This is the Christmas story as reported by Luke. A story that is under attack today in America and all around the world. A story that many deny as truth and a story that many neglect as truth.

Many Christian homes have nearly removed Christ from the celebration...

Does this seem like an inaccurate statement?

Think about the average home and what the celebration has become... Santa, reindeer, frosty the snowman, the grinch, gifts.. you get the point. Where is Jesus in all of this?

But seriously, if Christ had not been born, if God had not given us His son, the world would be far different than it is today – in ways you may never have imagined.

I was watching “It’s a Wonderful Life the other night and thought, about the alternative world where the manger was empty, where “Christ Didn’t Come.” The world would be a very different place. Life would be harder, funerals unbearable...

You see, Christ came and taught us, His followers, what it really looked like to love God and love your neighbor.

Can you think of some examples, organizations, that began out of a compassion to love the marginalized, the down and out?

Without their compassion, the world would be a very cruel place, full of desperate, hopeless people.

If Christ had not been born, much of the good in this world would be missing. Much of the good you’ve experienced would be missing. Everyone of us has a story of God’s goodness and love. Think about yours right now.

What would your life look like without experiencing God’s love, His care, His comfort, His compassion, His mercy, His redemption, His presence?

Without Christ, our lives would be a mess and our future hopeless.

Think about it for a minute.

Here was the creator, there from the beginning of time, the one that everything was made for and nothing was made without...and He chose to come to earth as a fragile, vulnerable human.

Why would such a sovereign being do that for us? What possible motive could He have had to come and endure such scorn and ridicule. To go through the pain of the cross, only to be rejected by the very people He died for.

Only one reason that I can think of and it’s found in JOHN 3:16

It was purely the love of God that brought that baby to earth 2,000 yrs ago. It was His desire to have His creation dwell with Him and worship Him. We cannot understand the depth of God’s love for us. But He does, He does love us that much. God desires for us to embrace His great gift of love so that we may be filled with all the fullness of His presence and power working through our lives.

The manger wasn’t empty and I am glad… aren’t you? When sin entered the garden of Eden through Adam and Eve, mankind was separated from God. But God, who is full of mercy, extended His love to mankind… He reached through the veil of our unholiness, our sin, and gave us the love of Christ. This love was laid forth in a lowly manger and ended on a shameful cruel cross. Buried in a borrowed tomb but was raised back to life. His life was given so that we might live.

The manger wasn’t empty. Jesus came… we need to always remember, embrace and proclaim who Jesus is.

Today as we take communion, reflect on who Jesus really is in your life. How is your life different because the manger wasn't empty?

In 1 Corinthians 11:24, Jesus said, "This is my body, which is for you..."

This lowly baby was for us...

His life was for us...

His death was for us...

His resurrection was for us...

Now we live in Him and for for Him...we proclaim,

Hallelujah, Jesus reigns!!!