It all comes down to red carpet night. Stars, wannabe-stars, and people who hang on all make their way onto the red carpet and inside for the grand production. So many flashbulbs go off you gotta wonder why they don’t have seizures or get flash burns. The “who’s who” of fandom is there. Some come solo. Some come with their significant other. All dressed to the “nines” in clothing that cost more than I make in a couple of months. Ridiculous fawning over people and celebrities, enough to make you want to gag, goes on all night. But to be sure…this is the night all the hard work is rewarded.

We have seen that as we have made out way through the Christmas story.  The supporting cast (the ladies in Jesus’ genealogy and Zechariah and Elizabeth).  The Unknowns (shepherds and wise men who appear and never to be heard from again). The co-stars (Joseph and Mary).  And now the culmination.  The STAR of the whole production  has made his appearance. Everything has led up to this point. All the OT prophecies and the prophets who wrote them. Isaiah. Micah. 

Then we get to John 1. I will be spending the bulk of my time. Two statements will stand out Sunday.

Christmas was not a beginning but a becoming. Christmas wasn’t His start, but His commission. He was not created; He came. The Christmas We Didn’t Expect by David Mathis (p.24)

“We are not being told merely that Jesus Christ has eternal life or even that He gives it. This verse in I John 1:2 is saying He is eternal life, salvation itself.”

I’m looking forward to Sunday and preaching about the STAR. Join me if you would like.