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This could be the most wonderful time of the year. This is such a beautiful season filled with so much promise. I love that Andy Williams song. Sing it with me. SLIDE Its the most wonderful time of the year With kids jingle belling And everyone telling you Be of good cheer Its the most wonderful time of the year Andy Williams recorded that song in 1963, and the words share a vision for Christmas. Its a vision of family and friends and all kinds of laughter. Its a vision of Christmas Eve worship where we sing Silent Night by candlelight and when we leave the sanctuary just after midnight were greeted with a light dusting of snow. In this vision everyone is happy; everyone is smiling. Its the most wonderful time of the year. Its the vision of Christmas. I believe in this vision of Christmas. The season that weve enteredin the church we call it Adventis a season of incredible possibility. Were about to prepare ourselves to celebrate the most important story in the history of humanity. A baby was born to a unwed, poor teenager in Bethlehem. This baby grew up to announce a different way of living. He taught a group of people how to love God and love each other. He died so that we can have a relationship with God and was raised so that we have the promise of eternal life. In Advent we focus in on the entrance of this baby into the world. Its so wonderful, and its so delightful. There is a spirit in the air during this season. Its a spirit of love and joy and hope. This is what we want to experience. Today Im beginning an sermon series called, Living with the Christmas Spirit. The AIM of this series is to give practical ways to live with the Christmas Spirit as we prepare to celebrate Jesus entrance into the world. There is no doubt in my mind that we know the reason

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for the season, but its easy to get off track in our preparations. I want to help us, really to coach us to stay on track so that we can experience the Christmas Spirit. Part of staying on track is reading the Scriptures, so I especially want to encourage you to use this brochure. In the middle of the brochure is a devotion. Thanksgiving. Use it this week, I think youll be blessed.

ON the back is a place for prayer requests. In the middle is a place to take notes. I believe that God might say something to you that youll want to remember. This is the most wonderful time of the year. I have to admit there is a part of me that is cynical. The question that I always ask about Christmas is what is different when the season is over. Who benefits from Christmas? Retailers benefit. Do you know the average household spending on Christmas. $1,700 Deloitte

survey in 2007 Thats on food, presents and entertainment. Do you have an extra $1,700 to spend on Christmas. Many of us dont, and many of us havent saved to pay for Christmas which means well take on debt during Christmas. One third of us will take on debt to pay for Christmas. Did you know that four million of us are still paying off debts from last Christmas. I dont think that Jesus came into the world so that we can pay off a credit card bill. Health clubs benefit from Christmas. Do you know the average weight gain during the Christmas season? 7-10 pounds. That might not seem to be a lot, but some of us never take that weight off. Theres a reason that we get a lot of advertisements for health clubs in December and early January. I got one yesterday Whats different because of our celebration of Christmas? If the only difference is weve

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spent a lot of money, weve taken on credit card debt, and weve gained weight, then weve certainly gotten off track. Jesus came into the world to change usto help us become the people God desires for us to be. What happens is this powerful story of the birth of a baby gets lost in all of our Christmas preparations. We dont forget the story. I dont doubt that we know the reason for the season. We know that our culture has taken this most precious story and corrupted it. Christmas has become about something else. You and I cant change what is happening out there, but we can change what is happening in here. My dream for us is we have grown closer to God because weve lived with the Christmas Spirit in Advent. If that happens then the celebration is worth it. There are a number of things I want you to take from this sermon. One thing I want you to take with you is a question. The question is this. SLIDE What does God desire from me this Christmas?

Im going to be quiet for fifteen seconds. In your own mind I want you to think about your own answer to this question. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I think that God desires for each of us to live with the Christmas Spirit during Advent. I think that God wants us to live in such a way that when other people encounter us they experience delight, happiness, and joy. I think God want us to move through this time with the peace that passes all understandingthe peace that comes from God. This is the Christmas Spirit.

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The important question is how. How do we live with the Christmas Spirit during this season? Let me give you three practical ways. You might want to write these down. The first way is to let go of the expectations of the seasons. Expectations are the fuel that generates Christmas stress. Look at the song we sang, Its the Most wonderful time of the year. The title of the song is an expectation. What happens if this isnt the most wonderful time of year.? What happens if we are grieving a death of someone we love and we especially notice that persons passing during Advent. Were feeling sad and maybe even blue. While were feeling this way our entire culture is shouting us to be happy. What happens if we dont have a lot of money and cant afford to buy presents. We know there is no way we could ever spend $1,700 a year on Christmas. If we dont have a lot of money and the entire culture is shouting buy Christmas gifts what are we going to feel? What happens if the relationships in our family are not all that strong?. Im guessing weve all had arguments about Christmas dinner. You know what I mean. We get into an argument with our family about who is going to host Christmas, who will come to Christmas dinner, what will be served at Christmas dinner, or even what time of day will it happen. Every family suffers from the tug of war called control. Often our control issues get played out in Christmas dinner. We have expectations because its the most wonderful time of the year. Its easy for the expectations to drive our Christmas preparations instead of a story. A first step to living with the Christmas Spirit is to acknowledge the expectations that have control over our heart.

