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Amen. Okay, so we're in Matthew 2 and where we see the events, you know, pretty soon after that first Christmas, um, excuse me, centered around the wise men from the east. And we're going to look at it in more depth. Okay. But before we do, I'd like to focus in on verse 13 for now, which, uh, sorry, verse 16, let's look at verse 16 for now, which said this verse 16 there in Matthew 2 said, then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men was exceeding wrath and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem in all the coasts thereof from two years old and under according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. And the title of my sermon this morning is Destroying Kids at Christmas, Destroying Kids at Christmas. I'd like to pray before we get going. Father, thank you for your word, Lord. Thank you for, um, well, well, the lessons you teach us out of your word, Lord, and, um, and the sort of things that maybe we don't always want to think about, some hard subjects sometimes, Lord, but subjects which are important. Lord, help me to preach this sermon that I've thought about this week, just in a, in a way that people really, um, you know, just take in what you're saying through your word, Lord, that people will just want to hear it with an open mind and open heart, Lord, to take away the preconceived ideas maybe as well and just help to understand how you want us to live, how you want our, our kids to be as well, Lord, and help us to get, try and get it right as parents, help everyone here, um, and those that maybe aren't parents to support those that are, and to just be that support in a world where things are so back to front and inside out, Lord. Help me to preach this sermon clearly, accurately, boldly and full of your spirit. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, so like I said, the title is Destroying Kids at Christmas. Uh, there's a strange irony when it comes to the Christmas celebrations still going on around us in the world and there are still celebrations going on and I, I wanted to stick to a bit of a Christmas theme still, uh, rather than it just coming and going quickly on Wednesday. Uh, on one hand we're, we're constantly being told and reminded that Christmas is for the kids, don't we? A lot of people say it's for the kids. It's all about the kids. And what about the kids at Christmas? And we, we love Christmas so much for the kids and everything else. Uh, how selfless suddenly people claim to be about Christmas, don't they? They claim that it's all about these, these children and spoiling these children and these children enjoying it. And there's a lot of that around. You hear that sort of thing a lot, um, around, around you, you know, in the world out there. But then on the other hand, we see so much going on, which is nothing but detrimental to children, don't we? So we see all this stuff going on at Christmas, which is the opposite. So I wonder how people are claiming they just care about the kids so much that on the other, they're doing all these things which ultimately harm children. Okay. And that's something that we see in our world's Christmas out there. Should we be surprised? Well, well, well, the bizarre, uneven and hypocritical standards of our world shouldn't surprise us. Okay. We're always warned about it in the word of God. We see it around us. The more you open your eyes, the more you see how bizarre the standards are out there, especially when we consider that this doublespeak, this attack on children has been going on since the first Christmas, it seems. And we're going to see that as we look at this and see some parallels from Matthew 2 and what we see in the world around us today. So look down at Matthew chapter 2, where we will start at the beginning, just to find out what is going on here, and we can learn a few things as we go as well. So Matthew chapter 2 and verse 1 says this, 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. So a few things to point out here. There are a few Herods in the New Testament scriptures in case you've ever wondered. This is Herod the Great. He was the son of Antipater, who was an eidermian, which was basically what they call now, or they did call later, what was known as an Edomite, the nation that God doesn't speak well of. If you remember, these are Esau's people. So he was an Edomite Herod, and he was a bad guy as well as we're going to see. So these wise men, they came from the east. That we do know. Where they came from, we don't know. Where exactly? No. How many there were? No. We don't know that there were definitely three. We don't know how many there were. There were three gifts, but does that mean there were only three wise men? We don't know. But it goes well in carols, doesn't it? We three kings. We don't know whether they were kings or not. What we do know is that they were wise men from the east, says the scriptures. But to be called by the Holy Spirit narrating here wise men, the Holy Spirit is calling them wise men, that means that we can be confident that they were saved. We can be confident that these were saved men. You'd have to turn to Proverbs 9, 10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. So I'm not talking about the world's standards of wisdom, but God's standards of wisdom. Without faith in Christ, without the fear of the Lord, and therefore with that faith in Christ, how could you be considered wise by God if you're on your way to hell? So these people are called wise, right? And they're not only wise, therefore surely having salvation to be wise, they've seen a star that they've understood to be his star, and they've come to worship the Lord. So these are some pretty wise, wise men it seems, okay? Because it's not very clear when you look through the scriptures, and to go through and understand that this star was somehow leading them to Christ was amazing, really, okay? Took a lot of study for them to get to that point, I believe. Verse 3 said this, when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled at all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. So they're troubled by the birth of Christ. And just to point out here, he's not denying, notice how Herod is not denying that there's a Christ, is he? He's not saying, well, no such thing. What a load of old nonsense. What are you talking about? No, he's not denying there's a Christ. He gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together. He demanded of them where Christ should be born. He's acknowledging that there's a Christ. He wants to know, in fact, he's accepting that there will be information in the Holy Scriptures about where Christ should