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The True Christmas Spirit - Luke 1:46-55 (Part 1)

What is the Christmas Spirit?
As we approach Christmas and are smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season, let's slow down and take a look at a phrase that we hear every year about this time, what is the Christmas spirit?  For Mr. Scrooge, it was a ghost; for the liquor industry, it comes in a bottle based on their sales this time of year; for some people, it's a truce between family members during dinners or celebrations; or even an attitude of happiness at meals and parties. 

However for some, Christmas can be a very sad and depressing time because of personal loss, or even an inability to give the gifts you'd like to give to others.  One poet put it this way:  "Christmas is a bitter day for mothers who are poor.  The wistful eyes of children are daggers to endure.  Though shops are crammed with playthings, enough for everyone, if a mother's purse is empty, there might as well be none."  Then ended with, "My purse is full of money, but I cannot buy a toy, only a wreath of holly for the grave of my little boy."

GK Chesterson once said, "When we were children we were grateful for to those who filled our stockings with toys at Christmas, why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?"


Initial Reactions to the First Christmas
  • Elizabeth (Luke 1:41-43):  When Mary visits Elizabeth and greets her, the baby in Elizabeth's womb (John the Baptist) leaps and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.
  • Zachariah (Luke 1:67-69):  He is Elizabeth's husband, and the father of John the Baptist.  He is filled with the Holy Spirit and says, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!" 
  • Angels (Luke 2:13-14):  We see a multitude of angels singing praises saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
  • Shepherds (Luke 2:20):  They return glorifying and praising God.
  • Simeon (Luke 2:25-32):  He has been promised that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ.  He then comes to the temple where Mary and Joseph have brought Jesus and sees him.
  • Anna (Luke 2:36-38):  She was a devout prophetess and came to give thanks to God for the coming redemption of Jerusalem.
  • Wise Men (Matthew 2:2):  They come asking where the king of the Jews is because they have come to worship him.
  • King Herod (Matthew 2:7-8):  Even Herod, though doing so deceitfully, asked where the child was born that he too may come and worship him.
They all responded to the first Christmas with an attitude of worship; of praise, thanks, blessing, and glory to God.  So I believe that the spirit of Christmas is worship, all out praising the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. 

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