Christmas Message – A True, Life Changing Story
Good morning and welcome to Morrison Zion Lutheran Church this Christmas Eve morning. My name is Pastor James Enderle. It’s a blessing to have so many friends, family and relatives here to celebrate the birth of our Savior and to hear that message that will be proclaimed–the story that we know and we get to hear again.
As we are here at Morrison Zion, just a reminder of what our mission is here at Morrison Zion. We exist here to glorify God as we gather around the Gospel; we grow in the Gospel, and also go to others with that wonderful Gospel. That Gospel is really what this wonderful story is all about. When you think about it, we are going to see it’s a true and life-changing story.
When you think about Christmas, you might have different opinions about Christmas. Maybe you love Christmas or you love all the things about Christmas. Maybe you get ready right after Thanksgiving or start before Thanksgiving. Maybe you are one that doesn’t really need the singing or would rather not think about getting together with relatives and struggle more with Christmas or have different feelings about the season. I say it’s similar to the weather/the winters in Wisconsin. Some people love winters in Wisconsin and the snow. Some people love the snow, go ice fishing, and go snowmobiling. I’m one that, give me a beach, give me warm weather anytime. I don’t need that winter weather.
When you think about the weather that we have, do you remember a year ago what it was like? We actually cancelled the second service. I saw on my Facebook memories that it was -9 degrees out and there was snow and a blizzard. Today it’s going to be almost 50 degrees, but this fog is something else! It’s a little bit of a challenge driving at night or this morning.
When you are out driving at night, would you ever be driving without your headlights on? Would that be wise to do? Or would you drive in this fog without headlines? It’s hard to drive when things get difficult and when the weather is hard. The truth is that what we are going to hear is the true, life-changing story about the Light that came into the world, Jesus, our Savior. When we look at Jesus, people have different opinions about that truth and Light. Many people struggle to say that He is the Savior. Many people don’t want to think about Him. When Jesus came into the world, people either loved Him or worshipped Him, or they despised Him. They wanted nothing to do with Him. That’s a good question to think about today.
What do you think about Jesus? Do you love Him? Do you worship Him? Or do you really not want much to do with Him? You can’t really just like Him because if it’s true, if this story is life-changing, then you need to worship Him and you need to know why He came. Why did Jesus come on Christmas? He came because He is the Savior. Why do we need a Savior? We need a Savior because we fall short and we are sinners. We live in a broken world and we hurt others. We have broken relationships and others hurt us. We need someone to fix that problem.
This life-changing story tells us that you are loved and you are forgiven. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, through faith in Christ, we have forgiveness. When you know that truth but you kind of ignore it, it’s like driving outside at night without lights. You are ignoring the truth and it is dangerous. Even when it’s foggy, life gets hard. We need help. We need the Light. We need the truth. That’s what Christ is.
As you hear this story today, don’t just think “Do I like this?” Think about how we worshipped and what our Savior means to us–that He has come to be one of us, to live for us, to die for us, and that He rose again to show that our sins are forgiven. Take to heart this true, life-changing message as you hear what a wonderful story this is. Amen.