SERMON OUTLINE FOR Christmas Day, December 25, AM, 2009


Pastor Peter Hogeterp

Covenant Christian Reformed Church

Winnipeg, Canada

          

Scripture Reading: John 1:1-14
Sermon Title: WE’VE DANCED ALL AROUND HIM: Jesus (Incarnation)

Introduction:
All we’ve done in Advent so far has been anticipation, looking at others who were significant to the Christmas story. But now the spotlight shines on Him who came: God in the Flesh. This is our first look at the Christmas story as we find it in the gospel of John. There’s no virgin birth, no little town of Bethlehem, no shepherds, no wise men. John tells the whole Christmas story in vs. 14.

  1. What’s unique about John’s Gospel?
    1. John wrote his gospel between AD 50 and 60, the only disciple still alive who had been witness to the events of Jesus’ life.
    2. He answers the question: Are the stories about Jesus really true, or are they myth?
    3. The Story is already known, so it does not have to be retold for the most part
    4. John’s gospel is more theological/philosophical than the other three
    5. John is the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (20:2)
    6. John saw Jesus as “God in the flesh” (in carne)

 

  1. The problem of the Incarnation
    1. By definition, the gods stayed in the heavens, humans stayed on earth
    2. That’s what made it possible for the gods to stay supernatural, above sin
    3. Most spirituality is defined in terms of people trying to become like gods
    4. Christianity moves in the opposite direction: God becomes human
    5. God lowered himself into our skin, so as to lift us up
  1. The challenge of celebrating Christmas incarnationally
    1. The Christmas story is a children’s story for adults
    2. God in the flesh makes the secular sacred
    3. The kingdom of this world becomes the Kingdom of our Lord

 

  1. What the Incarnation means for you and me
    1. Of course, the original birth of Jesus is an unrepeatable historical event
    2. And yet, God is as fully present in our bodies (in carne) spiritually, through the power of the Holy Spirit, as He was in Mary physically
    3. The Church is “the body of Christ” in the world today (Eph. 5:30)
    4. The only Christ some people will ever meet is the Christ in us (in carne)

Conclusion:
A poem by T.S.Eliot, Choruses From the Rock
            It seems that something has happened that
                        has never happened before:
                                    though we know not when
                                                or why
                                                or where.
            Men have left God
                        not for other gods, they say,
                        but for no gods;
                                    and this has never happened before
            that men both deny gods and worship gods,
                        professing first,
                                    Reason,
                                    and then, Money,
                                    and Power,
                                                and what they call Life, or
                                                Race, or
                                                Dialectic.
            The church disowned,
                        the tower overthrown,
                                    the bells upturned,
                                                and what have we to do
            but stand with empty hands and palms turned upwards
            in an age which advances progressively backwards.