Christmas 2022
December 3 & 4, 2022 // Pastor Mike Berry
1. THE PURPOSE OF THE BOOK OF PHILIPPIANS IS TO
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. [Philippians 4:4–9]
2. WE MUST REMEMBER THE
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. [Acts 1:8]
BIBLICAL TRUTHS TO REJOICE ABOUT DURING CHRISTMAS:
TRUTH 1: GOD LOVES
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 8:38–39]
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. [Ephesians 3:17b–19]
TRUTH 2: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, ALL OF YOUR
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. [1 John 1:8]
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. [1 John 1:9]
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [Romans 3:23–24]
TRUTH 3: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, ALL OF YOUR
Coast to coast promise – “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” [ Psalm 103:12]
Oceanic promise – “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our (sins) iniquities into the depths of the sea.” [Micah 7:19]
Clorox promise - “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” [Isaiah 1:18]
Forever Promise - “And I will forgive their wrongdoings, and I will never again remember their sins.” [Jeremiah 31:34]
TRUTH 4: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, THE
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, [Ephesians 1:18–20]
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. [Ephesians 3:20–21]
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. [2 Corinthians 4:7–10]
TRUTH 5: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, YOU HAVE A NEW
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [2 Corinthians 5:17–18]
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. [2 Corinthians 5:20]
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [2 Corinthians 5:21]
TRUTH 6: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, YOU HAVE A NEW
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. [Isaiah 43:18–19]
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [Lamentations 3:22–23]
TRUTH 7: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, YOUR FUTURE IS
…for,“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. [Romans 10:13]
We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. [2 Corinthians 5:8]
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. [Psalm 23:6]
TRUTH 8: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, YOU HAVE A NEW
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. [1 John 3:1]
For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, [Ephesians 2:18–19]
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. [Philippians 3:20–21]
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [Galatians 3:28]
TRUTH 9: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 6:23]
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. [John 3:17]
TRUTH 10: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, YOU CAN
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. [John 14:6–7]
Action Step:
How will you experience more joy this Christmas Season? How will you do a better job of experiencing the power of rejoicing? What false idols do you look to for joy instead of God? How will you do a better job of knowing God this Christmas Season and what do you want to do differently for you and your family?