"KEEPING FOCUSED ON JESUS DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON"
Revelation 4:1-11
Posted November 18, 2000
Our four-year-old granddaughter, Susan, had been engrossed in drawing a picture of the Nativity scene and finally took it to her father for his approval. "Why, it's excellent, Susan," he said. "But why is one of St. Joseph's legs so much longer than the other?"
"Oh, he's stamping his foot," she explained. "He wanted a girl
As Christians, Christmas is a very important time of year for us. Yet, even we who have the most to celebrate at Christmas may find it rather difficult to separate the traditions of our nation, and those of our faith.
We all want Jesus to have first place in our lives and affections all year round. We certainly don't want it to be different now at Christmas.
Yet, it is so easy to get caught up in the holiday spirit, without spending any time thinking about Jesus.
If it hadn't been for Jesus, there wouldn't even be a Christmas would there?
If there hadn't been a Jesus, then there just wouldn't be a Christmas, my, there wouldn't be...
•a cross
•or any blood
•or a burial
•or a tomb
•or an empty tomb.
•There would be no reason to celebrate anything at all.
What would life be without Jesus
Thank God we do not have to spend any time worrying about that. There is a Jesus. He is God in the flesh. He gave his life on Calvary, and he rose from the dead.
Well, how do we keep things in perspective for the next few weeks? With all the hoopala going on around us? How do we today, tomorrow, and all year around keep Jesus where He wants to be?
Perhaps, we could take a look at Revelation 4. What a marvelous story we find in this understandable chapter of Revelation.
The picture is that of a heavenly scene. A photograph of worship. God is the object of the worship, and those who are worshipping are the 4 living creatures & the 24 elders. Let's listen in to what's happening in heaven.
Read the text
In this great passage from the throne room of heaven we can discover 3 ways to keep focused on Jesus through the Christmas season, as well as all year round.
Oh, it's so easy to get sidetracked. So caught up in the rush of Christmas. I love Christmas. It’s a fun time of year. But, the challenge is to keep Jesus first. To not allow a Christmas to pass us by, and then later wonder, what in the world happened, I never even thought of the Christ-child.
There are three great things we can focus on to keep Jesus front and center this Christmas season. The first is...
1. he is worthy of Glory (11)
You are worthy Oh Lord, to receive glory...
•Glory is....giving Jesus praise.
We sing, "We will glorify the king of kings, we will glorify thy name, we will glorify the kings of kings, who is the great I am."
•Glory is...recognizing His worth.
"Worthy, thou art worthy, King of Kings, Lord of Lord, thou are worthy..."
•Glory is...allowing God to have all the credit he deserves.
•Glory is...thanking the Lord for all He has done in our lives. In the lives of our family. The lives of our friends. In the lives of those we worship with.
"Thank you Lord for saving my soul...thank you Lord for making me whole,thank you lord for giving to me, thy great salvation so full and free"
Listen to David put it in words for us: Psalm 29:1-2
"Give unto the Lord, the glory due his name..."
How do we do that?
Maybe it's not some magical or spiritual formula. Not a long list of good deeds to outweigh the long list of sins. But, allowing our God to be in the place in our hearts and minds he desires and deserves to be. Perhaps it's as simple as allowing the Lord to be first in our lives.
"Give the Lord the glory due his name..."
This is what we want to do, all year round.
A key, a hint, may be, the phrase, "Worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness" Isn't that a wonderful passage?
•Do we see the beauty of Jesus?
•Do we see the majesty of his holiness?
•Do we want too? Long too? Desire too?
Can we say like the Psalmist...Psalm 42:1 "My soul longs for you...? Just as the deer pants for the water brooks....my soul Dear God, it pants for you...
That's exactly what we want. How do we arrive at this place. I have to tell you it's never easy.
The path to the brook where our spiritual thirsts are quenched, are narrow paths, steep paths, and not all that well worn. It takes time to go there. Often, we're too tired to attempt the trip, and we remain thirsty, parched, worn, weary, in need of refreshment only the Lord can offer.
But we want to go there, to the beautiful brook of time alone with God. To spend time alone with him, to drink of the clearest and freshest water, and rest in the greenest of grass. To feel the shade on a warm day, and His warmth when it's cool...well, that's nothing less than giving him he glory that is due His name.
In the rush and demands of the Christmas season, find time alone at the brook of God. There, by yourself, "Give unto the lord the glory that is due his name."
Worship him there "in the beauty of his holiness..."
• Sing to him • Read the scripture to him • Praise His name. • Thank Him • Write poety to him • Write love songs to him and about him • Love Him.
And if we can do this, now, during the busiest of seasons, well, an amazing thing may occur in your life. You may find the path to the brook of God, in the next few weeks and in the months ahead to become well worn.
You are worthy Oh Lord, to receive glory...
There are three great things we can focus on to keep Jesus front and center this Christmas season. The next is...
2. He is worthy of Honor (11b)
•This sounds so right.
•But, what does it mean?
•How do we "honor" him?
•hat's involved in "honoring" Jesus?
Two older men were discussing the aging process. One said, "Sure my hair has become gray, but I'm not bald like you are. The other responded, "That is true, but hair preferred death to dishonor."
It gets a bit confusing this time of year when we find ourselves "honoring" Christmas and Santa Claus. Now please don't misunderstand, I enjoy this season, but remember, our theme today is how do we keep focused on Jesus during this busy time of year?