be born. He's accepting that there will be prophecies about where the Christ should be born. However, does he want to worship the Lord? Does he want to put his trust in the Lord? Does he want to put his trust in that death, burial and resurrection is paying for his sins? No chance. Look at verse five, it says, and they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet. And now Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. So they're quoting the prophet Micah. Okay, one of many, many prophecies fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. This was a prophecy of Micah, you know, several hundred years before the birth of Christ. What does Herod do? Does he send the wise men somewhere else, imprison them and ban Christmas as we know that Herod isn't for Christ, he's not for the Lord? No, he pretends to want to worship too. Okay, he pretends that he wants to worship and this is something that is, again, commonplace today. Many people claiming to want to worship the Lord but really they hate the God of the Bible. Verse seven said, then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child and when you have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. Now, if Herod isn't what's known as a child of the devil, I'll be amazed. Okay, and just to point that out, a child of the devil is what the world calls a psychopath. Okay, and the Bible calls these people reprobates. Someone who's been given over to a reprobate mind, they tick the boxes that our modern day psychopaths would have them tick to qualify. Herod, I mean, he's sneaking deceiving his way to find out where and when the Lord was born so that he could kill the Son of God. I mean, this is definitely not a good guy, okay. He then goes on to commit the mass murder of tons of young children, seemingly ultimately provoked by his injured pride. Okay, if this guy's not a psychopath, I'd be amazed. Okay, let's keep going. Verse 7 says, then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child and when you have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. So I want you to notice that God's enemies, like I said, they claim to want to worship too. They claim to want to celebrate Christmas. We could say nowadays they claim to want to be a part of it. They want to celebrate. They want to worship Christ. Verse 9 says, when they had heard the king, they departed and lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. That's the proper response. They found the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the time for celebration. Verse 11 says, and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. So they're fulfilling prophecy. It's picturing the tabernacle of congregation where the Lord was to meet his people. They're falling down and worshipping the Savior. Okay. Verse 12 says, and being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into our own country another way. So they did the right thing. These guys didn't they notice that they did what they were supposed to do. They found the Lord, they worshipped the Lord. They're clearly right with God at this point, aren't they? And therefore, when you're right with God, you're doing the things that God wants you to do. You're living for God. He warns you, doesn't he? For them, what was the reason? Ultimately for their own safety. They were kept safe by God. They were doing the right thing. They were living for the Lord and the Lord showed them through a dream. Don't go back there because what was Herod ultimately going to do with them? Well, I imagine it wouldn't have been a nice end for them maybe. Okay. So they're warned, they go the other way. Verse 13 says, and when they were departed, and you can imagine torturing and stuff to try and find the child or whatever he was going to do. Okay. Verse 13 says, and when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. So God said to protect the baby Jesus because the king of the land will seek him to destroy him. Yeah. Which is what the rulers of our land do today. Okay. They claim to want to worship. They claim to love Christmas, don't they? I don't know if you've noticed this around there, but they use it to try and destroy the remnant of Jesus left in the land. And I'm going to say it as it is. Okay. Our wicked prime minister, and you go, shouldn't we be saying how great he is? No, we shouldn't. In fact, the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ called Herod a fox, and this was the next Herod, but I'm going to call Starmer what he is. He is a wicked guy. Okay. This is, this, this is a wicked prime minister of ours that needs preaching against regularly. Well, he used Christmas as an opportunity to wash down more of his anti-Christian agendas. Keir Starmer said, it's a time to remind ourselves what's really important. Family, friendship, and fellowship between all people. Code name four, you need to welcome the barbaric hordes of Muslim invaders in who want to wipe out Christianity, which is, that's the reality, isn't it? You look, as far as they're aware, this is a battle, right? They're coming here to, to, to claim a land. But, but no, no, he said we, you know, that's apparently what Christmas is about. He went on to mention those that will be serving others in our NHS and emergency services, our armed forces, and the churches and charities that will welcome every person this Christmas. Code name for pro-sodomite child abuse religions that welcome all sorts around the children. I mean, it's not, it's, it's, it's hidden in plain sight. It's clear as day, they can't miss a trick, can they? Even at Christmas time. In fact, they use Christmas for this stuff. They try and basically claim that it's some sort of, that, that, that welcoming in a load of people that hate our culture and hate, hate what was originally at least the religion of this nation to some degree, at least what this nation was built upon. Well, apparently that's more Christian to do that. King Charles, you say, well, what about kings? King Charles thought that the birth of the, the way, the truth and the life, that's who Jesus Christ is, was the perfect time to push his ecumenical, multiple ways, truths, and life's religion on everyone. He said, as the famous Christmas carol once in Royal David City reminds us, our saviour holy came down to earth from heaven, lived among the poor and the mean and lowly and transformed the lives of those he met through God's redeeming love. That is the heart of the Nativity story. And we can hear it's beat in the belief of all the great faiths, in the love and mercy of God in times of joy and of suffering, calling us to bring light where there is darkness. No, I think he missed the point there, King Charles. No, the great