The Surprise of Christmas

This Christmas at our house, there was a lot of smiling and a lot of thankfulness—but not a lot of surprise. Every time someone opened a gift and tried to act shocked, somebody else would say, “It was on your Amazon list.”

And as soon as that was said, the surprise was gone.

We live in a world where almost nothing catches us off guard anymore. We track packages. We make lists. We already know what’s coming.

But the first Christmas?

Nobody had a list.

Nobody expected it to happen this way.

And Luke reminds us that Christmas isn’t about God meeting expectations—it’s about God doing something far better than we imagined.

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Luke 2.8-20 – The Gospel of Christmas (12/24/95)

A Sermon (#561) Preached By William “Bill” Touchton

Edited & Preached By Michael D. Lawson

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Luke 2:8-20. This morning, of course, we want to continue looking at the birth of Jesus as we celebrate his incarnation.

Christmas has always been a very special time of the year for me, and I guess over the course of my life, I have received hundreds of gifts…

I remember when I was a boy, my mother gave me a Bible with my name engraved…zipper…and pictures that illustrated the stories…I still have that Bible.

In December of 1886, my wife gave me one to honor my last semester of school. I have used it so much that the cover is coming off…and the pages are coming out. It was and still is, a very special gift.

While living in GA, our first semester, a man in my SS class brought a box, it contained a 25lb ham. We took that man to the meat market and had it sliced and ate off that for a month!

One of our widows brought me a new suit.

I have received so many wonderful gifts, but the best gift I have ever received came from God.

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