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We hope these readings, prayers, songs, sermon notes + quotes are beneficial to you this week. See you next Sunday at 9 or 11 am, 10 am on TVC Online or anytime!
Sermon Notes for December 24, 2025
Luke 2:1-20
The Questions of Christmas
Pastor Jim Thomas
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”
Albert Einstein
The Questions of Christmas:
Mary: How can this be?
Joseph: What should I do?
Shepherds: Did that really just happen?
Wisemen: Where do we go to honor this act of God?
Herod/religious leaders: How can we stop this act of God?
How does God respond to our questions?
Mary: How can this be?
Angel: The Holy Spirit will do it.
Angel: The Holy Spirit will do it.
Joseph: What should I do?
Angel: Don’t be afraid, the Holy Spirit did it.
Angel: Don’t be afraid, the Holy Spirit did it.
Shepherds: Did that really just happen?
Then wonder developed into worship, and worship developed into witness.
Then wonder developed into worship, and worship developed into witness.
Wisemen: Where do we go to honor this act of God?
Wonder turns into worship, and worship turns into obedience.
Wonder turns into worship, and worship turns into obedience.
Herod/religious leaders: How do we stop this act of God?
Resistance and rejection leads to wreckage and ruin.
“I could no more ‘meet’ Him, than Hamlet could meet Shakespeare. Even if Shakespeare and Hamlet could ever meet, it must be Shakespeare’s doing. Hamlet could initiate nothing.”
C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy
C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy
On that first Christmas day, the birth of a child became the invasion of a king. But what does it mean and why should we care?
1. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ restores wonder to our disenchanted world.
“Only the humble believe Him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that He does wonders where people despair, that He takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas
2. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ redirects our worship to the God who came near.
There is nothing more unsatisfying than misdirected worship.
“Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God.”
Eugene Peterson
3. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ compels us to witness about good news of great joy to all people.
“These Gospel narratives are telling you not what you should do but what God has done. The birth of the Son of God into the world is a gospel, good news, an announcement. You don’t save yourself. God has come to save you.”
Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas
“As we meet the incoming tide of refugees from the meaning crisis, the church needs both apologists in the academy and storytellers in the arts. We need people in the mold of C. S. Lewis, showing not only that the story is true but why we have wanted to believe it all along.” Justin Brierley, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God
Songs, Readings & Prayer for December 24, 2025
Songs:
“O Little Town of Bethlehem“ by Phillip Brooks
“O Come O Come Emmanuel“ by Henry Sloane Coffin, Thomas Helmore, and John Mason Neale
“Joy To The World“ by George Frederic Handel and Isaac Watts
“Come Thou Long Expected Jesus“ by Charles Wesley
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence“ by Ralph Vaughn Williams
“The First Noel“ Arr. Steven Schumann
“Silent Night“ by Franz Xaver Gruber, and Joseph Mohr
“O Come All Ye Faithful“ by C. Frederick Oakeley and John Francis Wade
“Jesus, What a Wonderful Child“ by Margaret Allison and writer “Doc Bagby” (Harry Bagby)
All songs are used by Permission. CCLI License #2003690
Call To Worship: Christmas Eve
Leader: Glory be to God on high, and on earth, peace, goodwill towards men.
People: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed His people!
Leader: Through the tender mercy of our God, the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
People: To shine on us in our darkness, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
Leader: Our eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared for all people;
All: Holy, holy, holy, are You Lord God, Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Your glory! Amen!
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Discussion Questions for December 24, 2025
- Read the passage together: Before today’s sermon, what did you already know or believe about this passage? Did anything in your understanding shift after hearing the message?
- Challenge and Reflection: Was there a part of today’s message that was particularly challenging or surprising for you? Why?
- Unpacking the Message: Pick a quote from today’s sermon notes. Discuss what it means to you.
- Personal Impact: What’s one specific way you feel called to change or grow after hearing this message?
- Practical Application: What’s one step you can take this week to put today’s message into practice?
- Connecting Scripture: Are there other Bible passages or stories this message reminds you of? How do they expand or confirm this teaching?
- Gratitude: What aspect of God’s character stood out to you in today’s message? How does it inspire praise or gratitude?
- Pray the Scripture: After hearing the message, is there a specific area where you feel led to pray? How can we pray for one another in light of today’s teaching?
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