Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Christmas Eve

Scripture:  Is. 40: 3-9     Dec. 24, 2023

Message: “A Mountain Top Experience!” by Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1. Have you ever had a mountain top experience? That is what we call a very high moment in your life. The birth of Jesus Christ was certainly a high moment in the Bible!

2. That is why Christians like to sing: “Go tell it on the Mountain, over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.”

a. This song was probably written with Is. 40: 3-9 in mind.  As Isaiah put it: “You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah: “Here is your God!”

b. Christmas is the story of how God became a man. Christians call this “the Incarnation!”

A. Consider some of the passages that affirm this wonderful truth. 

1. In Is. 7: 14, it says: “A virgin will conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call His name Emmanuel, which means “God with us!”

a. Again in Is. 9: 6-7, it says: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called: the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.”

b. All of these names are names of God! They were all used to describe the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!

c. So it is no wonder that Isaiah in chapter 40: 3-9 should also exclaim to all who were willing to listen to go up on a high mountain and shout out the good news and tell people everywhere to “Behold your God!”

2. In our study of Micah, in chapter 5:2, he wrote: “But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little compared to the other clans in Judah, yet out of you will come the One who will Rule over Israel, whose going forth is from of old, even from everlasting!”

a. We all know the story of the Wise Men who came to Jerusalem looking for the new born King. When Herod asked what this was all about, the religious leaders told him about the promised king of the Jews who was to be born in Bethlehem. 

b. They had followed His star and when they found Him, they bowed down and worshipped Him. Yes, they too came to worship and behold our God who was humbling Himself and was willing to take on human flesh and be born in a manger.

3. The Apostle John, in John 1:14, put it this way: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

a. Did you ever ask yourself what it must have been like for the disciples to watch and see Jesus do all of His miracles?

b. In John 20:30, John writes: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these things were written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

c. Writing this Gospel was John’s way of shouting the good news from a mountain top.

4. Then there is Paul who met Jesus though a vision that he had on his way to Damascus. It so changed his life that he spent the rest of his life spreading this good news.

a. Writing to the Philippians, he said: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who having the very nature of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself as if He had no importance by taking on the nature of a servant, and being found in the likeness of a man.

b. This was Paul’s way of sharing how God became a baby and was born in a manger on that first Christmas day! 

B. No wonder Christmas makes people happy. A song writer expressed it this way. “O happy day that fixed my choice on thee my Savior and my God.”

1. In Heb. 1:6 it says: “When God brings His first born Son into the world, He says: “Let all the angels worship Him!”  

a. This was God’s way of telling the world His good news. He commanded all the angels in heaven to worship His Son when He was born in Bethlehem. You know how and when that happened.

b. First He sent an angel to speak to the shepherds: “Fear not! For we bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be for people everywhere, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this shall be a sign unto you, you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” (Luke 2: 10-12). 

2. Then the whole sky was filled with angels, singing “Glory to God is the highest and on earth peace to goodwill toward men” (Luke 2: 13–14). If this was God’s way of showing how happy He was, consider how the shepherds felt.

3. They went to Bethlehem and found the baby lying in the manger. It was such an awesome moment, that “they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds had said to them” (Lk. 2:17). 

In Conclusion: For all these reasons, I pray Christmas will make you happy too.  Just as the shepherds shared their good news, I hope you will too. Let us pray: