The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer

In the season of Advent there a few key phrases that come to mind, they include, waiting, preparing, being ready, and Christ is coming.
The following lesson focuses on the word “prepare.” Matthew speaks of John the Baptist preparing the way for the true Messiah, that is Jesus Christ to begin his ministry.

Reference: Matthew 3:1-12

In the frantic world that we live in, we also do a lot of things to prepare for Christmas. Maybe you put up a Christmas tree, or decorate your yard with a dazzling display of lights. Maybe you go to the Hollidazzle parade and check out Macy’s 8th floor. Maybe you go out and buy presents for all of your family and friends, or send Christmas cards. It may sound a bit silly, but one of the things I do to prepare for Christmas is something I’m sure many of you do and that is watching Christmas movies with my friends and family. There are 5 movies that are must sees during the holiday season, in no particular order. Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Home Alone 2 and Elf, and

I’m going to share with you a portion of the movie Elf. This clip requires little introduction, just know that Will Ferrell’s character, Buddy the Elf, grew up at the north pole in santa’s workshop surrounded by elves and nobody in this scene knows that about him. Enjoy.

Watch clip... (will be available soon)

A couple key phrases to remember.
“But Santa’s coming there is so much to do…”
“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

Now just to be clear, I in no way am trying to say that Jesus and Santa Claus are the same person nor am I trying to draw any similarities whatsoever other than they are important to their respective stories.

My point is this. In preparation for Santa coming, Buddy goes all out and creates a fantastic Christmas montage, because he wants Santa’s coming to be beautiful and wonderful. He does it all out of love, excitement, and joy.

In your preparations for our celebration of Christ’s coming, while you’re putting up the lights, the tree, or whatever else it happens to be, are you preparing as Buddy with joy, love, wonder, amazement, or is it with stress, anxiety, fear and necessity. I think a very important lesson can be learned from Buddy the Elf, he seems rather wise in his attitude and even his words are captivating. He says to the young lady Jovi, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear” Perhaps we need to tweak that a little bit, but it’s a good start.

How about The best way to spread Christmas cheer is telling people about Jesus, about his birth, about his life, about his death, about his resurrected life and about his ascension into heaven. That’s why we spoke the Nicene creed toward the beginning of this service, to profess those things of the faith we all hold together, which includes Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection “for us and for our salvation.”

So as you prepare for Christmas to come with all of the typical things such as the tree, the lights, the presents etc. remember that while you’re doing all that, you can reflect upon Jesus and you can spread true Christmas cheer, by telling others about Him.

Delivered December 11, 2007