Which of the following picture remind you of Christmas? (PowerPoint display)
The Reindeer, Stocking, Snowman and Christmas Tree do remind us of Christmas and they are good things for us to enjoy.
But surprisingly the other pictures have loads more to do with Christmas than reindeer and snowman, that's because the Bible says Christmas is about being RESCUED!
The night that God's Son Jesus was born in Bethlehem, some shepherds were in the fields looking after their sheep and then suddenly an angel appeared....
How do you think the shepherds felt when the angel appeared?
We read in Luke 2: 10-11 that the angel said to the shepherds....
'Do not be afraid....'The Angel is saying that Christmas is about being rescued, Jesus is the Saviour or Messiah, the one who has come to rescue people.
'...I bring you good news...' - this good news is for everyone!
'...a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ (or Messiah) the Lord'
In the Bible we learn that people are in trouble with God because they have done things wrong (sin) and they need to be rescued. The good news is that God promised He would send a rescuer, and He did and He was called Jesus.
Like a life ring can rescue someone who is drowning, and the fire engine can rescue a cat stuck up a tree, so Jesus came to rescue people who had done things wrong and who deserved to be punished by God. He did this when He died on the cross taking all the sin and punishment people deserved.
Everyone needs to be rescued, you do, I do and only Jesus can do this. Therefore we need to trust in Jesus to rescue us.
This Christmas while you are enjoying opening your presents and eating turkey and mince pie remember that Christmas is about being rescued and Jesus is the rescuer.
Christmas is about RESCUE not reindeers!
