Sheryl Brady - Don't Miss Christmas

Don’t miss Christmas! Don’t miss Christmas! I’m going to be quick today, but I want to say thank you. Thank you, Cheryl Jackson! I want to say to all of you that are in the additional seating area that it is completely full today. Hallelujah! God answered my prayer today. Most of us know that December is one of the busiest months that we have in our calendar. It’s just always going from one thing to the next to the next to the next. However, I found out a couple of days ago that it is actually even busier than I realized. Did you know that there are actually more official celebrations in the month of December besides Christmas and New Year? I actually Googled it, and I asked, «What are the official holidays in the month of December?» I was literally shocked! Just to name a few, I bet you all didn’t know this either: in the month of December, there’s National Pie Day. Okay, there’s National Eat a Red Apple Day. There is National Mutt Day, so for all of you who have a mutt, it’s your day! There’s also a Roof Over Your Head Day—hallelujah! Thank God for a roof over our heads. There’s also December 4th, which is National Sock Day, and on the 4th there is also National Cookie Day. Now this one really got me: on the 6th, it is National Microwave Oven Day—hallelujah! Then on the 7th is Cotton Candy Day, and on the 8th is Brownie Day. Also on the 8th is Cocoa Day. On the 13th, it’s National Pick a Pathologist Day. How many of you didn’t know that? I didn’t either! Then there’s also National Ring Gifting Day, which is probably on December 26th, and National Flashlight Day. If you’re like me, you missed most of all those days, but don’t worry, because on December 26th it’s National Wine Day. You still have time to participate in that! Then there’s National No Interruptions Day on December 30th, and on December 31st is National Make Up Your Mind Day. I was just amazed! If I counted correctly, there are 102 holidays in December alone. Most of us have probably missed those festivities. However, there is one holiday today that is a national holiday that most people around the world, in some way, shape, or form, will join in and celebrate: December 25th, Christmas Day, is one of the most universally celebrated holidays in the world. The sad thing about it is that many people will put up a tree, put up lights, sing Christmas carols, exchange gifts with people they love, and they might even come to church, but many will still miss the message of Christmas. They will miss understanding the meaning or experiencing the power of Christmas, which is what we felt blow in this room a few moments ago. They will miss what God did on that spectacular, wonderful, powerful day that literally changed the trajectory of all humankind. It’s hard to believe that anybody would miss Christmas with all of the advertisements, all of the celebrations, and all of the sales, given how the world has commercialized this particular day. Yet many miss it today for the same reason that they missed it over 2,000 years ago when He came to the earth. Do you understand that even though He came, it didn’t make headlines? It wasn’t on the front page of the Bethlehem Gazette. Maybe it didn’t make headlines when Jesus came to the earth. Many people missed it. For instance, look at the innkeeper—oh, this man totally missed it! Here’s how he missed it: he was too busy. This was his problem. You know the story: Mary is in the last days of her pregnancy, and they had to go back to Bethlehem from Nazareth simply because there was a census taking place. They had to return to their home base. So they went back to Bethlehem, and when they arrived, Mary goes into labor and is ready to deliver. Joseph tries to check her in at a motel in Bethlehem because you know they always leave the light on for you, but this time they didn’t leave the light on. When he goes to check her in, the innkeeper says, «No, no, no, we are filled! We have no vacancies!» Now, from the innkeeper’s perspective and from a business standpoint, I guess that was a pretty good thing. If you have a motel, you want it to be completely full. His was at maximum capacity. It was totally booked solid, completely sold out because the census had brought all the out-of-towners back to Bethlehem, and they were all looking for a place to stay. So in a certain way, it’s kind of good for…