faiths, sorry, what are the great faiths? The great faiths that damn people to hell with their false plans of salvation. Yeah, they're really great, great faiths. He went on to say, in our recent visit to the South Pacific to attend the Commonwealth Summit, I was reminded constantly of the strength which institutions, as well as individuals, can draw from one another and of how diversity of culture, ethnicity and faith provide strength, not weakness. Yep, Charles didn't want to miss an opportunity to encourage us to support the eroding of Christianity in this nation. He then said the message of the angels to the shepherds, we looked at this in depth last week, didn't we? That there should be peace on earth, in fact echoes through all faiths and philosophies. Really? No, the peace on earth is talking about with man and God, it only comes through the mediator. And 1 Timothy 2.5 says, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. That's what the peace is, the peace is between God and men through the man Christ Jesus. The other faiths, they ain't creating peace with God and men, they're creating the opposite, enmity. What our leaders today are doing, like Herod was doing over 2000 years ago, is attempting to destroy Christ at Christmas. They're trying to destroy the true Christ, the true God of the Bible at Christmas time and they're using Christmas for that. Verse 13, back in Matthew 2 said, and when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream saying, arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. But once the place becomes really hostile to the Lord, the Lord just carries on somewhere else. Verse 14 says, when he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, out of Egypt have I called my son. That was the prophecy of Hosea, by the way. Verse 16 then says, Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. So the wise men, it seemed, were just too wise, okay, because why? Because their wisdom comes from God, okay, because ultimately they were wise because they were warned in a dream by God. It all came from God, didn't it? On their own, these were wise men on their own. They were getting conned by Herod, weren't they? They thought, oh, what a lovely chap and everything else, yeah. And sadly, you know, that could be all of us. We can easily be conned by people that are trying to pretend to be something they're not. But it's God that warns them. It comes from the word of God. It's a word of God that we need to pay attention to, not our own thoughts and feelings. So what did Herod do? What do the Christ rejecting Christ hating leaders of our nation and others do when they can't beat God's people? They go for the children instead. Verse 16 says, Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Just to make it clear, this is ultimately part of the Christmas story. We sing songs about the wise men, but what happened on the back of that? Slaughter, mass murder. I mean, it's horrendous, isn't it? And sadly, that's reality. That's the truth of the world. That's the truth of the gospel. That's the truth of events surrounding the Lord Jesus Christ. With all that light comes so much darkness. And we celebrate and we praise the Lord, but we know that with that comes attacks on the gospel, attacks on the Lord, attacks on us, attacks on people in the world, because there's a lot of darkness in the world as well, isn't there? And as much as, look, Christmas is a time of joy, but even at that time of joy, there was mass murder, wasn't there? Even if Bethlehem was only a small town of hundreds, it included the coasts or neighbouring towns, it's said here, and in all the coasts thereof, it's not talking about seaside places, it's just neighbouring towns, we're talking about a lot of children destroyed in a vain attempt to destroy Christ. And I see similar stuff go on today, where the children are destroyed young in an attempt to destroy Christ in this nation. And as in Matthew 2, okay, Christmas itself is a big part of the attempt to destruction. Now, in case you're wondering why I'm preaching this sermon today, if you think it is a bit harsh, I mean, do we get to really get much celebration? I mean, you're preaching hard on about calling him Jesus at Christmas time. Now we're talking about this. Well, it's because of the many families that will be getting judged in this church, and I know we've got a few are way ill and stuff. There'll be a lot of families that will be getting sniped at by their exterior family, by their kind of, you know, by, whether they're understanding or not, just by their worldly other family and friends, who will be basically trying to criticise them not doing what the world does at Christmas, not just following the world's example, doing everything the world does. There's going to be families getting that sort of grief, getting coerced or worse pushed to let your kids get destroyed at Christmas, which happens in various ways. You go, well, is it a bit late for that? Well, probably not. Some of you probably are still going to be seeing family, seeing friends. And also it's something just to think about on the back of a Christmas that hopefully people have tried to do the right way, and not to feel bad about that. Not to feel that, well, you know, I have my kids missed out because they haven't been destroyed at Christmas. And I want to also, I just want to strengthen your resolve, okay, reassure you, and maybe for some, remind you what the world's Christmas is really about. Because it can be confusing out there, and as much as we want to enjoy it, we want to celebrate it, and we'll try to do that here. You know, of course we had that kids' Christmas party, which I think a lot of kids enjoyed. We, you know, we want as a church to enjoy Christmas, to celebrate Christmas, but we want to do it the right way. And therefore we need to shine light on the wrong way of doing it, and what ultimately is, sadly, is very detrimental to the children of this nation. The title is Destroying Kids at Christmas, and number one is through Satan Claus and Associated Wizardry. Satan Claus and Associated Wizardry. So in the last few years, this has exploded in our nation, hasn't it? Much, over the, you know, just over four decades I've been alive, I've seen this increase massively, okay, from when I was young, when they even still called him Father Christmas, even some people called him Saint Nicholas when I was young. That's kind of changed to just, everything's about Santa, it's all about Santa Claus. I mean, huge, I've never seen the like when I was young. There's a house on the way home where they've got this sort of, I don't know, it's like 20, 30 foot blow-up Santa Claus outside their house, and then next