I created this series of images for an Advent sermon based on Jeremiah 33:14-16 called, “Where Do We Find Security?” The original lock photo is from a Creative Commons collection. See below for the original psd file to create your own keyhole images with Photoshop.
An image from a sermon based on Mark 1:1-8 signifying that preparing for Christmas is done through repentance as John the Baptist called us to do.
I recently wrote an article on the Incarnation and the Real Presence relative to the Passover, and I took some photos that might be useful to those who’d like to tie “The Word became flesh” to “This is My body.”
Find variants with both paten & chalice here.
Ted Geisel, American writer and cartoonist, at work on a drawing of the grinch for “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Here’s my Christmas Eve sermon from 2009:
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Text: (1 John 4:7-11 ESV) “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
This is the Word of our Lord. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
You’ve probably heard of the Grinch and the whos
That Christmas comes even when we get bad news
But Christmas is more than bright lights and roast beast
And more than friends, family, and songs, at the least!
See, Theodore Geisel’s a great storyteller
That guy, Dr. Seuss, was a talented feller
And as a Luth’ran, he liked Christmas: you said it,
But the Grinch, without Jesus, he just didn’t get it.
We think about Christmas and all of its trappings
The travel, the parties, the gifts and their wrappings
The shopping and hunting for whatnots and Zhu Zhu’s
And running around ’til you ache in your shoe-shoes.
Along with the tree and the stress and the fun
There’s still deeper meaning that’s second to none
How God sent the Savior to save everyone
The Father sent Jesus. He sent us His Son!
See, just like the Grinch, we were born with a defect
A tendency all that is good just to reject
It’s not that our hearts are two sizes too small
Our hearts are so sinful, we’re not live at all.
The heart of a human, in sin it is rooted
And thus it’s all poisoned and gross and polluted
We don’t want to live like a child of the Lord
We get more concerned by the riches we hoard.
Since God knew the problem with which we all suffer
He isn’t the type to just sit on His duffer
He had Him a plan that He knew from the start
He’d handle our sin. He’d clean up our heart.
So just when the time was right, just at that minute
When all was in place, He began to begin it
His Son became flesh, and He came to our earth
He took on our weakness and went through our birth
And although in heaven, He had all kinds of glory,
There’s not much of that in the true Christmas story
To fulfill the Law so to God you’re no stranger,
He was born in a stall and was laid in a manger.
And not far away, there was noise and commotion
While angels appeared and gave shepherds a notion
That God had sent Love not just to all the wealthy,
But to poor folks and sad ones, the weak and unhealthy.
The angel said, “Go,” and the shepherds, they came
And they found a small babe like the angel did claim
And they were so amazed, so they ran through the town
And soon all Bethlehem heard of what they had found.
That the God of the ages in a whole new endeavor
Had become mortal man to give us His forever
He put it aside, all His glory and power
To save people who’d weekly maybe give Him an hour.
Why, you ask, would a God who’s so righteous and mighty
Give Himself for a people whose commitment’s so flighty?
Is it ’cause we possess some great thingamajig?
No. It’s all ’cause His heart’s extranormously big.
Just because God is love in a way we can’t fathom,
And He saw that between us sin had dug a chasm,
He knew that we were lost; hope was beyond diminished,
And the only way was if He started and finished
So that’s why on this day we remember the child
And we sing of the infant, “So tender and mild,”
But the story’s not done. Here’s the part that gets lost:
Being laid in a trough’s only part of the cost.
Because 30 years later, He gets going and preaches,
Heals lepers, cures blindness, gives all kinds of speeches,
To sinners and tax collectors He outreaches,
And walks to a boat that’s far out from the beaches.
And even all that’s not the reason for joy
That we celebrate on this day that little Boy
On the feast of His birth and His first little breath
The real reason we’re feasting is because of His death.
