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Music Please take your seats now. Please take your seats now. And please take your seats now. Song number 131. Song number 131. Second hymn. For 131, on the first, ready, sing. Halina atayo Halina atayo Halina atayo For 131, on the first, ready, sing. Halina atayo For 131, on the first, ready, sing. Halina atayo Halina atayo Halina atayo Halina atayo Halina atayo Halina atayo Halina atayo Halina atayo Halina atayo For 131, on the second, ready, sing. Halina atayo Halina atayo For 131, on the second, ready, sing. The the the the the the the the Oh, and all the last. Alle na chai por ihi, Alle na chai por ihi, Si christo atiin ha, Riyad pangin ho. Let us pray, Dear heaven, Father and Lord. Ma companies ahra runte le penukkal le b centres, Na amo en pangan enu ponti nih pangano seh inu pontahana upamah apangana nihinu ponsayi ta. All right, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church, and Merry Christmas to you here today. And let's go through just a few announcements. We're not going to go through everything for sake of time, but let us count up any salvations that are unreported. So let's start in this section here. Any salvations to report to the bulletin? Two, three, anybody else? Three. How about in this section? Salvations to report, anybody? One, three. All right, let's see, over here, salvations. Anybody I missed? Any salvations to report? All right, well, great job, everybody. 12 salvations to add to the bulletin. A couple other things to mention. Of course, today's our official Christmas service. There's the Christmas-themed sermons. We're going to have our lunch, and then we're going to have soul-winning time. Soul-winning is going to be shortened. So if you're not planning to stick around for all the Christmas activities, that's fine. And we can kind of send you off to a further place. But if you're going to be here for the Christmas activities, we're going to try to make soul-winning a little bit shorter, kind of nearby. A lot of people are probably going to go in this area or nearby. And so that way, we can get started early on the activities. This sermon should be ending a bit early. So we'll get lunch done early and then get started on soul-winning early. And once we come back from soul-winning, we're going to have our dessert competition. We still do need three judges. So if anyone wants to volunteer, you're welcome to come to me later on and say you volunteer. Otherwise, I'll just kind of ask various different people if they want to be a judge. So that'll be the dessert competition. And then we're going to have our pink elephant gift exchange. So once lunch is done, we'll kind of just move the tables. And then we're going to have a spot so you can put your gifts. I'm not really sure where all the gifts are now. But obviously, there's a lot of gifts here today for the pink elephant gift exchange. And then we can get started on the pink elephant gift exchange then after the dessert competition. And other than that, we do see that in our bulletin, the midweek service this week has been moved to Friday. It's going to be Friday at 7 p.m. instead of Wednesday. Because Wednesday is Christmas, so we're going to move it to the 27th. And then New Year's is seven days after Christmas. So we're going to move the following one from Wednesday to Friday. So your weekends are packed. It's like Friday church, Saturday soul-winding Sunday church, and everything. But we're going to do that for the next couple of weeks. Then we're going to go back to our normal schedule for Wednesday. So I believe that's it for announcements. We'll have Brother Chris lead us in another song. So for our next song, the same hymnal poem, we'll play it in 132. Song number 132. We'll play it in the silent night. It's called, Kaitahimik Na Paligid. If you're familiar with the song, we'll play it in Kaitahimik Na Paligid. Kaitahimik, ready on the first. Kaitahimik, na paligid, saagabik marikid, saagabik marikid, saagabik marikid, saagabik marikid, on the second. Kaitahimik, na paligid, abhilesh umavi, amtanam pamambainaparab, saapalitam saptanam inam, dhumatalam aari, dhumatalam aari, on the third. Kaitahimik, na paligid, abhilaya padhibik, josainabhigeinam viyaya, dinginam magandam palina, ameshyasai sumila, ameshyasai sumila, on the last. Kaitahimik, na paligid, talai namasi, mamamago ai nakshihana, sasangol nathagapa agritas, sikristo manulubos, sikristo humpos. Let's take our offering. Let's take our offering. Amen. For scripture reading, please open your Bibles to the book of Luke. Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. We will be reading from verse 1 down to verse 11. Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Book chapter 2, verse 1. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And his taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and all went to be taxed to everyone into his own city. Then Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child, and so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered, and she should have brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone right about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Bless the rooting of God's word. Let us pray. Lord God in heaven, we thank you Lord for this day that you have given to us. I pray our Lord that you would please give us good weather for our slow winning and our fellowship later on. I pray our Lord that you would please bless our pastor in the preaching of your word, Lord, this day. We love you, Jesus, and we pray. Amen. Alright, we're here in Luke chapter 2, and the name of the sermon is How to Celebrate a Pagan Christmas Part 2. And, you know, in the first sermon I talked about kind of the origins of Christmas, and as I mentioned, our family, we do celebrate Christmas. A lot of traditions we do have, but there are some traditions we obviously do not celebrate. We talked about bad traditions that nobody should celebrate. Nobody should be talking about Santa Claus, or elves, or drinking, or Die Hard, right? Those are bad things. And then we transitioned to the questionable things. And these are things that are kind of like, I could see where someone might have a problem with it, and some of these we do do, and some of them we don't do. And it's really up to you, okay? The Christmas tree was the first one mentioned, and our family, we do have a Christmas tree, but the origins of the Christmas tree come from pagan roots, so if that offends you or bothers you, then obviously don't have one. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. The next one I want to talk about is a nativity scene. Nativity scenes are very common around Christmas time, and nativity scenes are coming from Luke chapter 2, where it says here in Luke 2 verse 6, And so was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now, one problem with nativity scenes is they're not accurate, usually. They're going to usually have wise men that are there, which is just not accurate, because they were not there right at the birth of Jesus Christ. I mean, that is one problem. But turn to Exodus chapter 20, and I'll talk about this a little bit. Exodus chapter 20. Now, I'll say this, because I cannot preach an entire sermon right now about what is idolatry, because quite honestly, it's a very debated topic amongst Christians. Good people have different opinions on what constitutes idolatry and what does not. Actually, in two weeks, I'm going to be preaching two sermons against idolatry, because we're going to be starting a documentary on the topic of idolatry. But I'm not really going to go into what is and what is not idolatry specifically in that sermon, but on Tuesdays, we're in the book of Exodus. In Pampanga, we're in Exodus 17. We're getting close to Exodus 20, and I will have an entire sermon on graven images, really just kind of what is a graven image and what is not. So I'm going to kind of sum it up really quickly here. I personally do not consider nativity scenes idolatry, because I do not believe that any image that is made is idolatry unless it's actually worship. Now, where people would say that it is would be from Exodus 20, and I'll read that to you first, and then I'll show you the contrary point in Exodus 25. But in Exodus chapter 20, it says in verse 4, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Now, some people believe that any image of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water is automatically idolatry, whereas others do not believe it is unless it's being worshiped or it has a major spiritual significance. Now, I would say this, that if your stance is that any form of any object is idolatry, I would be very careful to pay attention to what you have in your house because, number one, never play chess ever again because that horse would be idolatry if you take that as your stance. I mean, that literally would be an image of something on earth beneath, so never play the game of chess ever again. Now, we have stuffed animals at our house. I don't believe that's idolatry having stuffed animals at our house. Yesterday, after I preached the sermon, I noticed there were stickers with animals that people were handing out. I don't think that's idolatry because nobody's worshiping it, but if somebody's actually worshiping it. So, for example, the Bible says, Thou shalt not kill, but there are exceptions to that. Self-defense is not violating thou shalt not kill. Killing an animal is not violating thou shalt not kill. Being in a justified biblical war, which I'm not sure there are any of those that exist today, but in the Bible times, if you killed someone, that would not be violating that commandment where you're going to get the death penalty. So, the Bible says, Thou shalt not make any graven image, but then it gives more information, Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them. So, I believe that is the violation that's being mentioned. Now, go to Exodus 25. Now, if, and I'm okay, if you have a different opinion, that's fine. I'm quickly summing this up. We don't have a nativity scene. I just don't believe it's idolatry. But here's what I would say. If that is God's commandment, don't make any graven image. God does command many times for them to make graven images. Because many times, I mean, you remember, I'm not going to show it to you, but you remember the brazen snake upon the pole? Here's the thing. God did not have a problem with it until they started to worship it later on when Hezekiah destroyed it in 2 Kings 18. Right? God said, make this. They had it, and it had a purpose. Then later on, people are bowing down to it and worshiping it, and then Hezekiah is like, we've got to destroy it. Right? And I would say why earlier kings did not destroy it is because there's probably a fear in destroying idols in a land, kind of like Gideon. Like, man, I can't do this by day. I've got to do it by night because you've got a rabid crowd of people that are probably going to kill you for doing it. Here's what it says in Exodus 25, verse 17. And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold. What is a cherubim? It is an angelic being. We think of an angel as having two wings, but the Bible speaks of angels with four wings or six wings. Okay? And you've got cherubim, you've got seraphim, and a cherubim is the likeness of something in heaven above. Right? God's commanding them to make cherubims. So is God commanding? I mean, that would be kind of confusing in Exodus 20. Don't make any