Let's ask ourselves, "What did the 4 living creatures & the 24 elders do to honor Jesus?"
Well the 4 living creatures did this - vrs 6-8
The 24 elders "fall down before him who sits on the throne"
They "worship him who lives forever and ever"
They lay their crowns before the throne...
Oh, folks, see this picture. These 24 elders represent men who are worthy of honor in their own right. They have "crowns". But see how they honor Jesus. They lay their crowns, i.e., their honor, before the throne of Jesus. By doing so they are saying that regardless of who they are, what title they wear, what accomplishments they have achieved, there is really only one who is worthy of honor, and that is the Lamb of God.
To honor Jesus in our lives and in our time, it would be easy if we had crowns to take off and lay at the altar.
But, most of us don't have a crown to bring. Yet, we can honor Jesus, just as significantly as the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders are doing. How?
Well one man put together this list.... We honor God by:
1. Trusting Christ as Savior - Eph 2:8-9
2. Doing good works - Eph 2;10
3. Using proper speech - Eph 4:29
4. Avoiding the wrong places - Ps 1:1
5. Doing all things for his glory - Col 3:23
6. Thinking the right thoughts - Phil 4:8
7. Being an obedient child of the King - Jn 14:15
Perhaps we could summarize it by saying that honoring Jesus Christ is as simple as committing our life to Him as Savior and Lord.
You see, when we do this, and as we renew that commitment daily, we are saying:
•regardless of who we are
•what title we wear
•or what accomplishments we have achieved….
…We are really empty and void without Jesus in our lives. When we crown him our King, then everything else begins to fit into place. Our attitudes, our thinking, our behavior, our speech, all begin to reflect that He is King.
That is honor. And you know, Jesus is worthy of being honored. Not just on December 25th, but every single day for the rest of our lives.
He is worthy of glory, and honor, but let’s look at one more this morning…
3. He is worthy of Power [11]
Look at his power! Awesome
"for you created all things..." - Power!
"and my your will they were created." Power
Last week a preacher pal shared a story with me. It's about a family with an alcoholic husband. The wife was taken to the doctor because she had been hurt by her husband in one of drinking episodes. He was arrested. Hauled off to jail. When he was released, he called for preacher to come out. He knew there was something missing in his life that alcohol could never give him. They studied and prayed together. They spent 7 weeks studying the gospel. He was recently baptized into Jesus, and the family is together now and in Church each Sunday. That’s power
Power. God allows us to experience his power in our lives. We have the power to be all God wants us to be. In and of ourselves? No! But listen to this passage.
Phil 4:13 "for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power." (TLB)
Grab a hold of this passage and don’t let go of it. If you’ve never heard it before it may be the best Christmas present you are going to receive this year!
You might wonder, "well what did Paul know about all this power stuff?'
2 Cor 12:7-10 What a testimony.
This Christmas season, and all year round, remember, Jesus came not so we could celebrate his birth, but so we could experience the power of God in our lives. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas, but there must be something wrong with never experiencing the power of God in our lives.
So we could through the power of God come to be the person God has planned for us to be.
I thank God for the power of Jesus in the life of the drunken husband. But, I don't want anyone to leave here believing we have to be terrible people with horrible sins in our lives to experience the power of God. The truth is, most who come to Jesus are good people, who love their family, their children, and know about Jesus. They, like you simply come to the place where we realize we can never on our own experience God. We can never on our own be good enough to merit our salvation. We like everyone else, need Jesus Christ, and His power in our lives.
•Have you experienced the power of God in your life?
Did you realize you have in Jesus the power and he strength to do whatever he calls you:
•to do
•to be
•to quit
•to begin
•It's true!
You might like Paul, say, I'm too weak, I can't do it. That's okay. Thank God you recognize your weakness'. That's when God's power can really begin to work.
What a Lord! What a Jesus!
Personal Application
This Christmas season, lets not allow ourselves to lose focus of Jesus. For as they say, "He's the reason for the season."
•He alone is worthy of our glory
•He alone is worthy of our honor
•He alone is worthy of power.
This Christmas why don't we commit to establishing a personal pathway to the brook of God, to drink from the refreshing steams and rest there in the lush field of his presence.
For some the path way may be a bit overgrown with weeds, and it's been awhile since we've been in the presence of God. Not because we don't love him, but we've been so busy. Let’s determine to change that right now, this morning, this very moment.
Let’s determine to understand a little more about the power God wants to have in our lives through Jesus. Get a grip on Phil 4:13
"for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power." (TLB)
Imagine what God can do in your life in Jesus….
Let's renew giving him glory, honor and power.
Let’s not allow another Christmas season to pass us by without giving Him glory, honor, and power!
Would you pray with me this morning? I will share this prayer, and you can make it yours too as I pause you can say these words quietly in your heart…
Dear Jesus…
You alone are worthy of glory, honor, and power. I renew my commitment to giving you glory, honor, and power in my life. Lord, help me to reestablish those times near the brook, the quiet waters of your presence. The path to the brook in my life has a few weeds, and I want to remove them today and be in your presence more often. Jesus, I want to experience your power in my life. You know where it needs to be exercised, Lord’s it in the are of (name it today quietly). I claim the promise that I can do everything through Jesus who is my strength. Lord, help me to be focused this Christmas season and all year round on you.
I love you. Amen
Closing Song:
Return to Sermon Page
Return to FBC Homepage