Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: Defining the Pain

We are full on into the Christmas season at this point.

Presents are being purchased.

People are getting excited about seeing their loved ones.

Plans have all been made and times set for the Family get togethers.

It might even be time that some are focusing on the meaning of Christmas and bringing Christ back into the picture.

“With all the brokenness it’s hard not to focus on the Christ of Christmas.”

Last week we learned about Christ before Christmas.

This week we see Jesus as the Creator of Christmas.

He’s not just the reason for the season.

He created all the seasons to start with.

Why would this be so important to understand.

Because we are not celebrating a baby in a manger born 2000 years ago but the creator God that had the power to take on the form of a baby, resurrect from the dead, ascended back into heaven, and is just as active in our lives today.

We don’t need to story of the manger, but the Creator of the universe working in our lives.

We don’t serve a man but the creator God.

So, who is the

Passage: Defining the Passage

Jesus is the God of Imagination

Col 1:

The expressed Image of God

Jesus has revealed the nature of God to the entire world.

Jesus has expressed God’s divine nature through creation

Rom

The expression of God’s imagination

Imagination: the creative power of new thoughts and ideas.

Is 14:24

As God has “planned” (thought or imagined) so shall it be.

The imagination of God rests in you.

Jesus, the creator, has “plans” for you.

Jesus, the creator, has the ability to make you into whatever he imagines you to be.

We must not limit what Jesus is doing in our lives by who we are now.

We are limited by our insecurities

We are limited by our surroundings or our upbringing.

We are limited by the vision of other speaking into our lives.

We must live in the imagination of what Jesus, the creator, wants to make us.

1 John 3:

By faith, we live in the imagination and plans that God has for our lives as he molds us into his image.

Jesus is the God of Illumination

The lights of Christmas remind us the the true light of Jesus in us.

And though they be small you put a string of them together and they will light of a room, a house, or even a city.

Now that we know Jesus is the creator we read little different.

it was Jesus that spoke the light into the darkness.

Jesus, the creator God, took this void, lifeless, dark rock and transformed it into something that would reflect His image, glory, and light.

Jesus illuminates the darkness.

John 1:

John 1:

Jesus illuminates the hearts of Mankind.

There are forces at work to hide the light of Christ from the world.

These forces keep the world from seeing the light of the gospel and glory of Christ.

“Jesus, the creator God, has the power to take your void, lifeless, and dark existence and transform it into something that will reflect His image, glory, and light.”

2 Cor 4:3-4

Jesus illuminates the world through us

2 Cor 4:6

Matt 5:14-15

As Jesus molds us into his image, our light gets brighter and brighter in the world.

Jesus choses to shine in his glory in our hearts so that we can then shine to the world.

There are some here this morning that have been blinded by the forces of evil.

You have not experienced the light of Jesus shining in your heart.

You don’t know what it’s like for Jesus to whisper in your ear, “I’m doing a work in you and I will complete it.”

Today is the day of salvation for your soul and your life.

Don’t be blinded by the Devil any longer.

Open the door of your heart and let the light come in.

Jesus will bring you out of the darkness into his marvelous light.

Conclusion: Defining the Process

Next Steps: Start and Stops

Stop thinking of yourself as a broken sinner.

Start thinking of yourself as a masterpiece of God’s redemptive creation.

There are some here this mor

Quit making excuses for the change wants to make in your life.

Renew your mind with the ways of God and walk in them.

Stop saying Jesus can never use you.

Start trusting that Jesus is changing you for his glory, purpose, and plans.

There are no damaged goods in the hands of the creator.

Just vessels to be used for his glory.

Let him be the potter and you be the clay.

Let him make you into whatever He desires and you will always please him.

Stop making decision based on your brokenness.

Start making decision based on God’s redemptive work in you.

Let the trials of life work out the light of Jesus in you.

Walk by faith in what God has said and not what the world has told you.