One of the downsides of spending the last 24 years preaching at only 2 churches (14.5 in Cedar Rapids, now closing in on 9.5 in Sioux City) is that preaching over the holidays gets to be a little difficult. My people have heard pretty much every sermon I’ve got in my arsenal, some of them twice! So, the Christmas season is coming and I’m looking for some fresh ideas and new perspectives on seasonal sermons. Here’s some of my observations and thoughts about Christmas preaching:
1) Many of you in the younger whippersnapper crowd eschew preaching Christmas messages (or others based on extra-biblically established holidays). I can understand that. When I’m in the middle of sermon series I sometimes resent pulling away from that series to preach my annual Arbor Day message. I do far fewer special event sermons than I used to, but I still like to focus on the story of the incarnation of Christ, the birth narratives, for anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks in December.
So, I’m gonna preach some Christmas messages this year. Likely at least 3, perhaps a fourth. That’s the plan.
2) I realize that I can reuse and update old sermons. Believe me, I’ve done that. But I function under the theory that the well of God’s truth is inexhaustible and I want to find something fresh. So, I’m trying to come up with some new, fresh perspectives on Christmas.
3) I hate sappy and sentimental sermons. Okay, there’s a certain amount of nostalgia and sentiment that are necessarily attached to this holiday, but I want my messages to have biblical meat and expositional value, not just be trite messages about Christmas themes. I know “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” but I want something a little more meaty than that!
So, I’m wondering a few things:
1) What are you doing this Christmas season? Why? Does your church go all out with Yuletide cheer, or do you hang a few wreaths around the sanctuary and continue with business as usual?
2) What is your preaching plan this year? If it’s good, are you willing for me to copy it and pretend it was all mine (kidding, folks, kidding). I don’t preach others’ sermons, but I wouldn’t mind some great Christmas message ideas.
3) Have you had some sermon ideas/series in the past that were particularly well received?
One request (that sits on the border of being a command!). If you aren’t crazy about an idea someone shares, just ignore it. If someone puts up a sermon series idea and you think its stupid, just keep it to yourself. I could see a little bit of iron on iron being helpful, but being hyper-critical of another’s sermon just isn’t necessary.
Tell me what you think!
I’m expecting creativity that will knock my socks off – all in an environment of sound exegesis and biblically faithful hermeneutics.
I’m not asking for much, folks.
Dave, we will be focusing on “Reconciliation”….
A Seasoned Reminder in Reconciliation
I. God’s Season
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. NASB
II. Immersed in Grace
“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” NASB
III. Reconciled to Life
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” NASB
……………..
I’ll expound these three themes (three weeks of messages) and emphasize the reconciliation of Jesus, who he is, why he came, and what gift comes to mind when Christmas is uttered.
Our church focusing on ministry opportunities with several of the missions we are involved in during this time each year. We hope to foster the same type of focus all year long for each member, thus the reminder of reconciliation and the beauty of life with the Son.
Heroes responses to Jesus…compared with our own…
1. He WAs curious…so are some today
2. He claimed to want to worship Jesus…so do many today.
3. He tried to kill Jesus…SURPRISE…you’re right, we didn’t try to kill Jesus…by our sin, we succeeded! Our sin succeeded where Herod failed. Yet it was the very means of our redemption.
Should be Herod…
So you are saying that your hero is Herod?
(See what I did there?)
I think you should preach on the hay on which the baby Jesus was laid and how when the donkeys ate it they became a super race of angelic animal beings with long ears from which they could shoot lightning bolts…………oh, wait…….that may be a little too creative. (just kidding, people)
Awesome.
I already preached a sermon on Jar Jar Binks. You can come up with something better than that. HAHAHAHAHA
Jar Jar? That’s worse than National Lampoon.
What other angelic animal with long ears, is there?
jle
I almost hate to ask……..but, here goes: A sermon on JarJar Binks? Really?
Dale,
It was in response (in humor or attempted humor) to the angelic creature with long ears. Jar Jar Binks came to mind so I threw caution to the wind and submitted a silly but not serious comment.
jle
Not my notes–I’d have to look those up, but I like Revelation 12 for an out of the ordinary Christmas passage.
I’m preaching out of Revelation 12 this December.
…because when I polled the congregation to ask them what our Christmas celebrations needed, the number one response was “more dragons.”
I preached a Revelation 12 Christmas message a few years ago. What’s funny is that most paintings depicting the nativity scene include the wise men but exclude Satan.
You won’t go wrong with more dragons…
Mike/Bart
Just curious. How do you understand the Woman? (If I am hijacking the thread ignore)
I think the woman is Israel. I think the child is Christ. I think the dragon is Alex Rodriguez.
“I think the dragon is Alex Rodriguez.”
…and all God’s people said, Amen!
I’m with Bart, but I understand the dragon to be Peyton Manning…
Dave I use a three year rotation for Christmas. Advent one year. Character studies one year. Christmas movies one year.
This year is the Christmas movie theme. We take scenes from 4 different Classic Christmas movies and tie them to an aspect of the Christmas story. So for example: this year we are doing a scene from Elf, Its a Wonderful Life, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, and Jingle All the Way.
