From the staff here at Sermon Player we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. We are wrapping up our National Share Beyond Sunday Campaign. It has been a year of giving for us and we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you. Thank you for participating in our campaign to give the gift of the gospel to the entire world.

Let me encourage you during this holiday season to take some time off both mentally and physically and truly enjoy this season. This time of year is one of the busiest for our churches but we need to take time with our families and remember just what it is we are celebrating.

I was thinking this week of how stressful that time must have been for Mary and Joseph making a long journey to Bethlehem to pay their taxes! If the trip were not enough strain for Joseph and the very pregnant Mary how about the stress of going to meet with your family and enduring some of the shame that would be accompanied by a pregnancy that was impossible to explain. When they arrive in Bethlehem they find the streets crowded and no room for them to stay in the inn. I’m sure Joseph wanted to provide the very best for Mary and the soon to come child. However, when it was all said and done we see them resting in a barn after having given birth to the Son of God. Imagine the thoughts going through the heads of these two very young new parents. How can we properly care for the Messiah? How can we ever please God while raising His Son? They must have been thinking on Him, their new son, and what His life was going to be like. You and I are no different, the day Jesus came into our lives we had to become less about us and more about Him. He is the reason we celebrate Christmas, He alone can bring the joy of this season. Once He comes into a life that life is never the same. Mary and Joseph would be reminded throughout His life of just how different life had become since the Savior had come into the world.

In one particular scene in Luke chapter 2 we see the stress of raising this child. Jesus is no where to be found and they begin to look for their young son. What a reminder it must have been that He was no ordinary child. Three days after noticing He is gone they found Him in the Temple with the scribes and doctors asking and answering questions. The bible says all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. Mary and Joseph upon finding Jesus began to tell Him of their sorrow thinking He was lost. Once again they are reminded that His purpose was to fulfill the will of God and He was about His Father’s business.

In this Christmas season let’s focus on Jesus. Christmas truly is being about the Father’s business. You can’t make a difference in another’s life without Him. Mary and Joseph did a lot of this worrying and wondering , stressed over every situation but each time they were reminded God is in control. Hustling to buy the best gift for someone ultimately won’t make them happy or give them joy. I polled some young adults in my Sunday School class recently and asked them to name the top five gifts they had received in Christmas’ past and not one of them could name more than one or two items. If we keep the season in perspective and keep our eyes on the Christ Child we will truly know the joy of this Christmas season. Take some time with your children, grandchildren tell them why we celebrate. Tell them what the tree represents, tell them why we give gifts. Let them know that everything we do this time of year should serve as a reminder that Jesus Christ came to earth to live among us so we could all receive the free gift of salvation. All this being said perhaps it is time to sit down and enjoy the season remembering that while we’re about His business He is in control and He will take care of the details we so often worry about.

Blessings from the Sermon Player team and have a Christmas filled with the joy that only Christ can give.