to him a 20 or 30 foot blow-up Grinch, and then a load of elves and other magic flying things and stuff, I mean, it's like, what on earth? Like, what makes someone do that? And they're not the only one, I mean, this stuff is big, it's gone a lot, lot bigger over the last few decades especially. And they're replacing basically of the Lord Jesus Christ with this pagan wizard, which is really what it's about, it's replacing him at Christmas with the pagan wizard. In kids' hearts, in people's hearts, in their minds, it's what they think about. Turn to 2 Corinthians 4. There is nothing good about Christian or non-Christian kids obsessing over flying wizards. There's nothing good about it. Oh, it's just a bit of innocent fun. No, it's not, they're trying to replace Christ at Christmas. For starters, and you go, who's they? Look, ultimately it's a spiritual battle, so spiritually this is what's going on, but there are people that they know full well that's what they're trying to do, right? Okay, turn to 2 Corinthians 4. For starters, this stuff is serious business in the Bible anyway. Leviticus 2027, you don't have to turn there, but Leviticus 2027 says, a man also or woman that has a familiar spirit or that is a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them with stones, their blood shall be upon them. So according to Old Testament law, according to God's law, according to God's theocratic government, wizards were to be stoned to death. That wasn't okay. God doesn't look at them in a nice light. He doesn't go, oh, it's all just a bit of fun. Yeah, just some wizard guy that's meant to fly around to billions of houses in the space of several hours and somehow fit himself down chimneys and, you know, and he doesn't look at that as fun. That's like, oh, just a bit of fun make-believe. Ultimately it's just lies. Okay, it's just lies, it's deception, but it's deception and trying to trick kids into believing in wizardry and believing in this wizard and ultimately a lot of kids end up worshipping this wizard. And God definitely doesn't want to share Christmas with wizards and then have people worship them as an alternative to God at Christmas. I don't care what, oh, well, yeah, but didn't it come from religious origins? Yeah, Catholics, Catholics who love wizardry and pomp and ceremony and waving things around and pretending things morph into other things and, you know, and transubstantiation, all this crazy magic and everything else. 2 Corinthians 4 says this in verse 1, Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced. Okay, this is what we should have done. This is what, if you're saved and you're trying to live for God, you should have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. So we should have renounced things like lying to our kids, crafty stories about giving notes to some wizard the web of deceit it creates. It is, it's just a web of deceit. Oh, yeah, I'll just give that to Santa. Yeah, don't worry. I mean, it's just ridiculous, isn't it? And as they grow up, they learn, man, my mum and dad were lying through their teeth to me for years. What do I believe? What don't I believe? Oh, no, it's okay, because it's just a bit of fun. Well, the world says it's okay. Oh, well, the world says it's okay, so that's all right. Since when do we get our standards from the world out there? Christmas is a time to focus on the saviour and what he did for us, not some make-believe wizard. It ain't about a make-believe wizard. Oh, what do I tell my kids? How about you just tell them the truth? But what if they tell other kids? So what? You know what? They usually don't. Okay, but so what? Oh, but, I mean, honestly, we had it for the first time this year. I haven't had this for years from a neighbour, trying to, you know, just absolutely shocked that my four-year-old didn't believe in Satan Claus. Disgusted. Disgusted with us. You know, what sort of filthy parents are they that they wouldn't lie to their child about Satan Claus? So, sorry, what's the age I meant to lie to them until when and what's the rules? I don't know. It's hard to keep up with the rules of when the lying starts and stops. He said in verse three, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. Verse four, in whom the God of this world, small g, talking about the devil, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. And let me tell you one way that he blinds the minds of unsaved children, by getting them obsessing over magic, by getting them obsessing over false gods, by getting them obsessing over Satan Claus. Shall I tell you something that we always found really interesting in this nation when we went soul winning, and we've been soul winning obviously for many, many years, around Christmas times, when you knock on a door and they've got all that paraphernalia, that is always the most unreceptive door in the street. You can knock on that door with all that Satan Claus stuff, all that stuff, you're thinking, well they must, at first, you know, naively you think, they must really enjoy Christmas. This is great, hopefully we'll be able to tell them about what it's really about, it's about a saviour, it's about you being a sinner on your way to hell in Jesus Christ's time for your sins. That's why he came, you know, this is amazing. You knock on a door, and do you know what I also found on those doors, the kids are always well unreceptive as well. It's not like they've got kids going, oh I'd like to know about Christmas, I've knocked on those doors and there'll be a kid comes to the door, they've got all the stuff everywhere, don't want to hear it. And kids should be receptive to the Gospel. Kids from cultures where it's not Santa Claus everywhere are generally much more receptive to the Gospel, aren't they? And kids indoors and in families where it's all that stuff, they don't want to hear it, do you know why? Because they're obsessed over flying magic elves, wizards, because that's what Christmas is about, because there's no room for Jesus. They don't want all that boring stuff in their mind. This is excitement, it's tantalising, it's like flying magic and you know, gifts and presents and more and more and more and more. Jesus, what do I want to know about him for? They end up resenting church, carols, biblical things, whilst craving magic, worldly music and other biblical things. Honestly. And do you know what, when I grew up, the ones who were most into all that stuff were the most God-rejecting out of all of It's funny, it's a funny old thing, because the same people will probably try and claim that they're just so rational, you know, believe in some sort of sky wizard, do you? You know, that sort of thing, you know, believe in a creator, you