Preaching in the Advent Season

(cross-posted at capsministry.com)

When it comes to Christmas, some preachers are faced with one or more dilemmas:

• Should I temporarily step away from the book I am preaching through to preach a special Christmas message or series of messages throughout December?
• What texts and topics shall I cover?
• How can I present the old, old story without coming across in a stale way? How do I stay fresh with texts and topics I feel I have exhausted?

Some preachers will not deviate from their normal preaching, but will continue through the book or series they are working through. Some of these will probably recognize the season somewhere in the service. Others will continue their normal preaching rotation, but may use the Christmas story as an illustration of the text. If they are preaching on humility, they may point to how Christ’s first coming provides a perfect example of humility.

Others, however, will devote entire messages to the themes of Christmas. If this is your preference, here are some ideas that may help you present fresh, helpful, Biblical messages for the Advent season, whether you are a pastor or are filling in this month.

Expository Series

• Preaching through a portion of a book – the most obvious idea here would be to preach through Matthew 1 & 2 or Luke 1 & 2. One year, I had the opportunity to fill in at a church in December and preached consecutive messages from Matthew 1:1-17, 1:18-25, 2:1-18, and finished with 28:18-20 (connecting the coming of the King to His marching orders in the Great Commission).
• Preaching through selected passages – one could take a theme and preach expository messages from key passages related to it, for example: “Christmas prophecies made and fulfilled” or “Christmas with the patriarchs & prophets.”
• Preaching stand-alone messages – one could select various passages to preach messages that are not part of a series, except that they share the Christmas theme (such as Genesis 3:15, Genesis 12:1-3, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:1-9, Micah 5:2, Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2, John 1:14, Galatians 4:4-7, Philippians 2:5-11, Hebrews 1, etc.).

Topical Series

• Biographical studies – perhaps “the characters of Christmas”; could focus on the significance of the individual in the larger story and lessons we can learn (positive & negative) from individuals such as: Mary, Joseph, shepherds, magi, scribes, King Herod, Elizabeth, Zacharias, John the Baptist, Simeon, Anna, the angel Gabriel, Caesar Augustus (well, maybe not a whole message on him, since he is just mentioned in passing… but there could be some great contrasts between him and the true Ruler), God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and of course, Jesus.
• Geographical theme - trace the events from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth to Calvary or something similar.
• Christmas carols - take the song title as the sermon title, give the background to the song in the introduction and the preach on the main text or truth the song declares (make sure it does teach truth — see the next suggestion).
• Christmas: fact or fiction? or “the myths of Christmas” – could debunk common errors (Really a “silent” night? Is it true that “little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes?” Did the shepherds look up and see a star? Did the wise men visit Jesus immediately after the shepherds?) and focus on giving an accurate account, encouraging the people that it is necessary to know what God’s Word actually says for ourselves.
• The scandal of Christmas – man finds fiancée pregnant before marriage! king born in a cow trough! etc. — there is plenty of shocking material in the Christmas story that points to the glory of God in using the lowly and unexpected to bring His plan to pass.
• The wonder of Christmas – could deal with all the wondering and marveling that the people in the narratives do (Luke 2:18, 33) and how we ought to be far more amazed at what God has done than we are.
• The necessity of Christmas – we don’t need a lot of the stuff we have or get, but we desperately needed for Jesus to come; one could preach a series on our accountability to God our Creator, the punishment our sin deserved, how Christ was qualified to be our sacrifice, and what He accomplished in His life and death

There are many ways to preach helpful, biblical messages for the Advent season. And they can be intermingled as well (for example, preaching a biographical message each year and using the rest of the Sundays for an expository series). But none of them will be as helpful and as biblical as they should be unless you also remember to do the following:

• Connect passage to its context and main point, even if you’re focusing on a minor point.
• Locate the Christmas story in the storyline of the Bible – particularly in how it is fulfilling God’s promises to bring salvation to sinful mankind.
• Be sure to bring out who Jesus is, and the wonder of the incarnation – God taking on flesh, fully God and fully man (but perfect) – it is also good to connect His humble birth, perfect life, substitutionary death, victorious resurrection, exalted title, and His future glorious return.
• Explain why Jesus needed to come – although you could preach a whole message on this topic (one of the suggestions above), it needs to be present in some way any time we preach, if we are to be “gospel” preachers who preach the gospel. And the whole reason Christmas should be so glorious is that it is an announcement of the gospel: “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10).

