at anchor baptist church still getting used to it welcome to anchor baptist church let's do it right
if you would take your hymnals and turn to hymn number 420 there's a song in the air hymn number
420 we'll go ahead and start there right on the first there's a song in the air there's a star in
the sky the must be a star church and this opera is unto you to the service and help us to be edified
by the singing as well as the preaching lord in jesus name i pray amen for our next hymn if you
would turn in your hymnals to hymn number 421 just flip the page the first noel hymn number 421
hymn 421 we'll go ahead and start there right on the first the first no
week through 6 18 just a couple more weeks left to learn this chapter and once we're done with the
last verse there is going to be a grace week so you still have several weeks still very um
doable if you have not started yet or you haven't completed yet on the inside is our service times
listed as well as our soul winning times all those meet here at the church building great job
soul winning today i believe we had a total of eight salvations so that's something to rejoice
about especially during the cold weather so great job on that nursing home ministry schedule is there
if you take part of that ministry please make note of those times and dates our year-to-date
statistics for the year as well as our church email you could report those salvations there
or in our signal group either one is fine and our uh on the right side there you see our expecting
ladies please be in prayer for miss whitney reed we did today have the uh first practice of the
children's choir that was a lot of fun watching them sing and i think in a couple weeks they're
gonna get even louder and sound even better so keep up the good work parents at home sing with
them help them to learn those lyrics and we're looking forward to them performing for us they're
going to be performing for us the sunday before christmas just because a lot of people are out of
town on christmas day so we want to make sure that you know the kids are here and that most as many
people is here can be here as possible to hear them sing so that is going to be sunday morning the
kids will do that tomorrow adults is your chance to sing and kids chances to sing at our christmas
caroling event we're going to meet here at 6 30 if for some reason you're going to be late you
don't think you can make it to the church building i'll also put the address of where we're going to
actually go out and meet that way if you're running late at work you still want to join us
you're more than welcome to the more the merrier for stuff like this so please do join us tomorrow
december 20th is the ladies christmas party dads make sure you schedule that night to watch the
kiddos that's going to be a great time for the ladies to have fellowship you know us men we got
the men men's retreat in august where we go out in the heat and punish ourselves and make ourselves
hate our lives but the ladies they get to have a nice meal and enjoy each other's presents so let's
make sure we watch the kids so that they can enjoy that time as much as we enjoy ours december 21st
is our christmas soul winning push that's saturday morning at 10 a.m. 10 a.m. is when the rally starts
nine o'clock is when the food is going to start so please join us for that saturday december 31st
is going to be our new year's eve party and service no wednesday service that week tuesday will be
immense preaching night and then a time of fellowship food games after you're more than
welcome to stay and bring in the new year at church highly recommend it giving is listed there
if you'd like to give there's that qr code some details for the ladies party and on the back is
our prayer list please do email me if you have any requests you'd like prayed for that's going to be
it for announcements this evening let's go ahead and go to our third song all right for our third
song if you would take your hymnals and turn to hymn number 422 thou didst leave thy throne
hymn number 422 we'll go ahead and start there right on the first thou didst leave thy throne
and thy kingly crown when thou cameest to earth for me
good evening romans 14 the bible reads him that is weak in the faith receive ye but not to doubtful
disputations for one believeth that he may eat all things another who is weak eateth herbs let not
him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth
for god hath received him who art thou that judges another man's servant to his own master he standeth
or falleth yea he shall be holding up for god is able to make him stand one man esteemeth one day
above another another seemeth every day alike let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind
he that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the lord and he that regardeth not the day to the lord
he doth not regard he that eateth eateth to the lord for he giveth god thanks and he that eateth
not to the lord he he eateth not and giveth god thanks for none of us liveth to himself and no
man dyeth to himself for whether we live we live unto the lord and whether we die we die unto the
lord whether we live therefore or die we are the lords for to this end christ both died and rose
and received and revived that he might be lord both of the dead and living but why dost thou
judge thy brother or why dost thou set at not thy brother for we shall all stand before the judgment
seat of christ for it is written as i live saith the lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue
