Sermons on Christmas (Page 2)
After the return of the Jewish people to Judah from captivity in Babylon, there was a period of almost 400 years where God did not speak to His people through His prophets. This is known as the “Silent Period” between the Old and New Testaments. This “Silent Period” continued until sometime around 7-6 BC when the Lord sent an angel to proclaim the coming of the Messiah and His forerunner–these are the stories of Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary.
This morning, we will begin by looking at the prologue to this gospel. In this prologue, Luke offers several clues about his purpose in writing this book. This will be the focus of our message this morning—what is the purpose of this gospel. What makes it unique? Why did Luke write it? How did Luke know what to write? We’ll take some time to answer these and other questions to help us get a clearer understanding of this book we’re about to study.
I want to invite you to join us online this Thursday evening—December 24th at 5:00 pm—for our Virtual Christmas Eve service. The service will be premiered on both Facebook and YouTube. We have spent the last couple of weeks capturing video of many of you guys so you might want to watch to see if you make the final cut! One of the highlights of the service will be getting to see the Christmas Story through the eyes of some of our children here at Temple Rogers. Again, it is helpful to consider the “Age-Old” story from different perspectives from time to time. That is exactly what I would like to do today—I would like to consider the role of the shepherds in this narrative. Who were they? What did they do? How do they contribute to the overall story? Why were they included?
The Messiah was the promised hope that would bring that freedom to everyone who trusted in Him. God appointed a time before the beginning of time that would be the best case scenario for the Messiah to come to the earth. The Messiah had to come at the right time so that He would fulfill all that was prophesied about Him in the Old Testament and enable the gospel to be spread throughout the known world.
For many years, attempts have been made to disprove the historicity of the man called Jesus of Nazareth—His virgin birth, His sinless life, His gruesome death and His miraculous resurrection. The foundation of the Christian religion is based upon WHO He is, as much as WHAT He taught; so opponents of Christianity have spent countless hours attempting to discredit the claims of Christ followers and bring into disrepute the One we worship as the Messiah—Jesus Christ of Nazareth. What proof do we have for the resurrection of Jesus?