graven images. Five chapters later, make this graven image of something in heaven above. I think that would be pretty confusing. I think what God's restriction is is on actually worshipping the object. Okay? And so you have this, the cherubim, an image of something in heaven above. Later on, he commands them to make the brazen serpent, which is the likeness of something on earth. And I believe what the restriction is is actually bowing down and actually serving them and worshipping them. Now, of course, the Catholic Church is still guilty because all of the idols that they make, they are bowing down to them. They do think they have a magical power. They do think by rubbing the black Nazarene, it's going to remove their sicknesses and illnesses. So it is idolatry. Okay? But I don't believe that any image that you find is automatically idolatry. Now, as I said, when I talk about the example of India, I don't have a problem with a wooden cow, and we don't have one. But I certainly would not have one if I lived in India. Because if you have a wooden cow, people are just automatically going to assume, well, wait a minute. It's like you worship the Hindu gods. Right? That's the confusion that they would have. Okay? Now, you might agree or disagree that's not the main part of the sermon. I don't personally think the nativity scene is idolatry. It's not really scripturally accurate. We don't have one. But if somebody had one, I wouldn't be like, you're cast out of the church. You're an idol worshiper. I don't look at it that way personally. I think if you study the Bible, the restriction isn't actually bowing down and serving those images. Okay? Go to the Bible to Matthew 2. Matthew 2. But nativity scene is in the questionable mark because of the fact it's not quite biblically accurate. And the other reason is a lot of people would have a conviction that I think this is idolatry or wrong. Okay? And you know what? If that's your opinion, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. We do not have one personally. The next thing that is under the questionable category is giving gifts. You say, pastor, are you against giving gifts? We are having the pink elephant gift exchange in several hours. No, I'm not against giving gifts. But that actually does derive from pagan origins as well. It was not something that Christians instituted. It arrived from pagan origins. Okay? It says here the sigularia on December 19th was a day of gift giving because gifts of value would mark social status contrary to the spirit of the season. These were often the pottery or wax figurines called sigularia made special for the day. Candles or gag gifts of which Augustus was particularly fond, children received toys as gifts. And if you researched, the idea was that if you gave gifts during the holiday season that the gods would bless you more and you would have more money coming in. So it does have its roots in a pagan origin. That being said, not only is there nothing sinful about giving gifts, not only does the Bible mention it as a good thing of giving gifts, but also at the birth of Jesus Christ, I mean, you know, you have gifts being associated. Okay? Go to Matthew chapter 2. And you know, this is not exactly at the birth of Christ, but it's still kind of associated in the same general time frame. It says here in Matthew 2, verse 11, And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary as mother and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented on to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Right? So you have maybe three wise men, maybe two, maybe 20. We don't really know. Okay. And they're giving gold and frankincense and myrrh. And of course, you know, this is a very common thing you think of, you know, around the birth of Jesus Christ and about Jesus Christ. I personally don't see anything wrong with giving gifts, but it does have its roots in pagan origin. So if the idea of anything coming from a pagan origin originally bothers you, then along with the Christmas tree, you should probably stop giving gifts as well, because it also has its roots in the pagan false religions. Turn your Bible to Luke 2. Luke 2. Now, as I said, when it comes to this idea of coming from a false religion, my opinion is that a long time has gone by and I don't think anyone is associating giving gifts today with worshipping Odin or Saturn or whatever they're worshipping in those cultures. I think it's kind of like unassociated, so I'm not really worried about. I do think that we ought to be very careful to maintain our reputation and not do anything to offend others and all of those things, as the Bible mentions, I just don't really think giving gifts is going to cause people to think that you're worshipping a false god. But there are religions that are completely against celebrating Christmas. Stockings have their origins in the pagan roots as well. Now, I have not seen stockings as being as big here, but generally you have stockings associated with a chimney and a fireplace. People here are not worried about warming up during the wintertime, but in the US, a chimney is considered a really cool thing during the wintertime, because you're looking at the snow outside while you're in front of a fireplace on the inside. And you would put stockings around the chimney, and what we did as a family is we put the small gifts in the stockings, and on Christmas Eve we opened the stockings, and on Christmas Day we opened the gifts that were underneath the tree. But the original origin of stockings comes from St. Nicholas from my research, and it said that he was helping out the daughters of this widower, and he put three bags of coins into some stockings, and then they hid them up by the chimney. So that has its roots in