shall confess to god so then every one of us shall give account of himself to god let not let us not
therefore judge one another anymore but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or an
occasion to fall in his brother's way i know and am persuaded by the lord jesus that there is
nothing unclean of itself but to him that is seemeth anything to be unclean to him it is unclean but
if thy brother be grieved with thy meat now walketh thou not charitably destroy not him with thy
meat for whom christ died let not then your good be evil spoken of for the kingdom of god is not
meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy ghost for he that in these things
serveth christ is acceptable to god and approved of men let us therefore follow after the things
which make for peace and things where with one may edify another for meat destroy not the work
of god all things indeed are pure but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense it is good
neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleeth or is offended
or is made weak hast thou faith have it to thyself before god happy is he that condemneth not himself
and that thing which he alloweth and he that doubteth is damned if he eat because he eateth
not of faith for whatsoever is not of faith is sin that's power heads for prayer father in heaven
we thank you for this day and all the souls saved out today and we just ask that you be with those
people that were saved and help them to get into a church i get church men all right well we are in
the time of year known as the holiday season and i want to preach a applicable sermon this evening
about this type time of year title my sermon is called holiday season sins holiday season sins
and of course sin is a problem in our lives all time of the year but around the holidays there
could be certain sins that rear their ugly head a little more this time of year than at other times
of year and so i want to talk about four things that you should avoid around the holidays four
attitudes or sinful practices that people sometimes have around this time of year and number one is
this don't be judgmental towards other christians that celebrate christmas okay because there's a
group of christians out there that somehow think that christmas is sinful and it's not like hey
that's just their private persuasion that's just their belief but oftentimes they they try to go
out of their way to tell you that you're wrong for celebrating christmas or they would condemn our
church for having lights on the wall or for having a wreath or for having a christmas tree
you know these people are out there and this is a bad attitude to have let me show you why
romans chapter 14 verse 4 the bible says who art thou that judgest another man servant to his own
master he standeth or falleth yea he shall be holding up for god is able to make him stand
verse 5 one man esteemeth one day above another another esteemeth every day alike let every man
be fully persuaded in his own mind so look the bible's saying here some people esteem they
recognize they lift up a certain day above other days in the year and guess what there's nothing
wrong with that there's nothing wrong with celebrating a birthday there's nothing wrong
with celebrating a holiday so long as the holiday itself is not inherently sinful there's other
people that they choose to esteem every day alike they're not going to celebrate holidays they're
just going to view every day as the same the bible says let every man be fully persuaded in his own
mind so there's nothing wrong with celebrating christmas on one hand there's also nothing wrong
with choosing not to celebrate christmas but usually it's not the people who celebrate christmas
condemning people that don't it's usually vice versa right it's someone that wants to say well
christmas is pagan christmas is wicked christmas is serving false gods or something like that
that's the type of people that i'm really talking about look at verse six it says he that regardeth
the day regardeth it unto the lord and he that regardeth not the day to the lord he doth not
regard it he that eateth eateth to the lord for he giveth god thanks and he that eateth not to the
lord he eateth not and giveth god thanks look as long as whatever you're doing as long as you're
regarding it unto the lord you're safe i mean if you decide not to celebrate christmas but just like
any other day you wake up and you thank god for life and you read the bible and you praise the lord
hey that's great there's nothing wrong with that but if you choose to set apart december 25th and
say this is a day that we're just going to think about the lord jesus christ we're going to be
thankful that god gave us the gift of his son the perfect lamb of god to come down in human form to
live a perfect life for us to die on the cross to raise again from the dead and you know we're
celebrating the lord jesus christ today what on earth could be wrong with that you know it doesn't
make any sense yet there's christians that don't like christmas it's very strange right i mean it's
a christian holiday but people will judge you for this and it's a wrong attitude to have now i haven't
really met too many people like this before but when it comes to okay where are they coming from
saying that christmas is bad christmas is pagan you know where are they getting this from well
sometimes they'll get it from this place in jeremiah go to jeremiah chapter 10 and i've seen this
stretch made from jeremiah 10 saying here's where god condemns christmas trees now let me just stop