It’s fun and festive. The clips are really just the jumping off point to go to the texts.
Hope that helps.
You did NOT preach a sermon from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!!
Heretic! Heretic!
Citizen’s arrest. Citizen’s arrest.
Ladies and Gentlemen this morning I will be sharing with you the Gospel according to Warner Brothers.
I said we ought to be nice, but I think Ryan needs a little harassment! So, go for it.
And well played, Dean.
Lol. Yep. It actually has some funny teachable moments.
And you’re not the first to be “outraged” I had a perspective worship leader I was interviewing literally RUN out of the Starbucks where we were meeting when I mentioned the sermon based on the movie.
Needless to say he didn’t get the job. 🙂
Harass away.
I’ve chosen to ignore the Christmas season and continue my series through “Your Best Life Now”
Nice.
“Your best life now is only if you are going to hell….Oh and Merry Xmas!”
LOL
My advice is to quote Philippians 3:1, and then preach an old sermon.
I need new friends!
Since I guess I fall in the “younger whippersnapper” crowd who would be fine dodging Christmas messages altogether, I thought it would be fun to offer some thoughts here. Here are two ideas that I hope to try some day.
1.
Christmas message/series from John 1. This should be obvious to any serious exegete, so I’d expect Dave has already done this. However, since John gives us the birth of Christ from a more eternal perspective it can still offer fresh perspective to the average listener. I sort of did this at the rescue mission in Birmingham a year or two back and it was received pretty well.
2.
Step through the Old Testament looking at special sons with the goal of finding the one that will fulfill Genesis 3:15. Will it be Isaac? Will it be Joseph? Will it be Moses? Will it be Moses? Will it be David? Will it be Hezekiah? Show how they all move God’s plan of redemption forward but ultimately leave us hanging still wanting and needing something greater. If you take a very kingly view close out with the genealogy in Matthew. If it’s more generic go to Luke. If you want to highlight the eschatological climax then head to John 1 or maybe even something from Revelation.
I’d also be curious if anyone has done something similar and how it worked out.
Oops! The second Moses there should have been Joshua. I definitely wouldn’t want to leave him out of a series leading up to Jesus!
Dave Miller,
If you use any of the suggestions and outlines given here – you’d better cite where they came from! 😉
Seriously,
I am sure you have already used it…but Galatians 3 – 4:7 might supply you with a series that is not sappy – but quite meaty.
You could coordinate the Galatians 4:1-7 for “Christmas Sunday” (It does highlight the incarnation in the text.)
1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,a though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
I have typically done Advent emphases, with 3-4 themed sermons (depending on scheduling of Christmas musicals). Some series that come back to mind:
the Firsts of Christmas (1st promise-Gen 3; 1st Christmas present-Mary’s willing response; 1st nowell; and 1st witnesses-the shepherds).
The four verses of Joy to the World.
The Miracles of Christmas (barren womb opened-Elizabeth; virgin birth; angelic host; sign in the heavens-wise men).
Missions emphasis one year (Missionary heart of God, gift of God, Plan of God).
Philippians 2:5-11 (the eternal Christ, the humbled Christ, the obedient Christ, the exalted Christ).
I’m not a preacher, but like to consider the Incarnation from thte viewpoints of Mary and Joseph. That would be good for two weeks!
Dave ….. I am surprised at you. I do not imagine that you get tired of Jenny saying to you ” I love you!” God saying to us “I love you! I am sending my son to you!” should not be a tiresome message but rather one that warms our hearts every time we hear it. Get cute or novel in your “Arbor Day message” but be very straight forward with the Christmas story. Cut through Santa Clause, Rudolph, mistletoe and holly and the maddening gift exchanges and share the message that never getys old. Just the opinion of one old timer who has heard more Christmas messages than you have had an opportunity to preach.
I have a couple of suggestions. First you could do a series about misconceptions concerning the Christmas story. Or you could preach through some of the great Christmas hymns from a biblical basis of course.
Dave,
1. Christmas past. The Christmas that led to your greatest gift.
2. Christmas present. The Christmas you can receive your greatest gift.
3. Christmas future. A time you long for the Christmas gift.
Dave, this is one sermon, and folks will get saved. You may use it any way you like. I’m not giving you the ABC’s under each number because that is what makes it unique for me. You can make it unique to you if you wish.
Dave,
I’m thinking that you could do something around the saying, “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets it’s wings.”
David
Brilliant!
Nerds
YES!
A series which accompanied the advent candle themes was one that worked well for me in the past.
I did a four week series where in working with the choir, the message and song for that day was determined by a gift opened by one of our children. In that git box was a present that represented a sermon I would preach and one the choir would sing about. A little work had to go into this to pull it off (mainly for the choir) but again, the people found it filled with anticipation.
