And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His
name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.
Isaiah 30:29a
Today we had our annual Christmas Day service in the prison's chapel...
name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.
Isaiah 30:29a
Today we had our annual Christmas Day service in the prison's chapel...
My chaplain was off in order to be home with his family. So, I had to take charge until our visiting minister from New York City was ready to preach his message. And our inmate choir was present to lead in the worship.
In the meanwhile, however, I was able to preach a short sermon of about twenty minutes in length. It was a message about "salvation" being that, as with congregations all over the world, there are many who come to church but once per year, and this being Christmas day. So, an evangelistic message, I felt, was in order.
I first read the above verse from Matthew's gospel. I also used in my sermon Ephesians 2:8-9, about salvation not being a result of doing good deeds. But it is only by the grace of God and the faith He himself imparts to us to believe the gospel account that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, resurrected, and now sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us, that we can be saved.
The part many were especially touched by - and I could tell this was the case by the responses I got afterwards - was when I said that "Jesus is the reason for the season, but sin is the reason for Jesus."
Throughout my years as a Christian, I told the men, I have heard the familiar and often overused cliché that "Jesus is the reason for the season." But to me this seems very inadequate. For the fact is, I explained, our evil and rotten sins were the reason Jesus came to die on that splintery cross at Calvary.
I said to the congregation that our sins were ugly blots in the face of a holy and righteous God. And that if it were not for God's mercy in sending His Son to die in our place and receive God's full wrath for our wretched wickedness, none of us would be forgiven right now.
The Lord Jesus, I told them, had a difficult task to complete. While He went willingly because He loves us, His death was horrific. He was tortured, and He died in extreme agony.
But glory to God in the highest, Jesus paid the price for our sins. He was, therefore, the true Passover "Lamb of God" who washed away our sins with His own blood so that we could live with God now, and then continue to live with Him throughout all eternity. This, I said, is the real reason for the season we're in.
Jesus did not come, I firmly stated, to give us colorful lights and Christmas trees. Likewise, He did not create a holiday so that we could exchange nice gifts. Rather, He came to die that we might live. He came so that a corrupt and fallen humanity could be made fit for heaven. Amen!
D.B.
In the meanwhile, however, I was able to preach a short sermon of about twenty minutes in length. It was a message about "salvation" being that, as with congregations all over the world, there are many who come to church but once per year, and this being Christmas day. So, an evangelistic message, I felt, was in order.
I first read the above verse from Matthew's gospel. I also used in my sermon Ephesians 2:8-9, about salvation not being a result of doing good deeds. But it is only by the grace of God and the faith He himself imparts to us to believe the gospel account that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, resurrected, and now sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us, that we can be saved.
The part many were especially touched by - and I could tell this was the case by the responses I got afterwards - was when I said that "Jesus is the reason for the season, but sin is the reason for Jesus."
Throughout my years as a Christian, I told the men, I have heard the familiar and often overused cliché that "Jesus is the reason for the season." But to me this seems very inadequate. For the fact is, I explained, our evil and rotten sins were the reason Jesus came to die on that splintery cross at Calvary.
I said to the congregation that our sins were ugly blots in the face of a holy and righteous God. And that if it were not for God's mercy in sending His Son to die in our place and receive God's full wrath for our wretched wickedness, none of us would be forgiven right now.
The Lord Jesus, I told them, had a difficult task to complete. While He went willingly because He loves us, His death was horrific. He was tortured, and He died in extreme agony.
But glory to God in the highest, Jesus paid the price for our sins. He was, therefore, the true Passover "Lamb of God" who washed away our sins with His own blood so that we could live with God now, and then continue to live with Him throughout all eternity. This, I said, is the real reason for the season we're in.
Jesus did not come, I firmly stated, to give us colorful lights and Christmas trees. Likewise, He did not create a holiday so that we could exchange nice gifts. Rather, He came to die that we might live. He came so that a corrupt and fallen humanity could be made fit for heaven. Amen!
D.B.
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