together you tear off one a day and then BOOM, it's Christmas. I'd count those things and just hate to think there were so many left at this time of year. - Now things are different. Two weeks doesn't seem like a very long time at all. In fact, there's a lot to get done in the next couple of weeks. We have church stuff, we have personal stuff. - And if you are a really talented shopper like myself you like to challenge yourself and do a lot of shopping right at the end. With our busy calendars this time of year here...
Joseph's Story- A Story of Simplicity (3 of 4)
by Josh Malone
We are in a series called ''The Stories within the Story.'' We are looking at various characters around the story of Advent, the greatest story ever told. These are real people, with hopes, dreams, futures... that had their lives shaped by the first Advent. None of them are the star of the Story... that's Jesus... but they all I had a role and they all were impacted by Christ's advent... and there is something we can learn from each of them.Today we are looking at Joseph. When I read the Gospels and look at Joseph I see a good man... and a man's man. ILLUS.- This weekend we went to the Candlelight Processional at Epcot. All these...
Simeon's Story- A Story of Patience (4 of 4)
by Josh Malone
ILLUS.- Waiting- Our family is big on going to the parks when we are able. We have a 5 yr. old and soon to be 3 yr. old, and also a new almost 2 month old... so for the older two the parks around here are jam. Our friends at Disney have invented this awesome little thing for people like me... the ''Fast Pass.'' - It keeps you from having to wait! I love walking past all the people in line for two hours and walking through and being on the ride in like 10 min. Suckers! - But I'm not a fan of lots of waiting. - Most of us aren't. It's not human nature. When it came to sending the Savior into the world God's people had to do a lot of...
