INTRO:
What do you want for Christmas? Get kids responses.
In “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, 4 children enter into the magical land of Narnia, through the back of a large wardrobe in a strange professor’s home. When they arrive it is winter. The children think it is great fun, until they learn that in Narnia it has been winter for 100 years. And with no Christmas! For Narnia has fallen under the magic of the evil witch Jadis, whose reign brings harsh winter conditions to the once beautiful land.
Early on in the story, the children meet Mr and Mrs Beaver and are having a meal with them, tucked away in the Beaver’s lodge, when they begin discussing this seemingly endless winter. In the midst of their discussion – Mr Beaver says the most preposterous thing. He says there is reason for hope – good reason! Why? Because Aslan is on the move. Up to this point the children don’t know who Aslan is or why he should be the source of such hope in the midst of despair – but they see that the very thought of Aslan at work again in Narnia brings hope to the Beavers and other creatures who have not pledged allegiance to the evil Witch.
Most of us here can understand the thought of a winter that never ends. At some point in our lives, things seem to crash around us, and we can lose the most precious possession in the world – hope. It often seems that God is distant from our world. Many things seem out of control. Bad things happen to good people. Evil seems to triumph. Perhaps life seems like a 100-year winter with no hope of Christmas ever coming, let alone springtime!
But let me tell you something. No matter who you are or what the circumstances of your life are - you have reason for hope. Good reason. Why? God is on the move.
That’s what we celebrate at Christmas.
As we heard just a few minutes ago in the reading from the Gospel fo Luke, 2000 years ago God broke through every barrier and sent Jesus, a frail little baby, to perform the important work of establishing His Kingdom once and for all in the lives of humankind.
But when he came, it was much like Aslan’s arrival in Narnia. It was nearly imperceptible to those living in Judea then. For instead of heralding his arrival with loud trumpets in the center of Jerusalem, the Messiah was born in the humblest of ways: to a young Jewish girl, in where the animals were kept, and he was laid in a feeding trough with simple cloths wrapped around him. The angels, when they were finally allowed the opportunity to show themselves to the world, heralded Jesus’ birth to a handful of shepherds! The coming of Jesus was hardly noticed, and that, though it seems crazy to us, is just how God planned it.
This was His plan, because he came for simple and ordinary people, not just for the great and might and powerful. He came into the world quietly, bringing with him that most precious of all commodities: hope.
Hundreds of years before Jesus appeared, the prophet Isaiah looked into the future and spoke about the hope he would bring into the world:
Is. 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned….
Is. 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
God was on the move 2000 years ago, but the good news I’m so glad to share with you tonight is, God is still on the move today! Although the circumstances of your life may seem like winter – there is reason for hope! God has not abandoned our world, and he definitely has not abandoned you. He quietly comes to each of us and offers us hope.
• Hope that he will one day come back and make all things right.
• Hope that you can be forgiven for your sins.
• Hope that one day you can live forever with Him.
• Hope that no matter how wintry your life may feel today, there is hope for a beautiful springtime!
There is hope in this world for one reason and one reason alone.
“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
He sent Jesus to the world because as Romans 6:23 teaches, “The wages of sin is death.” And Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
And it is precisely this sin, willfully chosen by each of us, that causes the world we live in to be under a curse much more real than the fantasy curse of winter in the pretend land of Narnia. This sin introduces darkness into every level of our lives here on earth. This sin puts US under a curse in which we deserve death – spiritual death and separation from God forever in Hell. But remember – “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light”!
Jesus, having lived a perfect life, free from the stain of sin, and therefore free from the curse of spiritual death like the rest of humankind, willingly took upon himself the punishment that each of us deserved. And as he hung on the cross he uttered the words “It is finished” with his dying breath. The death penalty was paid. Humankind could once again come into relationship with God like had always been God’s desire.
All of this comes to us as a gift. Romans 6:23 says “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
ILLUS: I need a child to be a volunteer. Hold gift in front of him/her.
What is this? (a present)
Do you know who it’s for? (me?)
Well this present is for everyone really.
Who is it from? Look at the tag. (It’s from God.)
Now, unlike the presents you have under the tree at home – we can know what is in this present already. The Bible tells us: in this gift from God are eternal life, forgiveness for our sins, hope for our future.
Do you think we should open it or just leave it wrapped up under the Christmas tree? (Open it of course!)
That’s right, because if we don’t open the gift it doesn’t do us any good!
But how do we open this gift that comes from God? When we open gifts under our tree we rip off the paper and then sometimes we have to cut the tape.
Go ahead and rip off the paper and lets get to work on the tape.
How do we open the gift God has given us.
Tape 1: Believe Jesus is the Son of God and that he died and rose again for you.
Rom. 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Tape 2: Repent of your sins.
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Repentance is turning away from your sins. It requires that you feel sorry for the things you’ve done which have broken your relationship with God.
Tape 3: Follow Jesus (be his disciple).
This is really what it meant in Rom. 10:9 when it said if we confess with our mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’. This means to live a life in which Jesus really is the Lord. You learn what he taught, and you follow his teaching.
When we do this, we’re ready now to open up the gift. (Go ahead – pull out Aslan.)
CONCLUSION: On the first Christmas, God entered this world in order to bring hope to every man, woman, and child. Hope comes to all who will believe, repent, and follow, for he gives himself, represented by this little stuffed “Aslan”.
Got hope? If you don’t you can have some tonight – by believing, repenting, and following Jesus. If it is in your heart to open the gift of hope, eternal life, and forgiveness that God offers you, I invite you to pray along with me now.
Let’s pray.
If you prayed, mark the card and/or talk to me after the service.
BENEDICTION:
Eph. 1:18-19 I pray…that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Rom. 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
