Sermon Archive - December 25th 2008

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=130 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="12ba6e903.jpg"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="11fcbc320.jpg" border=0 width="700" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>OFC:  713-526-5731      5315 MAIN STREET, HOUSTON TEXAS 77004      FAX: 713-524-1709</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Lutheran Church Houston, Te"><U><B>HOME</B></U></A><B>  ~   </B><A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Worship Schedule"><U><B>WORSHIP</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Map Directions"><U><B>LOCATION</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id362.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="URL Calendar Home Link"><U><B>CALENDAR</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject=Website Inquiry" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject"><U><B>EMAIL US</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id452.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><U><B>SITE MAP</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="123030970.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="151" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id464.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome"><U>Welcome</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id465.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lutheran Beliefs"><U>Lutheran Beliefs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id466.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to Join"><U>How to Join</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id467.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Local Missions"><U>Local Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id468.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Global Missions"><U>Global Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id508.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Parish Education"><U>Parish Education</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=280 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> Sermon Archive - December 25th 2008</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="568" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#990000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFCC99" FRAME="VOID" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#FFCC99 HEIGHT= 18 WIDTH="134"><div> <A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><IMG SRC="157a270e0.png" border=0 width="39" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#990000 WIDTH="421"><div>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>“The True Light of the World”</B></div> <div> John 1:1-14</div> <div>  Christmas Day, 2008</div> <div> Pastor Mark Wiesenborn</div> <div> St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >     </FONT>Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Our sermon message for Christmas Day is based on the first chapter of John's Gospel, where the Apostle describes the significance of the birth of little baby Jesus at Bethlehem:</div> <div>      “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world!”</div> <bR> <div>      Dear friends in Christ, some of you may have heard of a physiological and psychological condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.  It's also known as winter depression or winter blues; it is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter - and this occurs repeatedly, year after year. The U.S. National Library of Medicine notes that: “Some people experience a serious mood change when the seasons change. They may sleep too much, have little energy, and crave sweets and starchy foods. They may also feel depressed. Though symptoms can be severe, they usually clear up.” There are many different treatments for classic (winter-based) seasonal affective disorder, including anti-depression medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and even supplementation of the hormone melatonin.</div> <bR> <div>      In recent years, bright light therapy lamps have been recommended by doctors as the first line treatment for SAD. They typically provide a light dosage of 10,000 lux; the light source is delivered at an angle that mimics outdoor light; and they are UV-filtered for safety. They claim that 20-30 minutes each morning is all it takes to significantly improve energy levels and regulate sleep patterns.</div> <bR> <div>      Having lived in northern Illinois during the year I served as a Vicar at Immanuel Lutheran Church, I can certainly testify that in some places the combination of shorter days and less sunlight during the winter months can be challenging.  But I also recognize there are other things happening in people's hearts and lives this time of the year, which may be contributing to that seasonal sense of SAD-ness, or discouragement, or loneliness.  Maybe it has become a recurring, yearly experience for you or for one of your loved ones; or maybe this is the first year it has actually “overshadowed” you.  The time we spend in worship this Christmas morning may or may not improve your energy levels and regulate your sleep patterns - but listening to God's Word and receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we are undeniably brought into the true light of our Lord Jesus Christ!</div> <bR> <div>      That light first came down to us on Christmas Eve.  A pastor tells of enlisting four little children to help him preach his Christmas sermon on “The Star”.  He gave each child a card with one of the four letters to hold up, so he could make an emphasis on each letter of the word S-T-A-R.  But the children got a bit confused, and the congregation got quite a laugh when the children stood in reverse order and spelled out R-A-T-S.  (You might call it a “Charlie Brown Christmas”!)</div> <bR> <div>      Maybe that was a divine sort of mix-up.  Christmas isn't so much about the loftiness of a star, but about Jesus coming into the jumble and confusion, and yes, the sins and the hurts of the world.  “The Word became flesh,” John writes, “and dwelt among us.”  We have in Jesus a powerful source of light and life living among us.  For a few minutes let's look at how Jesus is God's presence, not in the shining perfection of a “star” but the real life issues of “rats.”</div> <bR> <div>      Look at the merriment we tend to drape over an otherwise sad and dreary world.  Please understand, I don't mean to say we shouldn't sing “Joy to the World” and other favorites, but there is a sadness in our world too.  There's the sadness of tears for a variety of reasons, of lives ruined by alcohol or drugs, of broken homes, or time spent in a hospital waiting room.</div> <bR> <div>      Jesus gives us a presence, not just to give us a blanket to hide under for a few days, but he comes to live under that blanket with us.  He comes to be where there is grief and sorrow; fear and sadness; loneliness and emptiness.  