Objectives
To impart a spirit of rejoicing, and that Christmas Joy is best celebrated when we remember that the order of importance in our hearts should be “Jesus, Others, and You”
God’s Word
Luke 2:1-7
A child will be born to us. He will rule over us. And he will be called Prince Who Brings Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 NIRV
Bible References
A child will be born to us. He will rule over us. And he will be called Prince Who Brings Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 NIRV
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11 NIRV
You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king like his father David of long ago.
Luke 1:31-32 NIRV
Always be joyful because you belong to the Lord. I will say it again. Be joyful.
Philippians 4:4 NIRV
Key Points
1 Rejoice
2 Remember
3 Receive
Teaching
# 1 Joy to the world
2 The Lord has come
3 Let earth receive her King
Before we begin, I want us to try this.
[Do a mini-chorale for Joy to the World. Assign a number to each section of the room, and point to them to sing.]
Very good! I love that song. That’s the most recognizable Christmas song for me. And they’re also our keypoints for today. So, you already have them memorised.
But you know what, I didn’t use to even like that song. You see, my name is Teacher Janice, but my close family members call me Joy. My older sister’s nickname is May, because she was born in the month of May. My younger sister’s nickname is Kaye, because her name is Mikaela. Mi-kaye-la. Close enough right? I don’t know where they got my nickname, and nobody remembers either. I always felt left out. So come Christmastime, when I hear “Joy to world”, I remember my nickname, and it annoys me to hear it.
But all that was before I realised what a good word it is. I’ve always known it means happiness, but now, knowing so much more about God, and the Bible, and His Word, I know that joy means something deeper, more than just feeling good. It means a happiness that you can only find in God, when you know Him, and love Him, and pray to Him.
1 Joy to the world – REJOICE!
Christmas brings joy, and our first keypoint is Joy to the world! To the entire world! God brings us happiness that is more than we can ever imagine, more than any wrapped gift can bring, more than the most delicious of all foods.And it’s for everyone. In the entire world. Which is a huge place indeed.
2 The Lord has come – REMEMBER!
This second line calls us to remember that the bringer of this joy is Jesus Christ. All that we are, and all that we have is because of Jesus.
Throughout history, God has promised us that he would give us a saviour. That saviour is Jesus.
More than two thousand years ago, an angel came and announced to Mary that she would bear a son, and that boy will grow up to the Prince of Peace. His name is Jesus.
The Son of God grew up, loving all of creation, friends and enemies alike, and teaching us everything that we know about love. His name is Jesus.
When He died, He rose again after three days, and so God forgave us all of our sins. By His grace, we have been saved, and because of Him, we have access to God, and to heaven. It is all because of Jesus.
3 Let earth receive her King – RECEIVE!
What do we do then, with that kind of greatness, with that kind of love? We receive Him with all of our hearts! We receive Him in our minds, in our lives, we let Him in, and we let Him rule and reign over us.
No wonder we celebrate! No wonder we do all of these things during Christmas! The lights and the decor, and the tree, and the gifts, and the food, and the parties, and everything! It is worth celebrating, worth rejoicing. As long as we remember that while we celebrate, we receive Him in our hearts, and let it overflow into our lives.
This year, I challenge you to listen extra hard to the lyrics of the Christmas carols we sing. Christmas carols are a great way to do all this at once. You sing a song about Jesus, you are celebrating and remembering Him all at once. Why don’t we show our adoration right now by standing up to worship Him
TEACHING SLIDES here