Once again, when the time had been fully fulfilled,
He was hauled off to trial, and He got Himself killed
They attached Him with nails to an old wooden tree,
And He willingly went to redeem you and me.
Because on that old cross, where He hurt, and He bled,
And He suffered from whips and the thorns in His head,
And He suffered until He was finally dead,
There He paid for our sins as the prophets foresaid.
But the story’s not done, no it’s not, don’t you know it?
Since He’d paid with His life for the times that we blow it,
There’s no way death could hold Him, though He didn’t forgo it,
He came out of the grave, life forever to show it!
So with hearts full to bursting, we all share on this night
How the Lord of creation put the devil to flight
By a child in a manger, a cross and a grave
The whole world was forgiven, to sin no more a slave.
And so as you go forth with all your family
And your thoughts wander north and look under the tree,
As the Bible has told through God’s inspired pen,
Love has come down among us, and in His name, Amen.
Now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
I’m preaching on Christmas Eve on Isaiah 9:2-7, and I created this image for use in it. Help yourself if you find it useful.
For a sermon series I did for Advent 2011. It’s designed to use the first and last verses and choosing one of the middle topic verses, not to be sung straight through. Individual verses could also be used, such as a Magnificat substitute.
Celebration Hymn
Tune: In Thee Is Gladness
1
Come celebration, Glad exultation
Join the song of Zion here
Sing, choirs terrestrial, with saints celestial
Word in flesh with us appear
Incarnate lowly, yet ever holy
Lifted up gory, then raised in glory
To reign forever, Alleluia!
Offered for sinners to make us winners
Though we denied Him and crucified Him
He’ll leave us never, Alleluia!
2 (Baby Shower: Mary & Elizabeth)
My soul rejoices; my spirit voices
In the Lord, Who saves my soul
He has concern for all those who yearn for
Israel to be made whole
‘Til time’s arrested, I’ll be called blessed
God blessed the lowly. His name is holy.
Mercy paternal, Alleluia!
He shows His power, Arrogants cower.
He lifts the humble while mighty tumble
Promise eternal, Alleluia!
3 (Dinner Party: Last Supper)
Meal of redemption, Israel’s exemption
Lamb’s blood saved His people then
Promise renewed as traitors like Judas
Plot the Lamb to slay again
Body unleavened of King of heaven
Covenant blood, Thine, in and with the wine
For His remembrance, Alleluia!
Sinners forgiven, new life we’re given
Into His Presence come kings and peasants
For our deliverance, Alleluia!
4 (Wedding: Cana)
Couple united, Jesus invited
Celebrate the wedding feast
Wine jars all finished, contents diminished
Celebration almost ceased
Mary comes pleading for Jesus leading
Water in jars poured trusting the Lord’s Word
Wine transmutation, Alleluia!
Though in form humble for all who stumble
God come in person to take our curse on
Reaffirmation, Alleluia!
5 (Surprise Party: Epiphany) Wise men’s arrival seeking the child
Traveling from lands afar
Stargazing sages seek King of ages
Following the Eastern star
Offer sincere their gifts to revere Him
Worship the One Who’s God’s only Son, too
Lord of all nations, Alleluia!
Though only crawling, to all men calling
Infant has come to die for the ones who
Face accusations, Alleluia!
6 (Birthday Party: Shepherds @ Jesus’ Birth)
Angel appearing while shepherds fearing
Glory shines with holy light
“Fear not! I’ve good news for all from God, Whose
Words will give you joy this night
In David’s city,God has shown pity
Sent you a Savior, given His favor
Laid in a manger, Alleluia!”
Angels come praising, their voices raising
Shepherds arrive, view all as described too
Tell of this Stranger, Alleluia!
7
So lift your voices as earth rejoices
To the Lamb Who once was slain
For He has risen, opened death’s prison
With us endless will remain
Give invitation to every nation
That all may follow and His name hallow
In each endeavor, Alleluia!
Let celebration bring transformation
Sharing His favor with every neighbor
To live forever, Alleluia!