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I made a list of typical expectations that we have for Christmas SLIDE Our family will organize or attend a family Christmas that will be wonderful I will buy a gift for my spouse, family, children, or grandchildren that when it is opened will prompt squeals of delight I will attend Christmas parties that others want me to attend I will not gain any weight during December I will not take on additional credit card debt I will have a wonderful time of Christmas baking with my family I will decorate my home so that people in my neighborhood will see it and remark how beautiful the decorations are I will always be happy as this is the most wonderful time of the year!

Not all of these expectations affect us, but I would be surprised if one of these doesnt affect us. A first step is identification. I want to try something. In your group I want to encourage you to share the expectation with which you struggle the most. You have a leader who is going to ask the question. Let me ask the leader to stand. That leader is going to ask you this question. Which of these expectations impact you. Im going to give you four minutes. Ready, go? -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The first way to live with the Christmas Spirit is to acknowledge and eventually let go of the expectations of the season. If you have some time this week spend some time reflecting on what is driving these expectations. Why do we believe that we have to have a wonderful family celebration, or buy the perfect gift, or decorate our home in a way that is beautiful. Why do we carry these expectations with us?

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Ultimately what matters to us is Gods desire. Remember the question that I gave you. Its the question, what does God desire from me during Christmas? God desires for us to live with the Christmas Spirit Do these expectations come from God Does God expect us to have a family Christmas that will be wonderful? Does God expect us to buy a gift for my spouse, family, children, or grandchildren that will prompt squeals of delight? Does God expect me to attend parties where I have fun? Does God expect me to decorate my home so that people who see it will remark how beautiful the decorations are? Does God expect me to have a wonderful time of Christmas baking with my family? Does God expect me to be happy during this most wonderful time of the year? I dont think God has these expectations for us. Im not even convinced that God has expectations for us. I think God has a desire for us. I think that this desire doesnt come from control, but instead it comes from an aspiration. I think God has a wishes for our lives. This isnt a wish like we wish to win the lottery. This is a wish that is based on hope, like when we say we hope that something happens. A second way to live with the Christmas spirit is to become more familiar with the Christmas story. Read the story. What would happen if you read the story once a day between now and December 25th. Im going to do that. You can find the Christmas story in two places in the gospelsLuke 2:1-20 and Matthew 1:18-25. Would you join me in doing that? Who would be willing to commit to reading the story every day until Chirstmas. During each sermon during this series Im going to share some interesting facts about the Christmas story. Today I want to ask some questions.

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Did God come into the world as a strong person or a vulnerable person? Vulnerable. I cant imagine being more vulnerable than coming into the world as a baby. Was the woman who carried Jesus a rich, powerful woman by worldly standards or a poor, weak woman by worldly standards? Weak. Mary was an unwed teenager Was the environment of Jesus birth safe or dangerous? It was very dangerous. When Herod found out Jesus had been born he had every male child under the age of two killed. Joseph, and Mary and baby Jesus had to escape to Egypt for safety. Did the angels who announced Jesus birth announce it to powerful people or ordinary people. OrdinaryShepherds were very ordinary people Was the town in which Jesus born a large, prosperous town or a small, poor town? It was small and poor. God orchestrated this entire story. God could had Jesus enter the world in any way that God wanted. What does this say about God in that Jesus was born to a poor, teenager. Jesus was born in a dangerous environment. The first people who found out were ordinary people. The village was small and poor. What does all of this say about God. God is an amazing God. God risked a lot to have Jesus enter the world in this way. What this story leads me to do is go deeper with God. I want to worship this God. I want to go deeper in my relationship with God. I want to share the values that this God shares. I want to be a representative of God. I want to go deeper. Put most simply I want to be centered in Gods desire. A second way we can live with the Christmas spirit is to become even more familiar with the story. One we let go of expectations; two we become even more familiar with the Christmas story.

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A final way to live with the Christmas Spirit is to bless someone in an extravagant way. Go out of your way to bless someone. Let me encourage you this week to be thinking about how you can bless someone in an extravagant way. We dont have to have money to bless people. All we need is an open and creative spirit. I know that many of us are giving CEAP gifts away. What would happen if we invited the family out to dinner, or hosted the family. What would happen if we focused on one person who we know is going through a difficult time. We pray that person every day. We contact that person once or twice a week. We do something very special for that person. Blessing others in an extravagant way. Lets share our ideas with each other. When we see each other lets ask each other what weve decided to do to bless someone in an extravagant way. Lets have a community conversation. Perhaps when were enjoying our fellowship time today we can ask our thoughts about how we can bless someone in an extravagant way. I believe that if we can bless someone in an extravagant way we will live with the Christmas Spirit Let go of expectations; become even more familiar with the Christmas story; bless someone in an extravagant way. Because reallyits all about Jesus. Communion