know, like the creation somehow is an evidence enough for them that there's a creator. They claim to be so scientific, yet they seem to be the most obsessed often about Satan, Claus, magic elves, witches and everything else, to the point where many children today think that Christmas is all about Satan, Claus. And I'm not saying that for a laugh, I mean, for me, that's what he is. The devil's behind Santa Claus, he's stealing Christmas from the Lord, or at least in people's hearts and again, God gives you that choice, you can choose, you can choose, you can choose Satan if you want, you have the choice. And sadly though, people make that choice for their kids, they make that choice and they're destroying those kids, where they end up just, that's what it's all about, it's no longer, they don't even think about the Lord, there's no even, a lot of them, they don't even know really anything about Christmas anymore, because they're trying to get that out of even the schools as well. They're not going to be starting on schools, that's another sermon for another day. Matthew 2.16 said, then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. The title is destroying kids at Christmas, number one, through Satan, Claus and associated wizardry. Number two, through spoiling and covetousness, spoiling and covetousness, so again, this is something that's got worse and worse, the sheer amount of money spent on kids at Christmas. I was trying to look at some stats on this, and they're based on surveys, and this was probably, I'll be honest, I think this is probably very extreme, and probably it was a bit over the top, but it's interesting to hear anyway. According to this survey by a study by someone, a group called Finder, they say, what does the average family spend on Christmas gifts per child in the UK? They claim, in this 2022 study, that the average UK parents spend £420 per child on Christmas gifts. Now, that might be a bit extreme, but I've seen that around, I don't know, is it the average? I don't know, maybe they were ringing up a very exclusive area, and maybe part of that was to encourage people to spend more, but with parents of children aged 7-12 spending the most, at £472 per child, and parents of children aged 0-6 spending the least at 368 per child, this makes the average amount spent on Christmas gifts per child come in at £420. Now, even if that is massively inflated, kids do seem to get massively spoiled at Christmas, don't they? So even if that is just, they've exaggerated, or they've found some very rich areas to do their survey in. Turn to Luke 12. Turn to Luke 12. They do get spoiled though. You say, what's the problem? Okay, what's the problem with spending a lot of money? If you've got the money, why shouldn't you? And even if you don't have the money, if you want to, you know, get into debt, or you know, save up all year to spend a load of money on your kids at Christmas, what is the problem? Isn't it a good thing to shower our kids with expensive gifts, isn't it? No, it's not. Okay, the giveaway is in the name. The name is spoiling. Yeah? There's a little clue there. It spoils them. It ruins them. It destroys them ultimately. Okay, you spoil kids, you give them too much. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you not to give your kids gifts, okay? We give our kids some gifts at Christmas, but you spoil it. You keep throwing all these expensive gifts at them and just throwing out gift after gift after gift like many people do at Christmas, in a way, sadly, of buying their affection a lot of the time. If any of you have watched young children open multiple presents, they almost turn during the opening of presents into a present monster. Anyone ever notice that before? Birthdays or Christmas, if there's too many at once, it's like you watch them sort of, they start opening by the second or third, it's like, suddenly it's like, presents, and they're just driving on things, ripping things, grabbing, where's more and more? It's like, I'm just giving you the most amazing thing in the world, it's like, where's the next one? And that's what they become, if you've ever seen it. I've got some parents nodding in here going, yeah, I've seen that, okay? It wouldn't matter what you're giving them, suddenly they get this sort of, just more, where's the more? More, more, more! I need more presents! It wouldn't matter if you're giving them the most amazing thing in the whole wide world. And that happens pretty quick, doesn't it? But with older kids, and it's just not quite as obvious, they cover it a bit better, you know, but they start to just become just, where's more, more, more, more, more, the covetousness just kicks in more and more. Well, in Luke 12, we're given a warning about this sort of thing. Luke 12 says in verse 13, Luke 12, 13, it said, and one of the companies said unto him, Master, talk to the Lord, speak to my brother that he divided the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, take heed. So he said, be careful, and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. So this extreme present giving me at Christmas does create covetous children. It really does, okay. And there's a, like, we have a big problem in this nation for covetousness. And nowadays, people are just openly covetous. Again, something I've noticed over a few decades, looking back to when I was younger, people were not as just open with covetousness. It was still something that people tried to pretend they weren't. And a lot of the time, people would attempt not to be covetous. And nowadays, people have no qualms just asking you what, you know, they'll just ask people what cars they drive, what houses they have, how much this costs. People are just so much more out there with that now. It seems to be so much more socially acceptable. Before, it used to be something that was seen as this big crass. It was kind of a bit, you know, it was an embarrassing thing to be like that, people who are like that. Now, this is kind of modern culture, isn't it? And the thing with kids, you just keep throwing them stuff of, whether it's value or not, just more and more stuff, they just start to crave that stuff and crave taking and having and having and having. There's a line, isn't there? There's a balance. How do we get that balance? Why present giving at all? Well, the point in the giving, okay, or sorry, the point in the present is the giving. More to the point. The point is the giving rather than the receiving. Now, back in Matthew 2, the wise men presented gifts and it said this in verse 11 in Matthew 2, 11. And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their presence, sorry, their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Now, those