something that is not really biblical also. Another thing is actually Christmas caroling has its roots in pagan origins, and so basically it was called wassailing, is what they did in these cultures. And then in the Christmas season, people do Christmas caroling. Once again, I'm not against these things. I'm not against Christmas caroling. I think it's perfectly fine to sing Christmas songs. I mean, we were just singing them. I don't go to my neighbors and sing Christmas hymns, but I'm not against it. There's nothing that would point against it. But the original roots of this are actually from pagan origins, and so here's what it says about wassailing. It was a 12-night tradition with pagan roots and has been practiced in Britain for centuries. And it says you would sip from a communal wassail bowl, and they would have these wooden bowls. And it said the purpose of wassailing, so basically they're going around singing songs that are not Christian songs, but they're singing various songs from door to door and out in public. It said the purpose was to encourage the spirits into ensuring a good harvest the following season. So basically you go around singing these songs, and it's going to cause the spirits that are out there to basically bless you with a good harvest. This was the belief in wassailing. And it says it takes place on the 12th night after Christmas and involves a visit to a nearby orchard for singing, dancing, drinking, and general merrymaking. And so getting drunk. So you sing songs to the spirits, and then you get drunk was basically the tradition that they did. And they believe somehow that would bless them with a good harvest. Now obviously we look at this as Christians. This is ridiculous to think that you're going to be blessed with a good harvest. But I am trying to help you understand something, that if you take the position on certain things, I don't want to do this because of the pagan origins. I'm helping you realize that most of these things actually do have pagan origins. And so if you want to be consistent, you can get rid of all of them, which we don't do that. We do do some of these traditions. And there's nothing wrong with singing, obviously. Good songs. Luke 2 verse 13. And suddenly there is with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. So we see that singing, though, is very associated with the birth of Jesus Christ. And so we can certainly look at Christmas caroling and see in the Bible if we're going to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas caroling is a good thing, but the actual roots of when it started came from these pagan societies. They thought that the spirits would bless them with a good harvest. Another common thing at Christmas time are bells. And the idea from a Christian perspective is when you ring the bell, it's basically saying, you know, that it's the entering in of Jesus Christ or the entering in of the Savior. But these also have their roots in pagan origins. They were called the Lorena bells. And the idea was as you rang these, it drove out the evil spirits. OK, so as this came into the Christian cultures, it's like they kept the tradition in a lot of areas. And this meant the bringing in of the Savior. But the original intent in the pagan cultures was the driving out of the evil spirits. OK, now, when they look at a Christian perspective, they will often go to Luke 2 verses 13 and 14, which we just read. I don't see bells in these verses. I don't see anything wrong with bells. It's like there's famous songs like Carol of the Bells. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but I don't really see it in scripture, but I don't really see it as a bad thing either. There's nothing that would say this is a bad thing to do, in my opinion, despite the roots of it. Now turn in your Bible to John 19. John chapter 19. And I want you to understand, you know, this is how our church operates. We're basically, I teach what the Bible says and I let you make your own decisions for yourself. I'm giving you all the information I know, both scripturally, the history, why people are for something or against it. I don't make your decisions for you. I preach against a lot of worldliness and wicked sin and stuff. But you know what? If you want to go watch Die Hard at Christmas time, go ahead. Right. If you want to watch Home Alone at Christmas, go ahead. You can do whatever you want. You know, it's like you want to watch Santa Claus, whatever movie or, you know, Rudolph is the Rudolph movie or whatever. You know, that's common. Go ahead. Right. I'm giving you the information. You do what you want. I listed the things that I think are just very clearly. No Christian should do it. Then most of these things are kind of in the in-between category where it's kind of like, you know what? Some people might be for it, some against it. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Okay. The next one I want to mention, and I want to associate these all together, are Holly, Ivy, Garland, Mistletoe, and Poinsettia. Because they're all kind of similar. All of them you're looking at green plants. And of course, as I mentioned, the idea of the color green during Christmas was that in the dead of winter, during winter solstice, there is no life. And the color green was like a sign of hope. And they would find something, specific trees that could actually last in the dead of winter. And as a result, they would just put some sort of magical power behind these trees. And all of these plants are kind of similar because they're very associated with the winter during Christmas time, Holly, Ivy, Garland, Mistletoe, and Poinsettia. Holly was used with the Celts or the Celts, the Romans, and Germanic tribes. And they believed that Holly would ward