Christmas Eve 2015

Notes

Christmas is not so much about gifts, but about God.

God does not just want us to have knowledge of Him, He wants us to know Him.

Three things we learn about God through the Christmas Narrative:

1. God is knowable.
2. God is full of unfailing love.
3. God is faithful.

Verses

{“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:1-5 NLT}{"So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” John 1:14 NLT}{“the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
Isaiah 7:14 NLT}{“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 NLT}

Quotes

John Eldredge : “God Himself – the King of all creation – takes on human flesh and enters our story as one of us. He sets aside His glory, clothes Himself with humility under cover of night, to whisper words of love to His own: ‘I have come for you.’” (EPIC); Erwin McManus : “This is the story of God: He pursues you with His love. Even if you reject his love, He pursues you ever still. If the message that God wants to get across to us is just about getting our beliefs right, then He didn’t need to come Himself. If God’s entire intent was to clarify right from wrong, no personal visitation was necessary. If the ultimate end was simply to overwhelm us with the miraculous so that we would finally believe, then even God taking on flesh and blood and walking among was far from necessary. There is only one reason for God to come Himself, because in issues of love, you just can’t have someone else stand in for you.” (Soul Cravings); Donald Miller : “God’s message to mankind, wasn’t a bunch of hoops we needed to jump through to get saved, and it wasn’t a series of ideas we had to agree with either; rather, it was an invitation, and invitation to know God.” (Searching for God Knows What);