Sermon: ACT Christmas Service 1997

Lets go on a journey tonight.  Let us walk the paths which define our
Christian faith and point us to the significance of the Christmas we are at
work celebrating.

One of the more unusual journeys in the Scriptures is that of Abraham's
servant who traveled to find a wife for Abraham's son Isaac.  The servant
was given specific directions on what to look for when he reached the
distant land.  He was given the details of how the woman whom God had
chosen to be Isaac's wife would behave.  The servant was directed to go the
well in the distant homeland of Abraham.  There a woman would offer to give
his camels a drink.  This and other things were signs from God.  This was
to be the wife of choice.  Before the servant left on the journey, he
prayed to God that He might have success.  Then he waited patiently to see
if the Lord would give him success.  All the control and credit is given to
God on this journey of the servant.  When it was clear that he had found
the right woman, the servant gave God praise for having made his journey
successful.

The point of interest for us in this servant's journey is the role God
played.  The Lord was central.  The Lord made the journey successful.  Only
with the Lord at the center of each of our journeys through this life will
we be successful.  Only with our trust in our Savior will be reach the
blessed goal that was intended for us from the beginnings of time.  Only by
Jesus can we be saved from the punishment that our sins deserve.  Only
through Jesus Christ will we be brought to a successful completion.

Tonight we take a journey through other people's experiences with the
Savior.  We travel through other times and lives as we seek to put that
Savior at the center of our lives.  We begin the journey in the Garden of
Eden with the first man and woman who were also the first sinners.  Their
fall is our fall too.  Their sin is inherited by us and we turn that
original sin into actual sin on top of that.  Our journey continues from
that fall, with our Lord stooping to pick us up along the way.

God's gracious promises were made to Noah, Abraham, Sarah and the Israelite
slaves in Egypt.  The promises were promises of God's grace and salvation.
All these promises are stopping points in our journey tonight.

The promises continue in a grander form as the coming of the Christ child
approaches.  We see the greatest, most magnificent expression of God's love
and desire to pick us up from our fall---
                                        in the coming of the baby Jesus,
God and man together.  The promises of this coming are made to Mary via the
angel Gabriel.  And then our Savior does not just send a messenger to pick
us up, but He sends Himself, to restore us from our sins and sustain us on
our journey.  The angels come to the shepherds and interrupt their journey
too with the news of God with us.

Many others journey to the Christ Child.  They follow the path on their
redemption and recovery from the fall.  He comes to each of us.  Without
this Redeemer, we walk in darkness.  With Him, our journey will never end
and we will live forever in peace and harmony with the God who created us



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and set us out on our journey.  May you be blessed in your journey tonight
to that Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus.



















































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