Christmas: Christmas Shame

Mary and Joseph were people of faith and courage. Regardless of gossipy townspeople, regardless of the uncertainty of the future, they were committed: Joseph to his wife and to the child growing within her, and Mary to giving birth to this Little Stranger. Christmas started with a woman's shame and a man's humiliation, with the reproach of Christ and the power of the Spirit of God. This Christmas sermon invites us to be similarly weak in God's service, so we can watch him be strong!

Advent: The Joyful Justice of God (Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Luke 1:46-55)

The real truth about life and history is not found in the forces of oppression or in the dynamics of bloody revolution; the final truth cannot be seen in the practice of inequality or the presence of poverty. The real truth, as depicted in this Christmas sermon, is in the future that Mary saw and that Jesus lived. And when we open our eyes to see it and move our limbs to live it, we, too, like Mary, will sing for joy.

Advent: Whose Child is This?

This sermon encourages high expectations as we approach the baby born on Christmas. Whose Child is this? This is the child who transformed all life and will transform our lives if we let Him.

Advent: Tinsel for Twigs (Jeremiah 33:(14b) 15-16)

As tinsel can decorate even a twig with beauty, our heavenly Father covers our shame with His glory. It is so typical of our God to make the forlorn glorious. Ultimately it's the message of Christmas, and the message of this passage, that God provides tinsel for twigs; the ignored, the ugly, the despised of this world He decorates with a special beauty.

Dramatic Monologue/Advent: The Threatening Baby (Matthew 2:1-18)

In this first person Christmas sermon, Herod the Great steps from the pages of the Christmas story to bring a dangerous message: "A new king has been born. And you must do one of two things with Him: worship Him as Lord or quit the charade and force Him out of your life." Herod made his choice; now he urges us to choose differently.

Christmas Eve: Away in a Manager!

We think of it as a common typo: "Away in a Manger" becomes "Away in a Manager." Yet, according to this Christmas sermon, enough evidence exists in the Bible and life to prove it is no mistake, but the holy purpose for which Jesus came: to manage death with life, and sin with forgiveness, and hate with love.

Christmas: How to Genuinely Celebrate Christmas

Can you imagine being left alone and unnoticed at your own party? That is how Jesus must feel at Christmas. Most of the celebration of His birth has little to do with Him. How sad it is not just for Him but for us as well. This Christmas sermon acknowledges that we cannot genuinely celebrate Christmas until we recognize what Jesus Christ has done for us and what we are to do for Him.