This Christmas sermon, Christmas for All: Christmas for Us, invites us to face the reality of our fractured world and our own inner restlessness, using the humorous yet unsettling image of giant summer spiders as a metaphor for the “angry, injured” fears that hide behind the headboard of our souls. From global crises to family tensions and personal struggle, Pastor Jo names the ache for peace that so many of us carry, and our deep sense that we cannot fix it on our own.
From there, the message steps into the Christmas story in Luke 2, where Mary and Joseph travel under Roman occupation, pushed around by political powers and unable even to find a room for the night. In that dark and crowded setting, a child is born in Bethlehem, fulfilling ancient promises from Isaiah and Micah of a ruler who would come from “of old, from ancient days” to bring light into deep darkness, break the rod of oppression, and establish a kingdom of justice and righteousness without end.
Pastor Jo explores the meaning of Emmanuel, God with us, through Isaiah’s prophecy and John 1’s portrait of Jesus as the eternal Word through whom all things were made, the Light that shines in the darkness and cannot be overcome. Far from a mere sentimental baby in a manger, this is the Creator stepping into his creation, bringing a different set of options to a world that cannot save itself. Drawing on Paul’s words in Galatians, the sermon points to Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection as God’s way of redeeming us and adopting us as sons and daughters, heirs who can cry “Abba, Father”.
The message closes with a clear and simple invitation: to believe that Jesus is real and loves us, to confess that we cannot fix ourselves or find peace on our own, and to receive his gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit. Christmas becomes the reminder that the Prince of Peace is present in every season we walk through, and that anyone can call on him today to bring forgiveness, freedom, and new life.
Bible verses referenced:
CONNECT WITH RIVERLIFE CHURCH HERE AT