right here you don't have to have a christmas tree if you don't want one you don't have to
have a christmas tree in your house you know christmas the christmas tree is not like a symbol
of jesus or anything like that i think it's just cool i just think it smells good it looks good
you know it's a cool tradition there's nothing sinful about it but here's where people will try
to say it is sinful from this passage let's learn what it's actually saying verse two thus saith the
lord learn not the way of the heathen and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven for the heathen
are dismayed at them so the heathen are usually what superstitious right they look at an idol or
they look at a sign in heaven and think that it's some sort of omen from god right and the bible
saying when you see these things don't be dismayed at them because that's what the heathen are like
verse number three four the customs of the people are vain for one cutth a tree out of the forest
the work of the hands of the workmen with an axe and this is where people say see this is a
christmas tree right here look at verse four they deck it with silver and gold uh-oh silver and gold
we're talking about christmas right they fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not
they are upright as the palm tree but speak not they must needs be born because they cannot go
be not afraid of them for they cannot do evil neither also is it in them to do good so the
bible is talking about people here that they take a tree out of the forest the work of the workman's
hand and they place it they nail it and you know they're decking it with silver and gold
and you could kind of see how someone who just doesn't know anything about the bible
could just on a really quick surface level say man that kind of sounds like a christmas tree
but hold on hold on keep reading okay let's read verse five again slowly they are upright as the
palm tree we're talking about the tree right now but speak not now did you need me to tell you that
christmas trees don't speak no you didn't really need me to tell you that right they must need to
be born meaning they have to be carried because they cannot go you all knew that right i hope be
not afraid of them for they cannot do evil neither also is it in them to do good now who in here has
ever been afraid of a christmas tree hopefully no one right because this is not talking about
a christmas tree you know this is talking about it's talking about an idol that's what this is
someone took wood from out of the forest they cut it down and then the work of the workmen worked on
it to where it's made into some sort of image of the likeness of something under heaven a carved
image likely you know a face of some sort you see the idolatry of pagan culture some sort of like
demonic face or some sort of you know beast and that actually makes sense to be like hey this thing
you need to carry this thing i know it looks like a living thing but you actually have to carry it
i know it has a mouth but it can't speak and by the way don't be afraid of it now that actually
makes sense if it's an idol you could see how someone might get superstitious over an idol
the bible's saying not to do that don't be superstitious of it don't be afraid of it it's
just the work of man's hands that's all it is this is not a christmas tree okay christmas trees are
not idols now what actually is an idol okay go to exodus chapter 20 exodus chapter 20 see idolatry
is not just whatever you make it up to be people just want to call everything an idol no the bible
actually describes what an idol is verse number four of exodus 20 the bible says thou shalt not
notice this word make unto thee any notice graven image now do you make a christmas tree or is a
christmas tree just something you cut off the bottom and you just put into your house you didn't
make that right now an idol you make you have to get some sort of carving device and you have to
work on that until it's in the form of something that's why it says a graven image because you
have to engrave that thing to look like anything notice what it says or the likeness of anything
that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth
notice this 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 see an idol is something that man's hands made it's
something that's wooden that man has engraved and it's something that people bow down at
that they worship at you know the catholics do this they have a statue of mary and they're bowing
down and they're praying to mary that is idolatry but i hope no one has ever kneeled down before
their christmas tree and you know pray oh christmas tree please bring me that would be weird right but
look a christmas tree is not an idol it's just a tree and it being inside of a building is no
different than it being outside of a building wherever it grows in nature you know that is fine
there's nothing sinful about a christmas tree go to psalm 135 psalm 135 psalm 135 look at verse
number 15 the bible says the idols of the heathen are silver and gold notice again the work of men's
hands they have mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not they have ears but
they hear not neither is there any breath in their mouths see that's what an idol is someone that's
making something to look like something else that has a mouth that has eyes that has ears right but
the bible saying these things are dumb that's why the bible calls them dumb idols they can't speak
they can't see they can't hear you know the proverbial chinese restaurant that has the
