Christmas

John 1:1-14, The Word Became Flesh

“The Word became flesh.” With these simple yet profound words, John begins to show the eternal significance of the Christmas story: the eternal and uncreated Son of God took on humanity, dwelt among ordinary people, and revealed the glory of God in the fullness of His grace and truth. In this sermon, we conclude with the apex of the grace of God in Christ: Shared sonship. Christ shares with us His nearness to the Father and gives us the right to become the children of God (1:12). He does so by paying the ultimate price of the cross to take away our sins as “the Lamb of God” (1:29). Jesus speaks the truth of God and grants to us what we do not deserve, the grace of God in sonship. This is the Christmas story according to the Apostle John.

Matthew 2:1-12, The Challenge of Christmas

In this familiar Christmas story of the magi and king Herod, we see two diametrically opposed responses to the Messiah. They both had a knowledge of the Messiah by the providence of God, but one responded with worship and the other with suspicion and an attempt to exterminate the Messiah. Matthew presents to us the Messiah as the Savior and King whom people either humbly worship (as the magi did) or repudiate Him (as Herod did). How will you respond to the Lord this Christmas season, as you are also bombarded with the knowledge of the Son of God who has come to save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21)? This is the challenge of Christmas.