Sermon Notes, December 23, 2012
Pastor Jan Sinozich
The fourth
Sunday of Advent, the candle of peace, was lit.
The Jesse tree received its last
decorations, and Pastor Jan told the Christmas story, using figurines from the
manger scene.
Pastor Jan’s sermon
was titled “How Far from Bethlehem to Calvary?” with scriptures from Micah,
Luke, and Matthew.
Geographically
speaking, it’s not far from Bethlehem to Jerusalem; only about 8 kilometers (or
5 miles). Historically speaking, the 33
years of Jesus’ life is not very long in the scheme of things. And spiritually speaking, the reason He came
to the manger was to be the sacrificial lamb on the cross of Calvary, just
outside the city of Jerusalem.
Who was
there? The shepherds were at Jesus’
birth—were they at his crucifixion?
Herod wasn’t there, but he could have been; he was so worried about a
future king that he had all the babies under the age of two in Bethlehem
killed. Mary and Joseph were there, and
Mary was also at his crucifixion. The
wise men came, but they went back to their own country before Jesus was
crucified.
The story of
Christmas is directly related to the story of the cross. Jesus came to save us from our sin. It is up to us to accept this gift of salvation. It is up to us to remember his sacrifice,
with the elements of Communion. It is up
to us to take up our cross daily, and follow Him.
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