Christmas
Message 2018 at Koto YMCA
December
3, 2018
Theme: The Mystery of Christmas
Pray: Pastor Gordon’s opening Prayer
Sing: Joy To the World
Key Verse: Mark 10:27, “Looking
at them, Jesus said, ‘With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all
things are possible with God.’”
My
theme for this time is “The Mystery of Christmas.”
What
is a mystery? A mystery is anything that
is kept secret or remains unexplained, unknown.”
There
are many mysteries about the Christmas story.
There are many things that are difficult to understand or to
explain. So let’s talk about some of
them.
The
first mystery has to do with the supernatural appearance of Angels.
I. ANGELS appear throughout the story from
beginning to end.
First, the angel Gabriel appears to a
young virgin named Mary and tells her she is chosen by God to give birth to His
Son.
Second, when Mary’s fiancé, Joseph,
hears she is pregnant he is thinking about calling off the wedding. An angel appears to him and explains what is
happening. Joseph believes the angel and
decides to marry Mary even though she is pregnant. He knows the child is not his.
Third, the night Mary gives birth to
the child the heavens are filled with angels singing, “Joy to the World,” the
song we just sang.
The
second mystery has to be the Wise men who said they have seen a new star and
followed it many months to Israel.
II. WISE MEN FROM THE EAST, probably modern day
Iran, arrive to see the child. They say
they have seen a STAR appear in the sky signaling a King is born in
Israel. They have followed this
mysterious STAR to find the new king.
When they find the child, they give
some very unusual gifts. Each gift
symbolizes something about this child’s future.
[Matthew 2:11]
In the movie, マリア, when each wise man
presents his gift he says what it represents.
The
first says, GOLD—for the King of
Kings
The
second says, FRANKENSINCE—For the Priest
of All Priests
And
the third says, MYRRH—To honor His sacrifice
This little baby, whose birth we
celebrate at Christmas will one day be called, The King of Kings, and our Great
High Priest. His sacrifice on the cross
will be for the sins of the world.
But
probably the most difficult mystery to explain has to do with Mary.
III. Possibly the Greatest Mystery is the Virgin
Birth.
When the angel Gabriel appears to Mary
and tells her she is going to give birth to God’s Son, she asks an important
question, “How is this possible since I have never had relations with a
man?” He tells her the Holy Spirit of
God will come upon her and she will conceive.
The Father is God so her child will be called the Son of God. Then Gabriel says, “For with God nothing is
ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of
fulfillment.” (Luke 1:37 Amp. Bible)
These
mysteries are difficult for our normal, human minds to understand.
It
is difficult to explain.
But many things in life
are difficult to understand or explain.
48
years ago I was a freshman in a small college in Alabama.
I
remember very clearly what happened one day in October.
I
was in the student center (gakusei hall).
I saw a young girl walk into the room.
She was wearing a satin blouse with green crushed velvet pants and
vest. She had a matching choker with
cameo around her neck. She had very
long, brown hair and she had a bouncy way of walking. When I saw her I couldn’t turn my eyes
away. I watched her walk across the
student center and my heart was going “bong, bong, bong.” I turned to my friend Dale and said, “I’ve
got to meet that girl!” For me, it was
love at first sight. She didn’t even
notice me. I was just another face in
the crowd.
3 years later I married her. And, 15 years later, Micah was born in Japan!
Can
you explain my falling in love the first time I saw that girl?
Was
it something I ate for breakfast?
Was
there some chemical reaction in my brain?
Why
didn’t my friend, Dale, have the same reaction?
Love
is often a mystery!
Let’s
get back to the Christmas story. Before you can understand all the questions you
may have about the mysteries of Christmas, you need to answer another, more
basic question.
DO YOU BELIEVE THERE IS
A GOD?
Is
there someone or something who exists outside our understanding of nature?
I DO.
There are just too many mysteries that nature and science cannot
explain.
AND,
IF THERE IS A GOD, then HE MUST BE GREATER THAN US.
I DO believe there is a God who is far
greater than us.
I believe he created the entire
universe.
Everything we see and hear and smell
and touch and taste was made by HIM.
I believe He is ALL POWERFUL, ALL
KNOWING AND ALWAYS PRESENT.
I believe He is outside our Time so He
sees Past, Present and Future.
AND,
WHAT IS A MYSTERY TO US
IS KNOWN AND UNDERSTOOD BY HIM.
When
this little baby who’s birth we celebrate at Christmas grew up, He explained
why he was born. He said, “God, my
Father, loved the world so much He sent me, His only Son, into the world so
that everyone who believes in me will be saved.”
God
looked into the Future and He saw you and me.
And He said, “I love you. And
I’ve got to make a way for us to be together.”
So
he decided to send his son,
to
be born of a woman,
to
be like us
and
to show us the way to have a relationship with Him.
When
I was 6 years old I was running through a field in America on a bright, sunny
Sunday afternoon.
I
remember I suddenly stopped and looked up into the clouds.
At
that moment I knew God was real.
And
I knew Jesus Christ was the way to God.
That
was 60 years ago.
Since
then I have thought and questioned and tested that moment of
understanding. And today, I am more
certain than I was then that there is a God who is far greater than all of
us. And, that He loves each and every one
of us.
As
we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this Christmas,
I
pray that you will come to know and believe that that little baby was God’s
very on Son.
I
pray you will have a moment of insight like I did.
I
pray that you too will believe that God loves you personally.
Pray: Closing prayer by Pastor Gordon
2018Sing: Silent Night
