Old Llantrisant Hill
Introduction
- The Cost of Christmas
- The financial cost, but also stress
- Christmas can be lonely, especially for the homeless
- The cost of the first Christmas
The Cost to Joseph and Mary
- Joseph found his betrothed was pregnant
- The stigma attached to Joseph and Mary
- Many said Jesus was illegitimate
- A long and arduous walk for a heavily pregnant lady
- No room in Bethlehem so they had to stay in a stable
- They fled as refugees to Egypt as Herod the Great sought to kill the Christ child
- Yet they would be the first to say it was all worth it!
- Jesus would save His people from their sin
- The Saviour of the world had come
- A personal cost to Mary
- Jesus was born to die (on the cross)
The Cost to God
- John 3:16, Roman 8:32
- God the Father did not spare His own Son
- Though Jesus was equal to God, He humbled Himself to come in the form of a bondservant
- He was born in the squalor of a stable
- God gives His spotless beloved Son to die in our place on the cross to bring forgiveness of sins
- This was the favour of God to men - His good will
The Cost to You?
- What is your response to this message?
- For the Wise Men it was not too much of a cost to follow the star and come to offer gifts to Christ
- They sought Christ diligently - they found Him
- Are you seeking God and Jesus Christ?
- If you seek Him with all your heart you will find Him
- There is a cost to following Jesus Christ
- To be a born again Christian is to go against the flow
- A cost of misunderstanding and division
- A cost at work
- A cost when you stand for righteousness
- It is worth it though
- Have you seen the salvation of God found in Jesus Christ?
- Jesus is the pearl of great price
- The best present of all is the Lord Jesus