Visual/Sensory Illustration(s)
Pictures from A Christmas Carol movies
Clips from A Christmas Carol movies
Chains – actual chains hanging around or pictures;
perhaps sound clips of rattling chains
IDEAS for Other Illustrations
Quotes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
IDEAS for Bible Readings, Prayers or Songs
John 16:5-15 – the Spirit will convict and guide
Text:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Context:
In the beginning – this phrase echoes the first verse of the Bible. – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
In the beginning … the Word was God. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
The Word described in these verses is God the Creator of everything. He is the One who formed Adam and Eve in order to share his love with them. They rebelled against God cutting us all off from the source of life. We forgot what our Creator is like and so the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
He came to … his own creation and to his own people, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…. Some people received the Word while others rejected him.
INTRODUCTION: THAT REMINDS ME OF SCROOGE – THE MAN WHO REFUSED TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS.
“Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.”
“The same face: the very same. Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head. The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge
observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.”
The specter raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands.
“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?”
“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?”
Scrooge trembled more and more.
“Or would you know,” pursued the Ghost, “the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have labored on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!”
“The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley’s Ghost; some … were linked together; none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a doorstep. The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever.”
Citation: A Christmas Carol, Stave 1: Marley’s Ghost
Every time Scrooge and Marley preferred profits to people, they added another link to their eternal chain. But once Scrooge saw how wrong his choices had been and how to live in the future everything changed for him.
“‘I don’t know what to do!’ cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laocoon of himself with his stockings. ‘I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!’”
“He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk – that anything – could give him so much happiness.”
“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh…. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.”
“… it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of … all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”
Citation: A Christmas Carol, Stave 5: The End of It
Every time Scrooge and Marley chose money over people, they added another link to their eternal chains. But, once Scrooge saw how wrong his choices had been and how to live in the future everything changed for him.
Over 2000 years ago, Jesus came to … his own creation and to his own people, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…. Some people received the Word while others rejected him. Those who rejected Jesus forged chains that enslaved them for time and eternity. Those who received Jesus were set free from their chains.
Key Question: That raises a very important question.
How does a person receive or reject Jesus? Is it a matter of refusing or learning to celebrate Christmas like it Scrooge? Or, does our relationship with Jesus go deeper?
A. Every time we prefer to know a fact about Jesus rather than to connect with him personally, we forge another link in the chain that keeps us from him. When we seek to connect with Jesus, we are free to receive him.
B. Every time we choose not to pray, we reject him. When we pray and trust God to take care of our needs, we welcome Jesus onto our lives.
C. Every time we complain about our circumstances, we add another link to the chain that keeps us from him. When we praise God and thank him for his loving grace, we are free to receive Jesus.
D. Every time we gossip about or insult our friends and family, we reject him. When we bless our friends and family with words of encouragement, we receive Jesus.
E. Every time we ask God to bless our plans instead of finding his plan, we forge another link in the chain that keeps us from Jesus. When we surrender our plans to God and do our best to find his plan, we welcome him into our lives.
F. Every time we make it a priority to satisfy our desires rather than shaping our lifestyles by Jesus’ teachings, we reject him. When we seek to fulfill our desires according to God’s principles, we receive Jesus.
G. Every time we choose to play it safe instead of doing the right thing, we reject Jesus. When we reject what many people call “normal” and do what Jesus teaches us to do, we receive him.
H. Every time we allow fear and distrust to guide our decisions, we forge another link in the chain that keeps us from him. When we choose obedience to God over our own comfort and security, we are free to receive Jesus.
I. Every time we exert our independence and seek to control others, we cut ourselves off from Jesus and others. When we recognize our dependence on God and others, we receive Jesus.
Thesis:
You and I can receive Jesus with each decision we make.
CONCLUSION:
On the one hand, every choice you and I make can enchain us – keeping us bound in loneliness and separated from Jesus.
On the other hand, every choice we make can set us free to welcome Jesus into our lives.
REPENTANCE POINT: How should we change?
Many Christians have bought into the idea that receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior in a one-time event. They believe that receiving baptism, becoming a church member, or saying the sinner’s prayer sometime makes them a follower of Jesus. But, the sum total of our choices indicates our response to him.
On the one hand, no matter what happened in the past, if we make choices that reject Jesus, we are forging a chain that will keep us from him.
On the other hand, no matter what happened in the past, if we make choices that receive Jesus, he sets us free to live as God’s children.
NEXT STEPS: What are the first steps in this REPENTANCE POINT {paradigm shift or change in our thinking}?
Each person here needs to make an honest assessment of his or her life. Are your choices rejecting Jesus or receiving him?
Invite the Holy Spirit to convict you where you’ve been making wrong choices.
Confess your need of Jesus’ forgiveness and direction in your life.
Welcome the Holy Spirit to guide and teach you how to live as a dearly loved child of God.
RESPONDING TO GOD: What can we do right now?
Let’s take some time right now to connect with Jesus in quiet prayer. You may prayer here at the altar rail or in your seats. But wherever you pray, don’t miss this opportunity to receive Jesus.