Last years presents were:
1 – A drum – message on announcing the coming King (His name shall be called Emmanuel…)
2 – A star – The shepherds story (told from their perspective)
3 – A present – An evangelical message (a wrapped box within a wrapped box)
4 – A small toy chair (representing Joseph and telling the story from His perspective)
Sorry but I do not remember the songs the music minister chose but the choir got excited about being ready for any of them on the given Sunday.The children got excited about opening a gift and having me share a children’s message for it before they left to CC. The people got excited wondering if we could pull it off.
Just a thought.
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Christmas/christmas.html
Consider teaching on the timing of Jesus’ birth in regard to Sukkot. This sight gives a few viewpoints so is not pushing one as certain.
We do Advent Series each year beginning the Sunday following Thanksgiving. Last year I did Psalms that spoke about Messiah – Psalm 2; 8; 72; 23; 22
Also have done Isaiah’s Prophecies concerning the Messiah – chs. 7; 11; 40; 9
This year will be doing how the Messiah was to come as Prophet, Priest, and King, connecting OT passages with the Birth Narratives, Gospel of John, Hebrews, etc.
I typically do the birth narrative (some variation) at our Christmas Eve service each year.
Certainly not original or cutting edge, but I had a good time using Phil. 2:5-11 as a text for Christmas sermon.
At the risk of offending and sounding “preachy”, I would like to share something that has been on my mind since this topic was posted. Please do not read attacks or any sort of mean spiritedness, that is truly not my intent.
I am convinced that we pastors today need to “dare to be unoriginal”.
We don’t have to spice up sermons and lessons – we only need to be faithful in preaching the gospel as “once and for all delivered to the saints.”
I tell young pastors that I come into contact with that being unoriginal in your messages is a good thing – so long it is properly connected to the original.
I think we sometimes worry too much about these things. Should we prepare, should we polish our presentations so they do not defame the message or the author of the message – ABSOLUTELY – but I know that I have at times been held captive to a more worldly approach of entertaining (in the sense of “wowing the audience”) to preaching and teaching than I think is healthy.
Scripture is sufficient, Scripture is already relevant – we do not have to “make it so.”
Tarheel,
I don’t usually commend comments, I prefer just the opposite. I have to say, great comment. We all need to pay attention to what you just said.
I understand some on Voices don’t preach Christmas messages. All I have to say is shame on you if you can’t celebrate Christ’s birthday with a Christmas message. Your church might want to hear a good Christmas message. Jesus was probably born in the summer, but that makes no difference as long as we have a day set aside to celebrate.
Tarheel
I like your comment. The disclaimer that I prefaced my above comment with illustrates your point of our (my) fear of not being original. In thinking of this perhaps we need to realize that Christmas comes only once a year, so perhaps our sermons are not getting old.
My wife and I for the least 20 years have celebrated our anniversary by eating at “Jakes” here in Billings. Every year! But hey, it does not get old because it is JAKES and it comes only once a year.
I typically preach expositionally through books, and don’t repeat. I don’t stop at every holiday, just Christmas and Easter, mainly.
I do repeat a christmas sermon every year, starting at Gen 3 when a son was promised, and showing how they looked for him at every turn. From Cain to Noah to Abraham, Moses, etc. How the prophets foretold of one to come “Whose breath of his lips would slay the wicked” and “this one who would be our peace”
I show how the drum beats through the OT He’s coming, He’s coming, He’s coming. And then after the 400 yrs of silence angels come annoucning “He’s here!” I try to encourage people to remember the wait for the Messiah, and how we wait for him to come again.
The other sundays of Christmas are taken with kids service, and other Christmas sermons, many of which people have mentioned here. Galatians, Shepherds, Wisemen, Mary, Joseph, etc
In years past, before this church, I have done a shepherd monologue, basically delivering a sermon dressed as a shepherd, from his point of view. I have not done that in the 3 years I’ve been here, but might do it on a Sunday night.
You can preach an Advent series from the Old Testament. There’s plenty of material there from the creation in Genesis 1, the promise of Genesis 3 to fallen mankind, the typology throughout, the wisdom of Proverbs, the heart of the Psalmist, the prophesies of the prophets… It helps illustrate how Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets in the incarnation.
You can preach the first “second coming of Christ” in the Great Commission as a pattern of the first coming of Christ. That is to say that there is a natural link between Pentecost and Advent. We too often long for Christ’s return without understanding that we are to usher in the first coming of Christ through evangelism into the lives of people who don’t know him.
You can do a series investigating different aspects of how he was received represented by different people at the time of his birth: Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and wise guys are obvious ones. But there’s also John the Baptist in utero, Elizabeth and Zachariah, Simeon, Herod, etc. You can tie in how various people received him during his ministry. The goal is to ask to the question: How do we receive him today?
Here is a suggestion, get two Christmas sermons and swap them out every year. If you think your church will remember them I would suggest you think again. Most people will not remember a sermon from four weeks ago, but all of this is beside the point. Just pray and ask God what he wants and not what we want.
Jess
Alas….I suspect you are correct….sometimes I don’t remember what I preached last month.
I’m beginning to work today on a christmas sermon on 2 Cor 1:20
“…for in Him all the promises of God are yes…”
Various translations say it different ways, but it’s a great verse. (as if there are bad ones!)