How Much God Really Cares for You This Christmas

How Much God Really Cares for You This Christmas is a sermon about the ways in which God really cares for you this Christmas.

Peace – Love – Joy – Hope

These are the four words God wants us to associate with Christmas.

Stess – Loneliness – Sadness – Despair

These are the words that we most often see with people we know during Christmas.

Do you know that these four emotions are at its peak during the Christmas season? People are most stressed out, feel more isolated, get more easily upset, and drown themselves most often into hopelessness during the Christmas season, more than at any other time during the year.

So what do I do this Christmas to deal with all this stuff? Zephaniah was a prophet who talked to his nation about God. They were just as we were today. There are many people who really don’t care about God. There are people who don’t know much about God. Just as in the time of Zephaniah, there will be people who won’t care about God until Christmas time. At least with Christmas, they know that there is a time of peace, love, joy, and hope. But many don’t know why.

We call these the Happy Holidays but most people around you won’t be that happy. So how can I share the happiness that I have in Christ with people around me?

HOW I CAN KNOW THAT GOD CARES FOR ME THIS CHRISTMAS

I can share my happiness (joy) this Christmas because Christ removed my punishment for sin. (3:14-15)

Sing for joy, Daughter Zion; shout loudly, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!

(Zephaniah 3:14 HCSB)

The Bible says here that the people of God should be the happy people of God. We need to share joy these holidays. Why? Because we have that joy from God.

The LORD has removed your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is among you; you need no longer fear harm.

(Zephaniah 3:15 HCSB)

If you follow Christ, then God has removed the punishment and the guilt of our sin. That is something to be happy. So why be happy about that now? Jesus Christ was born, and that lets me know that He came to Earth and He did His work of making my sin problem go away. He came, died on the cross, and then came back to life to prove His power over death. That should make me happy.

The problem is that the world needs to hear that…from me, and you.

I can share love and peace because of the love that God showed me. (3:16-17)

The LORD your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.”

(Zephaniah 3:17 HCSB)

God is a warrior Who has saved me. But He is much more. He loves you and me. He really wants me to know that this Christmas. What is this verse saying? God wants to spend some time with you this Christmas.

One of the stressful things about Christmas time is that we are not able to spend time with the people we love the most. We want to do that. But this holiday season gets really busy. God is looking down on us today and asking:

“ Do you have some time for Me this Christmas?” “Do you want to spend part of the holidays with Me?”

God wants to spend time with me so that I can get some love.

Notice that in this verse, God wants to “bring quietness” with His love. God’s love is not a stressful love. God’s love is a peaceful love. When God wants to spend some time with me, it is never stressful. I am stressed out. But God never is.

Don’t you think that is cool? I create enough stress for my relationship with God. But He just sits there and says:

God wants to spend time with me so that I can get some peace.

“I want to spend some time with you.”

“I want to delight in you.”

“I want to take some stress off your back.”

Jesus says this in another way:

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

(Matthew 11:28-30 HCSB)

People want to stress you out. God wants to take the stress out.

I can share hope with others because God has given me hope. (3:18-20)

We can feel hopelessness for many reasons.

Just like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, you and I may have visits from different ghosts this Christmas.

WHAT SCROOGE HAS TO DO WITH MY CHRISTMAS

The spirit of Christmas past for you may be your past mistakes.

I will gather those who have been driven from the appointed festivals; They will be a tribute from you, and reproach on her.

(Zephaniah 3:18 HCSB)

Israel left God for other gods. This is what the “appointed festivals” mean. We do the same thing. We make our own mistakes and we walk away from God. We may even make the effort to forget Christ in Christmas.

We celebrate a festival, but it has nothing to do with Christ.

Kwanza, Ramadan, Santa Claus. All of these are “appointed festivals” which have nothing to do with Jesus Christ.

But more importantly, we make the mistake of substituting consumerism for Christ.

Spending on gifts and getting into debt becomes more of a priority than sharing Christ with those who have nothing.

We work really hard to find things for other people, and yet we don’t take the time to find ways to celebrate Christ.

These are the same type of mistakes in Zephaniah’s time. Even though we have been driven away from Christ this Christmas. But God won’t stop until He sees everyone come to Him in praise.

You may be asking yourself the question: “Does God really want me back?” His answer is yes.

The spirit of Christmas present for you may be your difficult circumstances in life

Maybe you are not a deserter of God. Maybe you are just someone who has a difficult time with God. You look at your present circumstances and you wonder if God really is there.

Yes, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather the scattered; I will make those who were disgraced throughout the earth receive praise and fame.

(Zephaniah 3:19 HCSB)

Three classes of people are listed here. They show the kinds of difficult circumstances you and I may go through.

Unhealthy relationship – “who afflict you”

Abandoned – “those who are disgraced”

Physically hurt – “lame”

You may be asking yourself the question: “Does God really care about me?” His answer is “of course.” God says that He wants to delight in you.

The spirit of Christmas future for you may be your fears of the future.

Maybe you are scared of your future. Don’t you know where you are headed? You have fears about your job, your family, your life, even your afterlife.

You may be asking yourself the question: “Does God really want to help me from now on?” His answer is a Sarah Palin “ya betcha”.

At that time I will bring you back, yes, at the time I will gather you. I will make you famous and praiseworthy among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes. Yahweh has spoken.

(Zephaniah 3:20 HCSB)

“At that time” refers to the future. “You” refers to the remnant, a group of people who will stay faithful to God. This “remnant” or “what’s left of God’s people” include those who follow Christ. There will be many who say they are a Christian. But only a few, a “remnant” actually followed Him in faith. It is to these people, whom God gives a promise.

God says that He won’t leave us hanging. He will gather us. He will gather everyone. Yet He will make special mention of those who followed Him.

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

(Matthew 25:32-33 HCSB)

Jesus calls them the sheep. It is these followers whom Jesus says something special:

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

(Matthew 25:34 HCSB)

“And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

(Matthew 25:40 HCSB)

God says to Zephaniah and Jesus said to His followers that there is going to be a time when what we did here on Earth mattered. Christmas is not just a celebration of Christ’s birth. Christmas is a challenge to follow Christ without fear. The holidays are happy when we share Jesus with those who need Him.