The Right Balance
Written by Ryan Simmons
Saturday, 03 December 2005 19:00
Sermon Notes
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:8-14
The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
We are going to talk briefly this morning about what it means to apply the right balance of essentials to our lives while experiencing the true joy and peacefulness of the Holiday season. My goal is that on December 25, you are able to relax and appreciate the day rather than completely crash because of busyness. Another goal is for all of us to learn how to appropriately celebrate the season of Christmas in four separate areas.
These areas are appropriate preparation, appropriate meditation, appropriate recreation, and appropriate celebration. Chances are that you will find in the next few moments that you are very good in at least 1 of these areas and that you could stand some improvement in other ones.
- For example, some of you are really good at preparation for the holidays ? cooking, decorating, planning, etc.
- Others of you are very good at meditation. You can let yourself get lost in the spirit of the season.
- Some of you are great when it comes to recreation. You?ve learned how to use watching football on T.V. to exercise, to whatever else in order to escape the hustle and bustle.
- Lastly, some of you are great at celebration. You know how to celebrate Christmas. You know all the Christmas carols (and sing them all the time) and you know that you can?t start Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving! You know how to make Christmas morning happen for your kids at your house.
Well, let?s talk about each one and how we can make these a part of our holiday DNA and even our regular lives. First of all, the Right Balance requires:
1. Appropriate Preparation (ex. Story of Mary and Martha)
Secondly, the Right Balance requires:
2. Appropriate Meditation
One thing that we can all learn from Jesus is that he took time in all of his busyness to consistently get away from every thing else and meditate on life, God, his ministry, etc. He made time to get caught up in what he was doing by getting alone and reflecting on it. I don?t think we do enough of this during the holidays.
Next, the Right Balance requires:
3. Appropriate Recreation
Finally, the Right Balance requires:
4. Appropriate Celebration
This can only be fully realized in conjunction with the previous three. Celebration can be the result, the outpouring, the ultimate culmination of the holiday season when done appropriately. We often miss out on this because we let 1 or 2 of the other areas get the best of us. This is where we get with our families and catch up. Love on each other, laugh together, share with each other. We eat until we are sick and then we eat some more. We open gifts and gifts and more gifts. We celebrate the joy of the season and day that God sent his only son to redeem all of mankind.
Conclusion
Look with me one last time at Luke 2:8-14. Read it slowly. Did you catch it? Peace. That?s what the passage is about. Those who were afraid are comforted. Angels are singing and praising God, the savior of the world is born as a tiny baby. What?s more peaceful than that? The last thing the angel says is ?Peace on Earth?. We too, get to experience the peace of the season when we have the Right Balance in our lives.