off evil spirits and provide luck. And in the Celtic society, Holly represented the Holly King. I don't know what the Holly King is. I didn't keep researching. Okay. Some sort of god they have. And Holly on the walls outside your house protected against evil spirits. So basically, this is what they did during the winter season. They would decorate the outside of their house with all of these green plants. And the belief was it would prevent the evil spirits from coming inside their house. And they would put candles all around their house and in their window seals. And by having the candles on the outside, the evil spirits would stay out of the house. Okay. Now that might seem very strange to you, and it seems very strange to me, but I have seen neighbors doing this sort of ritual to bless their house when they move into the house. Right? I mean, I don't know the exact ritual, but I've seen the neighbors doing it where they're moving into the house and they're doing some sort of Catholic ritual to bless that household. And look, I'm all for praying and saying, God, can you please bless this home? There's nothing wrong with that, but it's like they definitely are adding some weird things to it. And it's like you'll see a Catholic priest visit the neighborhood just to walk in and bless that house. So this is kind of similar, isn't it? I mean, so it's certainly a tradition that you can sort of see, well, I get why they did it, because they do the same sort of thing here. And I would say as Christians, it's like, obviously, hey, pray that God will bless you financially. Pray for all things. But you know what? Don't attach something weird to it other than that. Right? Ivy represented, according to them, friendship, fidelity, and faith. And tenacious growth reminded of growth in the bleakest season, also linked to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and revelry. Mistletoe. Now, mistletoe in the United States, it's like a big thing where if there's mistletoe and there's like two people underneath the mistletoe, they have to start kissing or making out. It's like a common thing, whether it be at an office party, whether it be at just a college party or whatever. That's kind of the thing. It's like, oh, here's mistletoe. I'm a guy. You're a girl. Let's just start making out. So mistletoe is not just something that has a weird pagan origin. It has a very weird thing today. Right? That's wrong. That's inappropriate. But it was very common in pagan cultures, and the mistletoe represented, the white berries in the mistletoe represented male fertility. I'm not going to read everything else that they talked about. I mean, it's perverted. But I would say that certainly has a bad connotation today. So is there anything inherently sinful about mistletoe? No, there's not, but of course I would shy away from that a lot more than holly just because of the connotation associated. Okay? Turn in your Bible to John 19, and next I want to talk to you about wreaths. I personally like wreaths. We don't have one. I think they're really nice, especially what they represent. With wreaths, they often have all those plants that I just mentioned mixed in with the wreath. But generally with the wreath, you're just looking at a circular object. And what's cool about it is the symbolism is it represents the crown of thorns that Jesus had, especially with the red inside of the wreath and the red representing the blood of Jesus Christ. And so from a Christian perspective, that's why they use the wreath where it's like they have the red, and then that represents the blood of Jesus Christ. In fact, a lot of reasons why we use red as Christians today in Christmas is a lot of these traditions that we have, even new ones that I'm going to mention here in a little bit, they are associated with the blood of Jesus Christ and represent our salvation. So they can be a very good thing. But that's why I think wreaths are kind of cool because I think they look nice, and also just the crown of thorns is easy to see, and the red represents the blood of Jesus Christ. John 19, verse 1. Then Pilate, therefore, took Jesus and scourged him, and the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews, and they smote him with their hands. And obviously this is not about the birth of Jesus Christ. It's more about the death of Jesus Christ. But simply seeing a wreath is just kind of a reminder to me about what Jesus Christ did for us and how he died and paid for our sins. Go to John 8. John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Look, if there's any of these traditions that are in the in-between category, I'm not trying to get you to stop these traditions as long as you're not doing something sinful. I mean, if you're celebrating like Santa Claus, yeah, I want you to stop because that's wrong. It's a lie. But I would say that most of these traditions, it's kind of like just a matter of opinion. There's really no Bible verse I can point to that says do not do this. There's no Bible verse that could say, hey, don't have mistletoe, don't have holly, don't have a wreath. There's really nothing you can find, but there's also nothing that says you have to have it. So neither side is really right or wrong. It's just kind of your own personal perspective. It's completely fine if there's someone at our church who says, I don't want to have a Christmas tree. That is perfectly fine. But if you want to have one, that is also perfectly fine because none of us can point to clear verses on these ones in between and say, Thus saith the Lord. So it's a matter of opinion of what you want to do. Lights and candles I'm going to put in the same category together because they're kind of similar and they represent that Jesus is the light of the