Welcome to Week One of “A Charlie Brown
Christmas.” Over the next few weeks we are going
to explore the real meaning of Christmas through
the perspective of the various Characters in this
classic Christmas TV special.
I trust that you are already praying for the friends
and family you’ve committed to invite to our special
Christmas service just 3 weeks from now.
As you saw in that video, the premise of the show is
Charlie Brown’s disillusionment – even unhappiness –
with Christmas. It is about his effort to push past all
the commercialization and discover the real meaning
of Christmas.
In all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, we can so
easily, like Charlie Brown, find ourselves forgetting
the true meaning of the holiday season.
A. Commercialization of Christmas
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1. Decorations and lights everywhere
2. Santa Claus and HO HO HO
3. Shopping for gifts
4. The fuss over the Christmas tree
5. Commercials and sales, and all the rest
B. Amidst all of this, it is so easy to forget, or at
least push aside, the real meaning of Christmas
1. For Christmas isn't really all about decorations
and lights
a. Santa and gifts
b. Christmas trees and shopping malls (or
Amazon.com)
2. Christmas is really the celebration of the birth
of Jesus Christ into this world.
TEXT: [Mat 1:18-23 NLT] 18 This is how Jesus the
Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to
be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took
place, while she was still a virgin, she became
pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19
Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not
want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to
break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered
this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do
not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child
within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And
she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All of
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this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his
prophet: 23 "Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.
Christmas isn’t about Santa Claus and HO HO HO…
Christmas is about …
a. baby born of a virgin, laid in manger in a stable in
Bethlehem 2000 years ago
b. about angels and shepherds and wise men
c. and also about Calvary
- For the birth was meaningless without His death
This Christmas I want to challenge you to keep a
proper perspective of Christmas.
1. How?
a. in the midst of commercialization?
b. in all the hustle and bustle?
c. How can I keep from forgetting?
2. Answer: By using these things which take our
minds off the true meaning and make them a
Constant reminder of true meaning of Christmas!!!
3. There are 3 things that we see constantly in
the holiday Season that could cause us to lose our
perspective of the true meaning of Christmas
a. But this year I want us to turn the tables
b. This year let's use these 3 things as a
constant reminder of who and what Christmas is all
about.
I. FIRST THING IS THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
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A. Everywhere you go, there are lights
1. On trees and houses and Store Windows
2. Power poles downtown
3. Candles in windows
4. Big, small, colored and white
5. Blinking lights and those that don't blink
B. But this Christmas, when we see all those
Christmas lights, remember, Christ is the light of
the World
1. OT prophesied of light to come
Isaiah 9:2 "The people that walked in darkness have
seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the
shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."
2. John picked up on this truth in
[John 1:1-9 KJV] 1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All
things were made by him; and without him was not
any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life;
and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light
shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended
it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose
name [was] John. 7 The same came for a witness, to
bear witness of the Light, that all [men] through him
might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but [was
sent] to bear witness of that Light. 9 [That] was the
true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world.
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3. Jesus declared himself to be the light of the
World - John 8:12 “I am the light of the world: he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but
shall have the light of life.”
C. But How is Jesus the Light of the world?
JESUS – THE LIGHT - IS A REVEALER!!!
- Light illuminates, shows, reveals
- Dust on Furniture
- Fingerprints on Refrigerator Door
1. Revealing what is in our hearts
a. John 2:24,25 "But Jesus did not commit
himself unto them, because He knew all men, And
needed not that any should testify of man: for he
knew what was in man."
b. Psalm 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know
my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if
there be any wicked way in me, ..”
2. Revealing the way of safety
a. Walking in darkness, need to turn on a light
b. In walking in the darkness of this world, we need
Jesus to point out the way we should walk.
c. He is the Word, “a lamp unto our feet, and a
light unto our path..."
3. Revealing the true nature and character of God
a. Israel had lost a true understanding of the
nature and character of God
b. But in Christ, all of that was changed.
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c. For Christ was the image of the invisible
God
- “I and my Father are one”
- “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father”
- In him we see both the love of God and the
wrath of God.
- And through His teachings we know the
heart of God & the ways of God.
4. He reveals the way to approach God.
- the way of redemption
- the way of Salvation
- He is the Way.
D. But not only is Jesus the Light of the world...
II. SECONDLY, JESUS IS GOD'S GIFT TO THE WORLD
A. We spend so much time emphasizing gift giving
at Christmas.
1. Deciding what we want to get – for Sally,
Charlie’s little sister, Christmas was all about the
gifts.
video: Sally’s Christmas List
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqmOYN0wEcg
2. What gifts we want to give
a. Make our gift lists
b. Put down every name from Mama to cousin
so and so.
c. Then we hunt and search throughout the
malls & shops trying to find that perfect gift.
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d. And when we find it, trying to figure out
how to pay for it.
- We run up our charge accounts and break our
piggy banks.
- Cartoon: It must be time for Christmas again - last
year’s bills are finally paid
B. But in the midst of all this gift giving, let’s
remember Jesus is the greatest gift ever given
1. John 3:16
2. 2 Cor. 9 :15 “Thanks be unto God for this
unspeakable gift.”
3. He is the gift of salvation
a. Roms 6:23 “Wages of sin is death, but...
b. Eph. 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God.
C. But not only the greatest GIFT, Jesus is the
greatest GIVER!
1. John 10:28 “And I give unto them ETERNAL LIFE”
2. Matt 11:28 “Come unto me all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give thee Rest”
3. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I
give unto you.”
D. Best part: It is all free - a gift
E. Give yourself the best Christmas present this
year. If you haven't already, give yourself Jesus
III. FINALLY WHEN WE THINK OF CHRISTMAS WE
THINK 0F THE CHRISTMAS TREE
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A. All decorated with lights, ornaments, garland ..
1. not just a tree
2. But THE tree
Video: Charlie Brown looks for tree clip
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B. But as we look at the Christmas Tree this year
let it serve as a reminder of another tree
1. Another Tree: the tree of LIFE
a. We first see it in the Garden of Eden - but
man lost it
b. In Revelation 22:1-2 we see that we can
get it back - “And he showed me a pure river of
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the
throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the
street of it, and on either side of the river, was
there the tree of life…”
2. This tree is also the one we find in I Peter 2
:21-24 “For even hereunto were ye called: because
Christ also suffered for us, … Who his own self bare
our sins in his own body on the tree …”
a. You see the first Christmas tree was not the
same as the Christmas trees today:
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b. Instead of beautifully shaped, it was a rough
and rugged cross
c. Instead of decorations of bows and tinsel,
garland and lights, it was decorated only with the
bruised and broken body of Jesus Christ, The Light
of the world.
d. Instead of an object of beauty, it was an ugly
sight
e. Not placed in a window, but on a hill called
Calvary for all the world to see
f. And instead of gifts under the tree, the gift of
God was nailed to the tree.
CONCLUSION: AND THAT’S THE PROPER
PERSPECTIVE OF CHRISTMAS
- Musicians Come
A. This year, let’s determine to keep Christ in
Christmas -
1. Lights - Christ the light of the world
2. Gifts - Christ the gift of God
3. Christmas Tree - The Old Rugged Cross
B If you don't know this Christ of Christmas, you
can meet him right now.
1. Make this the greatest Christmas of your life
2. Put your faith in the Christ of Christmas.