idol that they just keep giving food to over and over and over again you know that idol is never
going to eat it and you know no idol is ever going to receive that in india they do that same thing
giving food to the idols and guess what you have to carry them right because they're not real when i
went to mexico when you're crossing the border back into the united states all these mexicans are
walking up and down your car trying to sell you stuff and what a ton of them are trying to sell
you is all these mexican idols why because mexico is a catholic country and of course a bunch of
suckers go over there and fall for that stupid religion and buy their idols but no i noticed
about those idols is that they're not walking on their own why because they have to be born by men
they're graved by man it's that's what an idol is that's not what a christmas tree is now go to luke 12
i'll read for you first corinthians 8 4 the bible says as concerning therefore the eating of those
things that are sought that are offered in sacrifice unto idols we know that an idol is nothing in the
world and that there is none other god but one so the new testament sheds light saying hey we know
that an idol is nothing there's no special power that any idol has the pagans the heathens of this
world they're the ones that are kind of superstitious and dismayed about certain statues or idols that's
why in jeremiah god's saying hey don't learn the way of the heathen don't be dismayed at the signs
of heaven and don't be afraid of their idols don't know pay any attention to them because we know that
they're nothing you know there's all throughout history there's these special idols that people
say like well this statue is the god of this and this statue is the god of that but really it's
just wood at the end of the day it's just wood it's just metal it's just a carved device it means
nothing so number one don't get judgmental over christians celebrating christmas there's nothing
wrong with celebrating christmas you know there is something wrong with inherently sinful holidays
like worshiping the devil on halloween you know that's obvious but christmas is not one of those
number two around this time of year don't get covetous don't get covetous this time of year
the companies of this world are spending millions of dollars on ads trying to get you to want their
product trying to get you to buy their product now let's look at the bible says luke 12 15
jesus said this and he said unto them take heed and beware of covetousness for a man's life
consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth you know jesus told us
beware think about this let this be in your mind remember that your life is not measured
in happiness or success based on how much things you have and today our american mentality has been
so infected by the love of money by covetousness that many people when they think christmas their
first thought is how much stuff am i going to get how much how many material possessions can i get
from mom and dad this year from grandma and grandpa and look i'm going to talk in a little
bit about how there's nothing wrong with buying things there's nothing wrong with giving gifts
but we have to remember this warning from jesus christ to beware to remember to beware of
covetousness and to remember that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things
which he possesseth the amount of things that you have should not determine whether or not you're
gonna have good christmas this year the attitude that you should have is that hey if i got nothing
from mom and dad this christmas which let's be honest you probably will kids or if i got
no presents from my friends or from my grandparents or anything like that that i will still be happy
because christmas is about jesus christ that's what christmas is about and hey this year thank
god christmas falls on a church day on wednesday hey come to church on christmas i mean of all the
years of all the days to skip church why would you skip church on christmas it's the day where we
celebrate jesus christ how much sense does that make oh i'm not going to go to church today because
it's christmas i'm sorry did you think this was like a buddhist temple or something this is where
we worship christ of course you should come to church on christmas rather than just be worried
about all the things that you can get now i found this article and it said this this is statistics
from 2022 said americans spent 929.5 billion dollars on holiday related purchases in 2022
for comparison that amounts to over 3.3 times the national yearly gdp of finland so americans
in christmas just spent more money on christmas in one year than the entire gross domestic product
of finland three times over just on christmas okay that's a lot of money right there it says
let's break down the categories of goods that customers spend money on for christmas which
amounted to a total of 833 dollars per person in 2022 that includes decorations cards candy food
presents so in america the average person spent 833 dollars per person in their family for christmas
so for my family if i was doing if i was following the exact american model okay my family this is
what christmas would have costed me in 2022 if i followed this this model four thousand nine hundred
and ninety eight dollars now who just has an extra just cool you know don't raise your hand please
who just has extra cool like five grand just laying around in the bank if you do god bless
you praise the lord that's that's great but i don't okay and i'm not going to just open up a
credit card and just go five thousand dollars into debt just so i can make sure i'm keeping
up with the joneses and doing everything that every other america does and make sure that my kids
have the hoverboards and the drones and the helicopters and all and look there's nothing
wrong with buying those things i don't want you to misunderstand what i'm saying it's nothing wrong
with spending money on christmas there's nothing wrong in buying your kids a bunch of gifts but
there is something wrong with feeling this pressure like i have to like here you are you don't want to
you don't have the money to but because well americans we have to spend 833 dollars per person
to ching here comes the credit card debt you know the jews are just excited for christmas they hate
christ but they love christmas because americans are just racking up debt you know that is
ridiculous and we have to remember what jesus said beware of covetousness the abundance of a man's
you know your life is not based on what you possess is what jesus was saying now here's the thing
if you can afford it and you want to go for it have the biggest christmas you want to you say hey
i've got the means i want to do more than the 833 dollars per family member that's your prerogative
and there's nothing wrong with that right there's kind of two extremes when it comes to money
amongst christians some people just think like having any money is bad being rich is inherently
evil spending money is inherently wrong that's not true what's wrong is having a love of money
in your heart that's what's wrong what's wrong is coveting something that doesn't belong to you
that's not rightfully yours that's not something that you could obtain that's what's wrong okay
we have to beware of covetousness then verse number 16 if you're still there it says this
and he spake a parable unto them saying the ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully and he thought within himself saying what shall i do because i have no room where to
bestow my fruits this guy has so many christmas presents he doesn't even know where to put them
this is where you know storage units came into play in the united states because he's got no more
room verse 18 and he said this will i do i will pull down my barns and build greater there will
i bestow all my fruits and my goods and i will say to my soul soul now i hope you don't talk to
yourself like that it's really creepy soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine
ease eat drink and be merry that's the american dream right this is what people think that life
is all about success is when you could come to a place in your life where you've got so much
stuff you don't even have room to put it anywhere and you could just eat drink and be merry this is
the american dream for a lot of people today but look this is not a godly desire this is not
something the bible talks about not desiring to be rich not laboring to be rich there's nothing wrong
with being rich but when your desire is just to be able to eat drink be merry every day that is not
wise verse 20 but god said unto him thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee
then whose shall those things be which thou has provided so is he that layeth up treasure for
himself and is not rich toward god see this man had spent his entire life building wealth
gathering material goods setting himself up financially so that he could just eat drink
and be merry and at the time where he thinks i'm doing so well i've got to pull down these barns
and i've got to rebuild to bestow my fruit my fruits god says you're a fool because tonight
your soul is going to be required of you you know it's a very foolish thing to look at the holiday
seasons and all you're doing is just thinking about how much money can i get how much money
can i spend how many gifts can i receive when you don't even know if you're going to live to the new
year you don't even know when god's going to require your soul of you and is all the money
that you have is all the possessions that you've accumulated throughout life is any of that going
with you when you die no it's not so you know what if you have money praise the lord thank god for
that but when it comes to the christmas season think about jesus christ think about reading
your bible think about going to church on christmas day think about your brothers and sisters in christ
think about giving other people gifts rather than just thinking about how much you can get
you know think about spiritual things being rich toward god there's nothing wrong with being rich
but there is something wrong with not being rich toward god go to act chapter number 20
acts chapter number 20 acts chapter 20 verse 33 i have coveted no man's silver or gold
or apparel yea yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them
that were with me i have showed you all things how that's so laboring 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
you know what if we actually just changed our way of thinking about christmas rather than like the
average american just thinking about how much stuff they could buy for themselves or how many
free gifts they can get from other people but to think about what jesus said that it's actually
more blessed to give than to receive you know a lot of people are not looking at christmas that way
and you know if you are someone that god is blessed really you know well financially you should
consider saying hey god's blessing with this stuff i should try to bless my friends i should try to
bless my children and my family members and other people rather than just thinking about how you
