As a youngster I can remember listening avidly to the Lone Ranger series over the radio. The program invariably ended with someone asking, to the accompaniment of distantly fading hoof beats, “Who is that masked rider, anyway?”
My response to that question was always an incredulous “How could anyone not know? After all, how many men disguised by a black mask ride a great white stallion, shoot silver bullets, and travel with a faithful Indian companion?”
The same response rises within me now when I see the ignorance behind so many questions about the person of the Holy Spirit. His work and characteristics are so obvious in Scripture, how is it that we don’t know who He is?
One day, a young man wandered into our offices. Disheveled and dirty, he had been mercilessly beaten the night before by an acquaintance, and his face was an assortment of welts and bruises. After a period of conversation, I felt that he was not posturing for a handout, but had truly reached the point of no exit. Someone had told him that the people at Circle Church were Christians, and he was grabbing feebly for some faint straw of hope.
As his story unfolded—abandonment by parents, a history of street affairs, alcoholism—I responded with the message of a relationship to God in Christ Jesus. Carefully I explained the role of the Holy Spirit and made a point of remarking that God was willing now to make his body—as misused and neglected as it had become—a home for His Spirit. We then shared in one of those thrilling moments of conversion when a man casts himself upon the mercies of his Creator and knows without hesitation that an encounter has occurred.
A job was located along with temporary housing. In an effort not to abandon this young man to a shaky future alone, the staff welcomed him to shadow us as we carried out our various responsibilities. In one of these moments he confided this thought, which is such a pathetic thermometer of our problem: “You know, I had always heard that God wanted to forgive my sins and save me from hell, but no one ever told me about the Holy Spirit and how He can empower an individual to live a meaningful life.”
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For so many of us, the Christmas celebration can be a mile wide and an inch deep. We tire ourselves with an ever-growing list of gifts to buy, activities to complete, and traditions to uphold. And through a maze of cards and calls, outreach and entertainment, we struggle to connect with others in meaningful ways. Our intentions are sincere, but often trivial. When we look back on the season, we’re often left feeling like our holidays somehow lost the Christ in Christmas, and only touched the surface.
Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With Christmas Sermon resources from Mainstay Ministries, you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a list of special Christmas Sermon Packages available.
Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.