obviously, like I said, they were prophesied, they were key parts of the tabernacle of the congregation. But in Acts 20, 35, we don't have to turn there, Paul said, I've showed you all things, and at so labouring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. The wise men brought gifts. They didn't go there going, right, what can we get? You know, what can we get for Mary and Joseph? They brought gifts and they were celebrated with joy and giving gifts. And we want to give gifts to our kids, don't we? Okay, we want to give gifts to our kids. But I think that here's a good tip for you guys out there, for anyone that maybe is worried about the effect on their kids of this thing and sees that negative effect at Christmas time. A good tip that seems to help change your focus at Christmas, get the kids to think about giving presents too. Whether they earn some money towards them, whether they make them, and if you've got many kids between each other, between family at least, something we used to try and regularly do was get them to, I used to take them on like a pound shop trip, they'd earn some money doing chores and things, and take them to look for gifts for all those different family members and other people that would buy them gifts. So then they would then be thinking about what they're going to give to other people, come back and, I'm not trying to say you've got to do what I do, but it did seem to help. And it helped because then their focus was on what they're giving at Christmas, not what am I going to get, what am I going to get, what's Santa going to bring me, is what the world's on about, isn't it? All these people going, so what are you going to get for Christmas, what do you get for Christmas? Instead they're thinking about what am I going to give at Christmas, what am I going to give to this person, what am I going to give to that person? And I think that probably helps that balance, that helps that line a bit, where they don't then just get destroyed by this just covetousness, this spoiling, which does ultimately spoil them. They get fulfilment, and they get more fulfilment, because it is more blessed to give to them than to receive, isn't it? I don't know if you, I don't know people here, sometimes it's almost uncomfortable when you're receiving gifts, isn't it? But it's much nicer giving gifts. You want to give gifts, and then getting them feels a bit uncomfortable sometimes, doesn't it? Well with kids you get them used to that, get them used to giving gifts and getting that fulfilment from that, changing their focus a bit. Better than destroying them through spoiling and covetousness. But, sadly out there that seems to be big, and I mean we're talking the fact that the money people spend, the debt people get at Christmas is unbelievable for people that claim to not even believe in the Lord or anything else. Well Matthew 2.16 said this, Then Herod when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men was exceeding wrath and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. So the title is Destroying Kids at Christmas, number one through Satan, Claws and Associated Wizardry, number two through spoiling and covetousness, and number three through the normalising of alcohol, through the normalising of alcohol. So booze is a big part of most households in the UK at Christmas, isn't it? I mean this is, basically if an household doesn't have a load more booze at Christmas time in the UK, then it's pretty rare isn't it? Okay, this is a big part of Christmas for most. Whether there are kids there or not, it seems to be it doesn't really matter whether there are children in the house or not. Now turn to Isaiah 5. It's also a time when many parents think that it's okay to give their children alcohol to drink. I don't know if anyone's aware of this. Christmas is a big time for that in the UK. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, the NDARC, this is actually in Australia, but it does cross over as well, said it was conventional wisdom among parents that giving their underage children, sorry, that to give to their underage children alcohol was a safe way to introduce them to drinking. But the centre has published the results of an ongoing study about parental supply of alcohol, so far tracking 1927 children from year 7 to year 12, which indicated otherwise. Amy Peacock, a senior research fellow at NDARC, said there was no benefit to supervising children's alcohol consumption, it was instead likely to increase how often adolescents drank. She said providing alcohol even if in the form of six rather than full drinks is associated with increased risks of later binge drinking and harms, Dr Peacock said. She said even if a child drinks only once, especially when they are under 16 years old, it was more likely they would become regular drinkers in their senior years of high school. Is anyone shocked by that? Is anyone surprised? Proverbs 22.6 says train up a child and away he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. You're going to train them from young in a way they're going to go when they're old. So why on earth are parents plying their kids with booze from young? Because people like others partake in their sin with it. Really, these old, apparently it's all about the kids, they just care so much about the kids at Christmas, well they're plying them with alcohol from young to make them feel better about the fact that they're basically some sort of often at least functioning alcoholic. It's not okay, I mean it's crazy really isn't it, if you think about it. It's like giving your kids booze, giving these young children with their developing livers and their developing bodies a poison, a known poison. Oh no, that's a cow, well you know, what's the problem? I give them one. Why are you giving them one? Oh well they're not going to get drunk so why are you giving it to them? Why are you giving them something nice to drink? It's not bad for them as well. What on earth, right? Aside from the alcohol soaked Christmas puddings, by the way, Brandy Cream, Wine O Gravy and you've got people all over this nation getting smashed in front of their kids at Christmas. All over this nation. I grew up seeing this stuff all over the place. Christmas Eve parties, people getting smashed. New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, parents, adults, respectable people getting smashed. Christmas Day, getting smashed in front of young children. They're meant to be looking after young children half the time. Children of all different ages just there watching adults get smashed. Oh but it's all part of the fun of Christmas isn't it? I mean how irresponsible? How bad is that? You've got people