could just consume it all on yourself and you say well pastor aus i don't have any money but you know
what you still have spiritual gifts that you could give to other people around this time of year
how about going out and giving the gospel to people this christmas you know they may not realize it
but if you're going out in the holidays preaching the gospel and you're getting someone saved
you're giving them the best gift ever and they may not even realize it and they say well hold on you
know you didn't spend thousands of dollars on this gift yeah but it's the most priceless gift that
could possibly be obtained salvation through the blood of jesus christ you know you don't have to
be rich to go preach the gospel it's free and i'll give you a ride to go out there too if you can't
afford the gas i got you let's go soul winning let's give people the gift of eternal life
this christmas let's remember that it's more blessed to give than to receive matthew chapter
two go to matthew chapter two you know if you remember the the great song that the kids sang
this morning for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son you know christmas is
about the fact that god gave the world a gift and you know the whole reason why you know i believe
that the tradition of gifts being exchanged during christmas is to symbolize the fact that hey god
gave us his son jesus christ god loved us so much that he gave us a gift and we in our lives we
usually go to the people that we love and we give those people a gift you know that is a beautiful
thing when it's done from the right heart when it's done with the right mentality but again today
it's like well you have to spend five thousand dollars on christmas otherwise you're a bad parent
or something like that and also you have to get presents for your first cousins your second cousins
your third cousins your the kids you went to elementary school with all of your family members
on ancestry.com or you're just a terrible person it's like hey man i'm a single family i'm a single
income family with four kids and a stay-at-home wife happy merry christmas there's my christmas
present for you you know i'll sing you him or something like that i'm not going to be spending
a bunch i mean what if i just spent like like 20 bucks 10 bucks on just every family member i have
and my kids and my friends and my church members i mean the jews would be having a payday from the
bank they would be so excited but look that's just not feasible that's just not realistic you know
so just don't give into this weird pressure like you have to give a gift to every person you've
ever known look if i don't give you a gift this christmas that doesn't mean i don't like you
it just means that we've lived in joe biden's economy for the last four years okay don't take
it personally if you don't get a gift from me ax chap or matthew chapter 2 look at verse 10 it says
when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy these are the wise men
verse 11 and when they were come into the house they saw the young child with mary his mother and
fell down and worshiped him and when they had opened their treasures they presented unto him
gifts gold and frankincense and myrrh notice when the wise men came to the lord jesus christ
the babe in the manger they didn't say all right jesus where's my gift card all right jesus where's
my money where's my presence you know what they said we're coming to give gifts to you the lord
jesus christ why because god already gave us the gift it is that babe right there jesus christ laying
in the manger that is the gift to the world and these men what did what did they do they actually
came to bring gifts to the lord jesus christ and again i just want to reiterate what if we just
changed our mentality and instead of just thinking about christmas as how much we can get from other
people think about how much we could give back to the lord how we could render good things to the
lord for all of the benefits that he's done for us go to psalm 116 psalm 116 psalm 116 verse 12
this question is asked in verse number 12 what shall i render unto the lord for all his benefits
towards me you know that's a very deep question when you think about all the benefits that god
has rendered towards us the fact that he has saved us from hell the fact that we live in a
great state we have a great church we have a spouse we have children we have friends we have
all these great things that god's given to us you know have you ever just sat down and just thought
like what can i render to god for all of his benefits that he's given me you know that is a deep
question right there but look at verse number 17 he kind of answers that question a little bit in
verse 17 he says i will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the
lord you know what can we render to god for the gifts that god has given us one thing we could do
is by simply being thankful you know being thankful is something that's kind of going out of style in
in our country unfortunately. It doesn't seem like parents are really teaching their kids to be
thankful. It seems like thank you notes are like the dinosaurs now. You're writing a thank you note,
being appreciative for someone when they do something for you. You know the Bible's saying
here what can we render to God for all the benefits that he's given to us? One thing is
that we could just offer thanksgiving to him. Just saying rather than God give me more, God give me
more. No, hold on. God thank you for all that you've already given me. God thank you for my health.
