Sermon Tone Analysis

Series Review

What an extraordinary story—mysterious Magi, traveling from the East, an astronomical phenomenon appearing to guide their way, and gifts offered to the infant Messiah.

Giving : that’s what this series has been about.

Our Christmas sermon series has been following the December Sunday School lessons the children are learning this month.

The Big Give.

On the Second Sunday of Christmas, we continue to celebrate the mysterious miracle of God taking on human flesh and being born of the virgin Mary in a town called Bethlehem, to save His people from their sins!

What an extraordinary story—wise men traveling from the East, a star appearing to guide their way, and gifts offered to the Messiah.

Giving : that’s what this series has been about.

This same Jesus eventually gave His life for our sake.

This is the basis of our generosity.

God loved us so much that he gave.

We love God so much that we give.

That’s how we demonstrate our love towards God.

Giving is a grateful response to what God has given to us.

This same Jesus eventually gave His life for our sake.

This is the basis of our generosity.

God loved us so much that he gave.

We love God so much that we give.

That’s how we demonstrate our love towards God.

Giving is a grateful response to what God has given to us.

This month our children have been focusing on a specific verse.

Read it with me:

Sermon Intro

Sermon Intro

I trust that you all are having a Merry Christmas.

Notice I said that in the present tense.

All families have Christmas traditions, and I remember one Sharpe family tradition growing up was going to grandmas for dinner on Christmas Eve.

We would open presents afterwards and then grandma sharpe would break out the red velvet cake and Pepsi.

And our parents wondered why we couldn’t sleep that night.

Another tradition was trying to convince grandpa that Christmas wasn’t over.

Christmas isn’t over.

In fact for our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ it doesn’t begin until next Sunday, which is the day our Christmas season ends.

We call it Epiphany, when God revealed to the wise men that Christ was born, and it comes later on the Christian calendar because the wise men probably came a little while after the shepherds.

One year I wanted to emphasize this day by having a 12th night party, ever have one of those?

You have some guests dress up like kings, you eat a kings cake and you tell the story Marti just told us.

Then the people dressed like kings would hand out gifts.

I trust that you all are having a Merry Christmas.

Notice I said that in the present tense.

All families have Christmas traditions, and I remember one Sharpe family tradition growing up was going to grandmas for dinner on Christmas Eve.

We would open presents afterwards and then grandma sharpe would break out the red velvet cake and Pepsi.

And our parents wondered why we couldn’t sleep that night.

Another tradition was trying to convince grandpa that Christmas wasn’t over.

This morning I want us to take a look at these gift givers.

The sermon title is “Give like you are giving to god.”

The Magi are a good example of what that means.

Who are these givers?

This actually very important.

We can’t fully appreciate the familiar story without knowing this.

Matthew tells us that they came from the east.

They probably came from Babylon, who had an advanced understanding of astronomy.

In those days, astronomy was closely related to astrology.

This seems odd to us, but if you think about, Americans still read horoscopes.

Many Americans can’t name the twelve disciples, but they can tell you whether they are a Leo, a Pisces, or an Aquarian.

We don’t know their names or how many there were (many traditions)Magi were a type of priest in their culture, serious students of the stars, and they interpreted them.

These were the guys who wrote the daily horoscopes for the Baghdad Gazette.

We don’t know their names or how many there were (many traditions)Magi were a type of priest in their culture, serious students of the stars, and they interpreted them.

These were the guys who wrote the daily horoscopes for the Baghdad Gazette.

In other words, they were outsiders, the last people you would expect to see coming to see the newborn king.

They were sorcerers and astrologers, practices that God had outlawed.

And yet they are examples for God’s people.

They are gift givers, and they show us how to give.

They are Obedient Givers

Generosity should be a reflection of what we believe.

If we believe that the church is the family of god, then we want to be a part of that.

If we believe that the church is Gods primary mechanism for transforming the world, then that’s where we will want to give our time and money.

If we believe that the Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ, then our passion mission in life will be sharing the gospel in our families, neighborhood and workplaces.

And when saw this astronomical phenomenon they concluded that a king was to be born in Israel and, they were filled with excitement because of this event.

They received a revelation from God and were obedient to it.

And when saw this astronomical phenomenon they concluded that a king was to be born in Israel and, they were filled with excitement because of this event.

They received a revelation from God and were obedient to it.

Generosity is not always convenient.

It is often costly.

They likely journeyed five hundred miles to see the Messiah, offer him gifts and worship Him.

They weren’t throwing a baby shower, they were giving to god.

Do we give like we’re giving to god.

The Were Risk Taking Givers

The Magi were looking for a new born king in Jerusalem, the center of wealth, power and royalty.

They chose the obvious, the predictable, the safe route.

They chose this location based on a superficial reading of :

The Magi were looking for a new born king in Jerusalem, the center of wealth, power and royalty.

They chose the obvious, the predictable, the safe route.

They chose this location based on a superficial reading of : Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

If they had dug deeper into the Scriptures -- reading Scriptures like Micah they would have gone straight to Bethlehem -- a rural place of poverty, the last place for a king to be born.

If they had dug deeper into the Scriptures -- reading Scriptures like Micah they would traveled to a different location:

After talking with the king, they went straight to Bethlehem -- a rural place of poverty, the last place for a king to be born.

But they soon realized that their trip to worship and give gifts to God was a bigger sacrifice then they first thought.

When they encountered King Herod, they realized he was a dangerous person.

Herod was a ruthless ruler, murdering his wife, three of his sons, his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, his uncle and many others he suspected of treachery and potential rivals to the throne —If you continue to read the story, Herod slaughtered thousands of innocent children, so he would have no rivals to the throne.

(ex.

church taking dangerous risks) Most churches today have become havens of safety.

The programs are predictable.