Sermons
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Sermons |
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Sermon preached by Tim Atkins at Christ Church on 15/12/02. It was on the topic of Seeking Jesus at Christmas and was given at the evening Carols by Candlelight service. Bible readings during the service were from various parts of the Bible. The sermon referred to three carols that were sung during the service. |
Bible
Readings: Carols
Referred to in sermon: Main
Themes: "If with all your heart ye truly seek Me [1], ye shall surely ever find Me". Thus saith our God in Jeremiah 29, verse 13. God throws out this invitation, and it stands today as it stood then; a warm invitation to all who intend to seek with all their heart. Our first Carol "O come, O come Emmanuel" is a passionate cry to Emmanuel - to God in Heaven - Come! Come and be with us [2]. You can ask for sugar with your tea. More meaningfully we use the word "Come" when we say "I'm with you all the way". But God says If I come, I'll come into your skin. I'll be not only with you but also within you. The prayer "Come" is also a cry for rescue from the rot [3]. We need a ransom. We're mourning here in exile. In fact we need saving from the depths of hell itself. (v.2) As the second Carol "It came upon a midnight clear" puts it "sorrow brought by sin and strife [4] the world has suffered long ... two thousand years of wrong for man at war with man hears not the angel's song". Specifically the rescue is not just from the darkness of sin and the strife of war; but even from death [5] itself ... "dispel the long night's lingering gloom, And pierce the shadows of the tomb ... Come strong key of David (a reference to Jesus' ancestry) Open wide our heavenly home, And close the path to misery". No wonder the first Carol calls on all to "Rejoice" !! God with us then - Emmanuel - God in our skin, sharing our suffering [6] and separation. God rescuing us from the rot, the depths of hell, "your people save, [Key of David] open wide our heavenly home [7]". And then as in all good conversations, from the third Carol comes back the answer: "How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming, but Where meek (humble hearing hearts) souls will receive Him, Still, the dear Christ enters in". And as verse 4 puts it, [8] that's not just for Christmas but for ever: "O come [9] to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel." A teacher asking her class in January what each did for Christmas: Peter tells how they went to Disneyworld Paris. Jeanette how they went to Nan's home in Devon and it snowed and they built a snowman and kept cosy round the fire. Ben, whose Jewish father made toys for a living, tells how they went downstairs - they lived over his shop - and looking round at the empty shelves, joined hands and sang "What a friend we have in Jesus...." Now its possible to go from a Carol service with empty shelves. We can simply take home the smell of the candles. To quote from the story; we can say "No room" for Christ in this heart. As Jeremiah reminded us "If with all your heart ye truly seek Me, ye shall surely ever find Me" - ALL your heart. This is no invitation for the fainthearted. You have to mean business with God. But if you are truly seeking the living God [10] who came into our skin as a babe in the manger, and then died on the cross to save us - then you will certainly find Him. For, as Jesus Himself put it, "Ask, and it will be given you seek and you will find Knock and the door will be opened to you" Luke chapter 11. Jesus says it three times and in three different ways because it's so important and because we so easily forget. But the meaning is quite simple: seeking Him for Himself as the Saviour from our sin and strife, the Rescuer from the rot ... is to say to Him "O come, O come Emmanuel" not just into the skin of all human kind, but into my skin too!! ref: carol service 02
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Web page last updated 24 Oct 2006 |
