If Christmas is pagan, should Christians be involved?

Should Christians get involved in supporting or celebrating Christmas? Have you ever heard that argument? Why in the world would Christians want to get involved in something that was really a “pagan holiday,” that we the Church co-opted? So for those critics, I have three points.
Number one: Do you give your kids birthday gifts? You celebrate your kids birthdays, why not celebrate the birth of the Savior? If we’re not going to do it now, when would you decide to do it? That would be a question.
Secondly, in 1st Corinthians 9:22, Paul says, “I became all things to all men, that by all means I may win some.” I can’t think of a time, and I doubt that you could think of a time in the year when there is more focus on the birth of Jesus Christ. Once a year, the world is confronted with the reality of His coming. And I think that’s great!
The third point is in Matthew 16:18,where Jesus said, “On this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The idea is not that we are holding out against the world. The idea is that we are assaulting a world and they cannot overwhelm us. They cannot withstand the assault of the Church. The very fact that you and I are here, 2000 years after the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, is evidence of that. The world has done everything it can to squash the message, destroy the Word, and intimidate believers. Yet, all around the world today there are those who are singing praise, spreading the Word and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, if we co-opt or take over Christmas, that’s what we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to seize the gates of the enemy. This is why we’re here and why this season is so important.

Gene Cunningham - June 18, 2022

Expedient

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The focus shifts to the Pharisees in John 11:46 John 11:45 tells us, "Many of the Jews that came to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in Him." Wonderful result, but the Pharisees don’t take it that way. John 11:46 say, "But some of them walked away to the Pharisees and told them the things that Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered and said, 'What shall we do for this man works many signs’.” You might remember in John chapter three, Nicodemus came to Jesus saying, "No man can do the signs you do unless God sent him." They didn't see it that way. John 11:48 says, "Everyone is going to believe in Him." In effect they are saying "We can't let that happen." Why? Because it would deprive them of their power, their prestige, and their wealth. "If everyone believes in Him," they said, "the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. And one of them Caiaphas being high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all. Neither do you consider that it's expedient for us that one man should die for the people. Not that the whole nation should perish." An evil man with evil designs saying evil things. Do we really believe that the Lord is in control? When we look at the leadership of this country? When we look at the criminals that want to rule over us, do we really believe that God is still on the throne? Do we believe that He has a plan and a purpose for everything that happens? Do we really trust that God works all things together for good? Do we really believe as Joseph said, "you intended it against me for evil, but God intended it for good?" We need to lighten up and we need to trust God. John 11:53 says, "Then from that day on, they plotted to put him to death. Therefore, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country, near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim, and He remained there with His disciples." Do you know why he did that? Because He may wake, but He's never late. He had an appointment. His appointment came on Passover, the day the Jewish nation would reject their Messiah, and put Him on a cross and in the eyes of God, cease to exist as a nation. God would begin working with a new entity called the Church -- the Body of Christ. Soon to be the Bride of Christ. Not having rejected the nation of Israel, but having grafted the church into Israel to breathe life into her, to give her time to be brought back to that saving faith with which they had rejected. One day, as a nation, they will all respond to that faith. "Now both chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize Him." We learn going on into the next chapter that they also plotted to kill Lazarus. And the reason they wanted to kill Lazarus and to kill Jesus is because this sign, this resuscitation. This miracle, this sign was so great. It produced such a hatred, such a violent reaction. The Jesus doom was sure from the standpoint of these people. Wouldn't it have been better if He just hadn't done it? I mean if He hadn't done this and hadn't done so many other signs, they might let Him live? Wouldn't that have been a good thing? Absolutely not. From the moment of His birth, through the duration of His life, He had his eyes fixed on the goal. The goal was the cross. The reason the cross was the goal was you and I. Has it ever struck you that when they scourged Him, they did it so brutally -- far more brutally than they would do any other prisoner -- It's the reason He could not carry His own cross. The world has no place for Christ. The world has no love for Christ. If Jesus Christ came back today, you know what they do it crucify Him again. But He has a place in your heart. He has a place in our lives. My friends, everything we have moves back to the cross. Could I also suggest that everything done at the cross relates to where you are right now? We may not know all we ought to know Martha certainly did not. We may not be completely surrendered, as we ought to be. With all her surrender even Mary was not. But we can trust in our brokenness and our frailty. We can increase our faith and our trust and our dependance on Him. Jesus Christ -- Glorified. Jesus Christ -- Resurrected. Jesus Christ -- Coming Again. The next time you ask, "Why?" Those are your answers – that God may be glorified and that we may believe.