in this nation, okay, getting smashed, boozing from breakfast time. I know some in-laws of some other family who apparently their Christmas Day tradition is that they start the day with champagne. They start Christmas, by the way they're claimed to be atheists, they start Christmas Day with glasses of champagne whilst eating their snazzy breakfast and getting drunk all day. And meeting up with all the kids and having the kids there and the grandchildren and the little ones running around and everything else, well they're just getting smashed. I mean what on earth right? Whilst knocking the Christian for not making up lies about flying wizards. How cruel are you? You're so cruel to your kids that we would happily just get smashed in front of and just stumble around, family rows over Monopoly and everything else and the extra Yorkshire pudding and it's all kicking off everywhere but you didn't tell your kids that there's a flying wizard? Honestly that's the world we live in isn't it? Whilst complaining that you don't have a knees up at Christmas lunch they don't really want to get involved with you. I don't know if we want to go around their house, they don't have a knees up at Christmas lunch time. That doesn't sound like much fun, doesn't sound like a real Christmas. What sort of Christmas is there without a booze up? Isaiah 5 says this so in verse 20. Isaiah 5 20 says woe unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. And that's our nation out there isn't it? Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine. Oh they're so mighty aren't they? And men of strength to mingle strong drink. Yeah at Christmas that's when I get the strong stuff out because I'm so strong. No you're an idiot and you're full of estrogen. Which justify, it's true, which justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. Like taking away the righteousness of those poor children that they're entrusted with. On Christmas day, on Christmas evil, whenever else it is, whenever they can fit in a knees up and claim that it's absolutely fine. This is across the nation. If they're not taking them down the pub. Oh it's alright, it's a family pub. Family pub? What's a family pub? Oh no it's fine, they welcome in the kids there when they get smashed. Oh we're not getting smashed, we're only having a couple so why are you having a couple? Oh I just, I want to get a little bit smashed so you get a little bit smashed in front of your kids. Well I just like the taste. Really? Come on you've got to force yourself to like that taste. The reality of it is you're there to get drunk and if it's a family pub great because they're like, we can have the kids there at the same time. I don't have to take time off from the kids and get babysitters to get smashed. It's outrageous really. And it is, it's the opposite. They call evil good a good evil, they put darkness for light, light for darkness, bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. You're not abnormal if you don't can't take in this. You're not the problem. Like sadly those around us want to make out. You're not the problem because you don't want to subject your children to that sort of stuff. And the booze leads on to my final point for today. Matthew 2.16 said this, then Herod when he saw that he was mocked to the wise men was exceeding wrath and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men, the title is destroying kids at Christmas. Number one, through Satan's clause of associated wizardry. Number two, through spoiling and covetousness. Number three, through the normalising of alcohol. Number four, through the increase in abuse. The increase in abuse. And this is another one where the stats increase at Christmas time. Turn to Proverbs 29, Proverbs chapter 29. According to DVACT, which is a charity for this stuff, several factors contribute to this seasonal surge. And it is a seasonal surge. Okay, there's no doubt about that. Financial pressures are a primary factor. That's all that spoiling and covetousness that they're promoting on their kids whilst getting to the point where they're now so stressed out at Christmas time that the abuse rises. So we've got financial pressures being obviously the cost of Christmas gifts, food, social events can lead to significant stress in households. And for those already in volatile relationships is stress can escalate conflicts. For individuals using abusive behaviour, financial concerns may fuel anger, resentment and increased likelihood of exerting control over their partners or families. Another contributing factor is alcohol consumption, which tends to rise during Christmas. Some studies have shown a correlation between increased alcohol use, I mean, no, you know, no surprise there, right? And the frequency and severity of domestic abuse incidents. While alcohol is not the root cause of abuse, it can lower inhibitions, lessen care for consequences, and intensify abusive behaviour. I mean, again, that shouldn't be that's not shocking, is it? That's not surprising. That should just be quite obvious. Okay, you up the boozing, you know, you up the financial stress, and you're going to up the abuse, sadly. But being around people drunk, here's the thing is, it's often no worse as well, because you can add to that the sexual abuses at the drunken parties, the creepy family members given access to the children, while everyone's getting drunk and all it's Christmas time, it's okay, doesn't matter that we got some weird old, you know, sodomite uncle, but, you know, it's Christmas, we can't really say no, because we can't exclude him. So we just have him around, whilst the parents are too busy boozing, socialising, and neglecting their vulnerable children, which is why Proverbs 29 15, where you are says, verse 15, the rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself, bringeth his mother to shame. And that is a warning not to leave our children to themselves. And Christmas time doesn't make that okay, does it? Especially when you've got all sorts of people, people that you wouldn't normally leave alone with your kids stuff, running around houses, drunk apart, this is what goes on in the world, let alone in the pubs, in the pubs, and in these different functions, and all these places, it's just unbelievable. They should be that, it said it bringeth his mother to shame, yes, she should be ashamed to be leaving her children to themselves, whilst getting smashed over Christmas dinner, whilst getting smashed over the Christmas get-together and everything else. That is a shame, that is a shame. But this is the world we live in, this is the world we live in, and the people out there that want to act like we're somehow doing something wrong for not