world. I personally am less for candles than lights. We have lights on our Christmas tree. Number one, I don't want the Christmas tree to burn down with candles. But number two, there's just a lot of traditions in various false religions involving candles, and there's nothing wrong with a candle, and we use candles from time to time, but it's just kind of like it's often associated with these other religions. I don't know all the traditions here in the Philippines, but I know at certain times of the year, I see a bunch of Catholic relatives or Catholic neighbors have candles outside their house, and it's like, well, there's something going on. I don't know what it is, but it's something associated with a religious perspective, and it's something that, as a Christian, I don't want to be associated with. It says here in John 8, verse 12, Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. And so I think lights are cool, because as kids see the lights, and you're raising your kids, or neighbors have them, you say, hey, you know what? Jesus is the light of the world, and those lights can kind of be a reminder of this. Lights are more of a modern thing. Candles are something that kind of go way back. But either way, it represents that Jesus is the light of the world. But it's still under the questionable category, because the origin of these things actually come from pagan roots. Go to Matthew chapter 2. But I'll tell you the real reason why I have an eerie feeling around candles, because I grew up Protestant, and during Christmastime, it's like you're in church, and it's like you've got all of these people at the church, because they don't have like older boys at a Protestant church, but they have like all the kids like dress up as older boys, and they're holding a candle, and it's dark, and it feels eerie. It's like, silent night. It's kind of creepy, to be honest, okay? But I just kind of think, it's the same reason why I said before, like, you know, the organ, when I hear the organ, it's not my favorite, because it just kind of reminds me of when I was in Protestant church as a kid, though there's nothing wrong with it, right? There's nothing you could say about a candle inherently wrong, but it just kind of reminds me of a false religion that I grew up in, and so as a result, it's kind of something where I'm like, it's like, for example, you know, I used to hate the song in our hymnal, Come and Dine. I don't hate it anymore, okay? But I used to hate that song, because when I was in my 20s, I got invited to preach at a United Methodist church, and it's not something I would do now, but me and my friends went to the church, and I should have known, but I had kind of forgotten of my United Methodist roots, and it's like, before I actually got to preach, it's like, we believe in the holy Catholic church. It's like, oh, I forgot about this part, and it's like all the stuff leading into it, and then their song leader, though, because they were trying to be, like, old-fashioned, but mixing the new stuff to bring in people, and the song leader went up, he's like, come and dine, the master calleth, and I just could not shake that image from my head, and so for, like, 10 years after that, it's like, I just could not stand that song, even though I didn't think there was anything bad about the song. It's a good song, but it's like, I was in a false church, and they were singing it. It's also the reason why I used to hate the song, you know, praise God from whom all blessings flow, because twice every single church service in the Protestant church growing up, we would hear that song, and so I couldn't stand that song for the longest time. Now I actually really like the song. It's got great words. It's a good song, but it's just kind of like, because of my origin, I just get reminded of it, and I would say that a lot of these things that are in this in-between category, it's not necessarily right or wrong. It's just how you personally feel for various reasons, and so if you don't want to do it, for whatever reason, that's fine. If you do want to, that's also fine. The yule log is also a big thing at Christmas. This is not something that we really did as a kid, and it's not really something probably in the Philippines because this is more associated with fireplaces, but it actually comes from a false pagan origin as well, a false holiday, okay? Now that's the list of the pagan roots or questionable traditions where let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. We talked about the bad traditions. We talked about Santa Claus, the elves. We talked about Die Hard, and what was the other one I talked about? What was the other bad tradition? Drinking, obviously, okay? And obviously there's probably other traditions that you could think of that are bad as well. Just use some common sense. There's a lot that are kind of in between where it's kind of up to you what you want to do. Now let's talk about the new traditions that started, and I've got five different things that started as a result of celebrating Christmas that Christians brought in that, from my research, this does not have its roots in a pagan origin, and it represents a good thing. Number one is the star. It says here in Matthew chapter two, Matthew chapter two, verse number one, Matthew two verse one, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When you think of the birth of Jesus Christ, the star is very associated, and in fact, if you have a Christmas tree, it's very common to put either a star or an angel at the top of the tree, right? And that star has a good representation. I mean, it represents, you know, as the wise men are coming to see Jesus, and the star is what guided them, and so the star is a new tradition. As far as my research goes, although people worship the planets and the sun, and, you know, I don't really see that with the stars in general, and so the star is a very good representation. It was brought in by Christians. I think it's a cool thing, right? Go to Luke chapter 2. Luke 2. Luke chapter 2. You know, on a side point, it said that they came to worship him. What does that show you what they thought of Jesus Christ? They obviously believe that Jesus Christ was God, right? They came to worship him, and of course, that is what the Bible teaches. Another thing that is kind of a newer tradition that was brought in by Christians is the angel, and, you know, although in the Bible, you do see that in the book of Colossians, it talks about worshiping angels because there was actually this cult that existed in that part of the world at that time of worshiping angels, so he preaches against it, but outside of that, it's like you don't really see much on angels, but the angels, this does not have its roots in Norse mythology or in that part of the world where they're celebrating winter solstice, but the angel was kind of brought in because of how it represents Jesus Christ. It says in Luke 2, verse 8, And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. Now, outside of the angel here, I mean, if you remember earlier in the book of Luke, you think of the angel coming to Mary, right? Or in the book of Matthew, the angel coming to Joseph. And so seeing the angel is a reminder, you can tell your kids that, hey, you know what? There was an angel that actually came to Mary to explain what was going to take place. There was an angel that came to Joseph to explain, you know, what he would have been confused about as a husband, you know, as his wife was with child and it would not have been from him. And you see the angel here coming to the shepherds as well. It says here in verse number 10, And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born in this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there is with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Go to First Peter chapter two, First Peter two. I would say one of the hardest things to do as a pastor when you're trying to preach sermons is preach sermons for holidays, because, you know, everybody is at church for the Christmas sermon or the Easter sermon, and it's like always around the same theme. So it's kind of hard to come up with something unique. People have heard it a million times. And so I was trying to think of what to preach for, you know, Christmas. And my wife actually inspired this sermon when she brought up the candy cane, and she taught me something I didn't know. And I thought, hey, this would be kind of a cool sermon to preach just to kind of talk about, you know, the pagan origins and, you know, just two parts and go through all this stuff. And I knew that the candy cane represented Jesus Christ. I just didn't know how much it represented Jesus Christ, because it does actually in a multitude of different ways. Now, the one that I knew ever since I was a kid is that the red and the white represent the stripes of Jesus. So by his stripes, we are healed. They represent the blood of Jesus Christ that died, that he shed to pay for our sins. 1 Peter 2, verse 24, Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live under righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. And I knew this ever since I was a kid, because when I was a kid, I would get my hair cut at a barber shop, and outside the barber shop, they had the red and the white that would just kind of like go down the pole and everything. And I remember as a kid, you know, just kind of asking what this was, you know, my dad told me and the other people there, you know, so it's commonly known that the red and white, this represents the blood of Jesus Christ, you know, the stripes of Jesus Christ that died for our sins. Because that sort of symbolism was in America for a very long time, although a lot of this stuff is kind of going out of existence, okay? So one thing that the candy cane represents, the red and the white, is the stripes of Jesus Christ. Now that's obviously a good thing. What I didn't think about was, you know, my wife told me that, you know, it's shaped like a J, standing for Jesus. And I'm like, that's a good point, right? I never thought about the fact that it's shaped like a J, which I guess would be like this for you, right? Because I'm looking at it like this. But for you, it's shaped like a J, right? Standing for Jesus. I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. I never really thought about that, okay? But it represents Jesus because the letter J stands for Jesus. Go to Luke chapter 2, Luke 2. But it also represents the staff of a shepherd. And the Bible says that Jesus is the chief shepherd, and of course we just look at the shepherds. We're going to look at it again. The shepherds that heard from the angel about the birth of Jesus Christ, and of course with shepherds you think of having a staff. And a candy cane is shaped just like that. So there's a lot of great symbolism with the candy cane. I'm not a big fan of the taste of it, but the symbolism is great, okay? The symbolism to a candy cane is great, and it represents Jesus in a lot of different ways. Luke 2, verse 8. And there are in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And so as you see the candy cane, you can kind of think about the fact it represents the staff of a shepherd. And Jesus, the Bible says, is the chief shepherd. It represents the stripes of Jesus Christ by whose stripes were healed. The red and the white. And it is in the shape of a J, which stands for Jesus. So there's a lot of great symbolism to the candy cane. There's a reason why it's