He comes with his divine presence to fulfill the promise of Isaiah, as “a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity”. [Isaiah 53:3]</div> <bR> <div>      Look at the gestures of good will.  This is the time of year we hope for “peace on earth, good will toward men.”  Sometimes we feel like Charlie Brown wistfully wondering, “Why can't we have that all year `round?”  One writer suggests: “There are a lot of things that `dwell among us' today.  Few of them are `full of grace and truth'”.  You know what “dwells among us” - cancer and heart disease; floods and hurricanes; abuse of one another in homes; violence and death in the daily news headlines; the fear that another global Great Depression may be coming upon us.</div> <bR> <div>      Jesus gives us a presence, not just as a seasonal relief, but to live among us.  He is God's presence among us “with grace and truth”.  Jesus gives us a healing presence in our relationships; a presence in the midst of our grief and guilt and fear.  Jesus gives us his continuing presence to bring restoration and renewal where we have tortured and twisted and broken our lives.  He gives us his continuing presence to show us the glory of the meaning of love in our everyday lives.  He comes with his presence to illustrate day after day the truth that God loves us.</div> <bR> <div>      Look also at the trappings of the holidays that can get a bit stale and predictable.  Jesus gives us a divine presence in a way that should really shock us to the core.  The presence of God… in a baby… in a manger… born to two peasant parents.  Maybe we've gotten too accustomed to the Christmas story, so that the shock of God's presence doesn't hit us any more.  One writer suggests that too much exposure to anything can lead us to take it for granted.  “If,” he suggests, “Moses had encountered a burning bush on every other hillside, chances are good that he might have started thinking about toasting marshmallows rather than bowing to God's majesty”.  As shocking as the thought of “toasting marshmallows” might be, I wonder how shocked God must be if we have “done Christmas” so many times that we start to focus on all sorts of other things rather than bowing to God's majesty.  Let the wonder of God's gift to us, his presence in Jesus, fill your heart.  Let the wonder of God's gift still surprise and amaze you as it did Isaiah who invited even the ruins of Jerusalem to break forth into singing because “your God reigns.”</div> <bR> <div>      Long ago, exiles living in captivity - torn from their homeland, their property forsaken, family and friends left behind, lost or displaced, living in a foreign land - they too knew what the darkness was all about, but the words of Isaiah announced an end to the darkness. It was not something they could bring about by their own action. It was God's doing, just on the day of Creation when He said: Let there be light - and there was light! The Lord would shatter the darkness with the light of His glory, and to His light people from every nation would be drawn. His chosen people were meant to shine, reflecting the glory of the Lord - and to act like a beacon, drawing others to Him.</div> <bR> <div>      We are His people today. So, how's your shine? Without the baby whom the wise men came to worship, it's not even going to flicker. Without the One who lived in your place and mine, who suffered for our sins and died abandoned by God so we would never have to be left in the darkness, it isn't even going to spark.  Arise and shine for your light has come - that's what Christmas was all about when the glory of the Lord shone round about the shepherds; and now even as Simeon said and the visit of wise men confirmed, that light has been revealed to Gentiles, the glory of God's people Israel. He is the true light of the world - our Savior Jesus, the Christ.</div> <bR> <div>      Each day as you rise, turn to Him and His light. Work to make it your first thought, asking Him to guide you through the day. Make time for His word every day. Talk to Him in prayer through every hour and in all your tasks - sharing your joys and sorrows, your guilt and fears, your hopes and your gratitude. Lift up your eyes and look around you. See how He has blessed you and is with you even though at times you may have forgotten Him or taken His gifts for granted and then - SHINE HIS LIGHT!</div> <bR> <div>      Is there someone you know who is burdened by the shadows and darkness of life, who needs an encouraging word - some gentle assurance that God loves them? Is there some way you can use your gifts, your abilities, your resources to let His light shine by volunteering for a task that needs doing whether great or small, by participating with others in a Bible class, or by sharing your resources with someone in need or supporting a particular mission project? Whatever it may be, shine with His light and give Him the glory. Deliberately look to how you may serve Him this day as you live among your family, as you meet with friends, as you go about the chores and the fun stuff - and then shine His light. For Jesus' sake!</div> <bR> <div>      In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen!</div> <bR> <div> <B>GOSPEL LESSON </B><B>- John 1:1-14 [ESV]</B></div> <bR> <div>      1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.</div> <bR> <div>      6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.  8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.</div> <bR> <div>      9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.  12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.</div> <bR> <div>      14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="122e30960.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id499.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet Our Leaders"><U>Meet Our Leaders</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tour Our Church"><U>Tour Our Church</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id493.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Read Our History"><U>Read Our History</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id626.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arts and Music"><U>Arts and Music</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Special Events"><U>Special Events</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id515.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Gallery"><U>Photo Gallery</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=70 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id423.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Search"><U><B>BIBLE SEARCH</B></U></A><B>  </B><B>~  </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B>LUTHERAN</B></U></A><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B> LINKS</B></U></A><B>  </B><B>~  </B><A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Online Devotionals"><U><B>DEVOTIONALS</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><B>SERMON ARCHIVES</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> © 2008  St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, TX - All Rights Reserved</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>