doing the Satan clause, not doing the boozing, not showering our children with thousands of pounds worth of gifts and everything else, that's the world you live in. And hopefully that strengthens your resolve when you think about that, that yeah, I don't have to be ashamed in front of these people, I don't have to be coerced into doing it their way, because their way is destroying children. All of that stuff get increased at Christmas time when it comes to abuses, and it all destroys kids, okay. And do you know what abuse does with children? It makes them resent God and resent life, that's basically the result of it. Colossians 3 21 says, fathers, provoke not your children to anger, why? Lest they be discouraged. And we provoke them to anger, and through these different, through whether it's abuse at home, in the family, whether it's others, whether it's the worst type of abuse, whatever else, look, all that stuff, it's going to provoke them, it's going to make them discouraged in the Christian life at the least, let alone the harm and everything else, the heartache, and just, there's horrendous stuff that goes on in Christmas time, it gets worse. And again, why? Because of all the other stuff, because of all the boozing, because of all this stuff. And, you know, provoking not your children to anger, okay, part of that will be how we raise them, and part of that is how much we're able to protect them. And Christmas time is just as important as any other time, isn't it? To protect our children. So remember that, yeah, next time your bitter family member is acting like your poor kid, you're not taking them to see Satan, your poor child, oh poor little thing, you're not taking, are you not, what are you going to get from Satan Claus this year? And it's like, why? Remember, remember that, remember what really goes on in the world out there with their Christmases, your poor kid, your poor, your poor child, you didn't spend 400 pounds on them? No, no, I didn't spend 400 pounds on my children, no. What, poor child, yeah. You know what, you know what, kids are happy with, you know, you don't need to spend a fortune on them, they're happy with some gifts, if you've raised them right, they're happy with just being given some gifts. If they're, if they're upset and disappointed and angry because you didn't spend hundreds of pounds on them, then you've already got a problem you need to sort out. You know one of the ways you need to sort out is not spending hundreds of pounds on them. Your poor kid, because you're not all attending the family booze up, the family slosh up, your poor little children, what, you're not going to come and spend, spend time with your drunk family? No, no. Remember that next time they're acting like your poor kid because you're not dropping them off for the family sleepovers, with a load of people you don't even know, a load of, load of family members, you don't know really what they're like, like what on earth? They're our kids, we should be looking after them. The world's way of just sending them off to anyone is the wrong way. That's not God's way. Children and heritage of the Lord, they're His, they're His inheritance, we're entrusting them, we're entrusted with looking after them for Him. Not for us to just send them off to all and sundry because that's what the world does and then they wonder why, the results are horrendous, horrendous. Parents remember that when people want you to feel as though your kids are somehow suffering at Christmas, that your kids are somehow just missing out on all of that fun and folic that everyone else does. You know what, we have some pretty happy kids around here and we have some kids that, you know, enjoy their Christmas, enjoy their time together, but they don't have to do it the world's way to do that. Since when did the world tell us how we should celebrate the birth of our saviour? Because that's what it is, that's what it should be. And kids remember that when people want you to feel as though you've missed out, well you've hopefully missed out on a lot of danger. Okay, you've missed out on a lot of danger, a lot of heartache, a lot of, a lot of long-lasting effects and things that maybe many kids sadly will never get over, because destroying kids at Christmas seems to be the tradition in our world. Last time, verse 16, says Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked to the wise men, was exceeding wrath, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts that were often two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. The title was Destroying Kids at Christmas, number one, through Satan, Claws and Associated Wizardry, number two, through Spoiling and Covetousness, number three, through the Normalising of Alcohol, number four, through the Increase in Abuse. Now, you could probably add a lot more to that, they're just ones that I thought about as I was thinking about this sermon and how that started, you know, as far back as Herod and has probably carried on ever since, but whatever you add to that, whatever you think, yeah, actually, yeah, there's some bad stuff that goes on at Christmas, it doesn't mean that we can't celebrate Christmas, we just want to do it in the right way, right? Our job as parents is to protect the kids from that destruction, isn't it? And on that, we're going to finish in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for the children, Lord, thank you for the children of this church, and Lord, we pray that you help those that are unwell right now to get better and to be able to be back in church, Lord, help everyone to be healthy and well, help the kids to, you know, for us as parents to raise them in the right way, Lord, to get the balance right between, you know, raising them and helping them, you know, having them have enjoyable childhoods and, you know, to enjoy these celebrations and things like that, but to do it in the right way and to keep them safe from all the harm, all the destruction that's around us, sadly, increased at Christmas time. Lord, help everyone here who's heard this message to take it in the right way as well, Lord, it might have pricked some people, it might have maybe affected some people, maybe not everyone agrees with everything I preached here, Lord, but help people to just, you know, to want to improve for us, to want to learn for us, to want to grow for us, to want to just be better people, better parents, Lord, just a better church, better children of yours, Lord, help us all to get many salvations this afternoon, Lord, help the baptism to go great as well and please bless Francesca and her family as well and help them to get home safe for Sam afterwards, in Jesus' name we pray all of this, amen.