Celebration Hymn by Strength and Song Publishing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
LSBX file for Lutheran Service Builder
Image by bemky via Flickr
A little boy was scared during a thunderstorm. His Mom said to him, “Don’t be scared, God will keep you safe.”
“But Mom!” the little boy cried, “Right now I need a God with skin on!”
At Christmas, when celebrating the coming of Christ into the flesh, into a physical human body, we celebrate that Christ is literally God with skin on. With that skin, He was not only able to touch people tenderly and hug them, He was also able to suffer and bleed in our place for our forgiveness.
And while we still get His touch in Holy Communion, our world still needs a “God with skin on.” St. Paul says that we, the church, are the body of Christ. Even though Jesus has retained His human body forever, He has called us to be “God with skin on” to the world, specifically our own community. (It’s hard to physically touch someone on the other side of the world, no matter how many of their Facebook statuses we like.)
This is a huge honor. When people need Jesus, the Savior of the world, He has sent you to meet that need.
But isn’t that asking too much? Jesus is God. He’s the Creator of the universe, and He sustains all things in His hands. During His three years of ministry, He showed a kind of compassion the world rarely sees but so needs.
So how can we be God to our community? God is holy and perfect and pure! We have trouble going more than a few minutes without a sinful thought or action, and Jesus didn’t have a full-time job and a family!
Yes, Jesus was able to feed thousands like a human soup kitchen, but when the recipients only focused on their stomachs, Jesus went away. Like the child in the story, God has called you to be the ears of Christ that listen to a hurting friend. He has called you to be the shoulder of Christ to bear the burdens of your coworkers. He has called you to be the hands of Christ that help a friend (or an enemy!) in need. And He has called you to be the mouth of Christ that speaks His Word of comfort, forgiveness, and acceptance. And He’s so sure that He can work through you, He brings people into your life for that specific purpose.
Keep an eye open for them. When they need a hand, even a nail-scarred one, reach out with the hand of Christ, and lift them up.
Originally written for Shepherd of the Ridge Lutheran Church, apply these ideas to your local context.
Christmas is almost upon us, but too often, we celebrate God becoming flesh by leaving the malls’ and radios’ music to tell people about Jesus. Yet just today, I heard about a child who doesn’t even know that Christmas has something to do with a baby in a manger. Consider these suggestions to help your friends and family members know why Jesus is the reason for the season.
What suggestions do you have? Leave a suggestion below.
Originally written for Shepherd of the Ridge Lutheran Church, apply these ideas to your local context.
It’s that time of year again, a time to celebrate peace on earth and, if necessary, shove it down your neighbor’s throat. While this year’s controversies seem fewer than previous years’, the question of “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays” vs “whatever holiday you Wannakuh” continue. What’s a Christian to do?
First of all, this is a question of Christian liberty. The simplest answer is, “Whatever you want,” and the answer may be that simple. The Bible doesn’t dictate how to respond to a cashier in a store except with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15) Sadly, we’re sometimes so adamant about making sure people keep “Christ in Christmas” that “Merry Christmas” becomes a battle cry instead of a joyous greeting. You can’t demand that anyone acknowledge or observe a particular holiday any more than you can demand that someone believe that, in Jesus Christ, the infinite God became a human baby.
It seems that we’re more concerned about shopping centers proclaiming Christ than our own lives. Instead of getting angry when the store clerk says, “Happy Holidays,” you have several options:
Whatever you say, say it with joy. God has become man, and since the world crucified Him the first time, we shouldn’t be surprised if they do it again and again, but that’s why He came. Whatever the world happens to say to you, thank God that the same stores that don’t allow their employees to say, “Merry Christmas,” often have, “Oh, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord,” piped over their speakers in the store. Enjoy the irony, and take a moment to pray for those who work and shop in that store, that as they wrap their gifts, they come to know the One who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger to save them.