The Unashamed Workman blog also has some suggestions for dealing with the “Challenges of Christmas Preaching” here.

Two related articles:

"An Ambivalent Hallmark Calendar Guy" by Dr. Michael Lawrence

"100 Failed Human Predictions" by Dr. David Murray

Some Thoughts on the Immediate Context of Deuteronomy 6:4-9

a few reflections on this passage... how I need these reminders from God's Word constantly!

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, KJV)

This passage instructed Israel
-to pay close attention to the truth that Jehovah (YHWH) is One (4).
-that they were to love Him with all that was within them (5).
-that they were to have these words in their hearts (6).
-that they were to diligently teach them to their children, with regular conversations and reminders (7-9).

The surrounding verses in the chapter reveal that
-these commands were given that they might obey them when they went to possess the land (1)
-they may fear God and keep His commands - they and their children and grandchildren
- and have their days prolonged (2-3)
- they could easily forget God their Savior amidst all His blessings if they did not do what is instructed in 6:4-9 (10-13)
- they could easily become idolaters if they do not do what is instructed in 6:4-9 (14)
- they could incur the wrath of God if they do not do what is instructed in 6:4-9 (15)
- their diligent observance of God's commands would result in it being well with them, in possessing the land He gave, and in the overthrow of their enemies, as God had spoken (17-19)
- their diligent observance of these commands would naturally lead to opportunities to testify of God's glory to future generations (20-23)
- for their good, their preservation, and their righteousness (24-25)

The relevance for us is that
- just as Israel failed to heed these commands, did fall back into idolatry and was eventually banished from the land for their disobedience, we too have failed.
- none of us has loved God completely - with our whole heart, mind, soul, and might; we have not treasured His Word as we ought
- Jesus, God the Son, who humbled Himself to become a man, taught and obeyed these things perfectly. He always pleased the Father, and took the punishment for sinners on the cross, so that we might have His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21)
- just as Israel received these instructions upon being delivered from bondage in Egypt, Christians receive God's instructions on how to live after experiencing His salvation; keeping commands does not reconcile one to God - repenting of sin and trusting in Christ alone for salvation does that - yet, He lets His children know how they need to live to please Him
- keeping God's commands flows out of our love for Him, as a response to His character and works. Truly keeping God's commands cannot be done merely as a duty, and certainly not as a scheme to merit His blessings.
- the command to teach our children has not been rescinded (Ephesians 6:4). Fathers particularly bear the responsibility to be sure that their children are taught and trained up in the Word of God.
- the instruction of our children should include frequent conversations at all times of day and phases of life. (Regular family worship should be an important part of this too.)
- like Israel, we too are prone to forget God and lapse into worshiping things other than Him (1 Corinthians 10:1-14).
- the only way for Christians to truly advance in sanctification and achieve any measure of victory over sin is to keep our focus on loving God supremely and diligently obeying and teaching His commands with the help of His indwelling Spirit.

Is the Old Testament Still Relevant Today?

"Is the Old Testament Still Relevant Today?"

Dr. David Murray, professor of Old Testament and practical theology at Puritan Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, addressed issues related to this question in a recent conference at Fraser Valley Bible Conference in British Columbia. You can access the media from the conference by clicking here.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the sessions, and was especially moved as Murray clearly demonstrated that the Old Testament is a manual for Christian living. I found his treatment of Hebrews 11 and 12 to demonstrate this point beyond the shadow of a doubt. It is not a manual in a moralistic sense of do this, do this, do this - rather, we live a particular way because we are looking to Jesus in faith.

In addition to these lectures, I have been thoroughly enjoying Dr. Murray's blog, "Head Heart Hand" and his weekly 30 minute podcast with Tim Challies, Connected Kingdom. I have been refreshed with the Gospel and gained helpful insights through these resources, and commend them to you.

"Is the Old Testament Still Relevant Today?" In a word, YES, and I encourage you to check out Dr. Murray's lectures to see how it points to Christ, shows us how to live, and shows us how to read the New Testament.