actually shaped that way. It is a specific meaning that was brought in by Christians. Two other ones I'll quickly mention. And as I said, we're going to get done a little bit early, so we have time to get started early on soul winning and have time for all the activities. You know, the doves that are often at Christmas time, oftentimes they'll have dove ornaments that you'll put on the tree somewhere. And the dove, you know, you think about the fact that when Jesus came, John the Baptist immediately knew it was Jesus because the Holy Spirit was descending like a dove and lighting upon him. So kind of the dove represents, you know, the Holy Spirit of God. It kind of reminds you of some of the stories. And then the other one that kind of has a good representation, but maybe it's a stretch, is the gingerbread house, okay? And from what I read that, you know, when the gingerbread house, you know, was originated, it represents God's creation of Adam in the garden and his creation of us when you think of a gingerbread man. And the other thing I read, which is kind of funny, but I think is a good example, the gingerbread house represents the need for a firm foundation, which there's no other foundation than Jesus Christ because when you make a gingerbread house, it usually falls over, right? And so it's like if you make a gingerbread house during this time of year and it completely falls apart, just remember that the foundation of Jesus Christ is a lot stronger than the foundation you made with that gingerbread house, okay? So even if it fails, it can still serve as like a good reminder, whatever, of Jesus Christ. And so, you know, outside of this, I'll say this, like our kids are obviously pretty young, but they're getting a little bit older. And this was kind of the first year we started to add some new traditions that are really centered around the Bible. So for example, during the 25 days from December 1st to December 25th, we are picking one song for each day that we sing as a family, which is like, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, you know, Hark the Herald, and all the songs in our hymnal, plus songs like What Child Is This, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and songs such as that, which is a good tradition to sing. You know, you're singing Christmas songs. And we've been basically on non-church days just reading a small portion of something related to the birth of Jesus Christ, whether it be Isaiah 9-6 from the Old Testament and Micah 5-2 prophesying about Jesus, or in the book of Luke, just reading a small section, just kind of reading it to our kids. And, you know, the reason why we're doing this is because we want to make sure that this Christmas is centered around Jesus Christ. Because, you know, for a lot of us, what we're doing during Christmas time is we're celebrating it with family, and that's not a bad thing. My wife's family just arrived from the U.S. just this past week, so we're spending a lot of time with her family and everything, but we never want to make Jesus Christ be on the back burner where it's like you're so busy with all of these other things that you don't have time to just remember Jesus Christ. So what I would recommend is, you know, whatever traditions you choose to have during Christmas time, you know, try to make sure that they're centered around Jesus Christ It's okay to have traditions that are just kind of fun things or different, but, you know, don't get so focused on those things that you just get completely drawn away from what Christmas is about. Because, you know, I've always thought Christmas was the greatest holiday. I loved it as a kid. But, you know, I remember when we were growing up, you know, one year we had, I think they call it like an Advent calendar, where it's like, you know, something pops up and it gives a Bible verse. And I remember just thinking that was the coolest thing. And it was kind of centered around, you know, the Bible and Jesus Christ and just a reminder of those things. And I would just say that, you know, whatever traditions we have, you know, make sure what you're instilling inside your kids, because they're going to have great Christmas memories, but you want to make sure those things are centered around the birth of Jesus Christ and not just other fun things that we do. Let's close in with a prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and ask you to help all of us in this room to celebrate Christmas in the right way, God. Help us to be reminded of what Christmas is about. Help us to make sure that we have traditions that are centered around you and the observance of the birth of Jesus Christ. And, you know, I ask you to bless all these families in the coming year and the rest of this year. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. For our last song, song number 40. Song number 40. We'll sing Go Tell It on the Mountain. Then we're going to go to the first verse. Ready? Go tell it on the mountain. Ready? Sing. Go tell it on the mountain. Over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. While shepherds keep their watchings or silent locks by knife. Behold throughout the heavens there show the holy light. Go tell it on the mountain. Over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. On the second. The shepherds feared and trembled when low above the earth rang out the angel's chorus that hailed the Savior's birth. Go tell it on the mountain. Over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. On the last. Down in the lowly manger their humble Christ was born. And God sent a salvation that blessed Christmas morn. Go tell it on the mountain. Over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. Brother Evan can you please close this in a prayer?