God thank you for my house. Thank you for my family. Thank you for my church. I mean so often
we're just so focused on all the things that we don't have, that we want to have. But do you ever
sit around and think about what God already has given you? Do you ever sit down and actually thank
God for what he's done for you? Do you look at Christmas and say thank you God for the Lord Jesus
Christ? Or are you just thinking like man I want that new car. Man I want that new toy. Man I want
that new smartphone. And look I hope you get that stuff. But I hope that your heart is thankful to
Jesus Christ for all of the things that you get in this life. Spiritual, physical, you know whatever
it is that God gives you. I hope that you're thankful to him for that. And you know looking back
on my childhood, you know my my grandparents were very well to do financially. And I remember my
grandpa always just went crazy on Christmas and spoiled the heck out of me and my brothers. But
you know now that I'm an adult and now that my grandpa has passed away, I don't look back at
those things and being like man it was so cool how much how many toys I got, how many great things
my grandfather gave me. But I'm just thankful for my grandfather. That's what I look back on. I
look back on just being thankful for my grandpa loving us and investing in us and caring about us.
You know you got to realize that the gift that you get in Christmas don't really matter. You
know what matters is the people that get you those gifts. Hey kids let me just tell you something.
When you're older you're not going to care about these presents that you're getting under the tree
this Christmas but you will care about mom and dad and someday when you're old and mom and dad are
gone when mom and dad are in the grave you're going to look back and be thankful for those times with
them you know we should just think about that now before those times come saying like hey thank you
god that i get to spend some time with my family you know thank you god those of you you still have
grandparents thank god for that appreciate them you know thank god for your parents thank god for
your children thank god for everything that he's done for us because honestly it's innumerable when
you think about it verse number 18 says i will pay my vows unto the lord now in the presence of all
his people notice 19 in the courts of the lord's house in the midst of thee oh jerusalem praise ye
the lord hey what shall you render to the lord for all of his benefits how about just being in the
courts of god's house you know that's one way you could render back to god the benefits that he's
giving you is simply by coming to church that is something that god desires us to do quite honestly
demands us to do and when he sees god's children being thankful for all that they have and you know
wanting to be in the house of god that's something that he is pleased with because you often see like
throughout the bible the children of israel you look at their history you know god does something
really great for them god delivers them god gives them the promised land but then the next generation
what do they do they are not thankful for god's deliverance they take for granted all the
blessings that god has given them and then what do we see god takes away those blessings from them
they're they're not you know thankful for the man of god that god has sent in their life through a
preacher like jeremiah through a preacher like isaiah you know god will send some sort of profit to
them and they'll just not listen to them they'll stiffen their neck they won't be thankful and you
see god start removing blessings here's the thing about being thankful is that being thankful
actually allows you to keep the blessings that you have but when you just you know put put at light
put at not the blessings that god has given you in your life you're not thankful for them those
blessings can be taken away and you know i think this church is a blessing i think this is a great
church but you know what if if this is just something that's light in our eyes and we don't
really care about it we're not really thankful to god for it do you really think that the next
generation is going to care about this no in even america our own country god blesses us financially
god makes us the greatest nation on earth and then now we're living in a generation of a bunch of
spoiled brats that aren't thankful for our heritage that aren't thankful for our founding
and what are we starting to see we're starting to see america being lost from us taken away from us
losing our freedoms losing our culture go to hebrews 13 hebrews 13 while you're turning there
second corinthians 9 7 says every man according as he purposeth in his heart so let him give not
grudgingly or of necessity for god loveth a cheerful giver you know also when it comes to gifts
only give a gift if you want to you know god says that he loves a cheerful giver don't feel the
pressure like you have to go spend money you have to buy a gift for this person if you want to do it
but god loves a cheerful giver hebrews 13 5 let your conversation be without covetousness and be
content with such things as ye have for he hath said i will never leave thee nor forsake thee stay
there james 117 every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father
of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning you know we got to remember
that that really good that really perfect gift that god gave us is his son jesus christ so number
two don't get coverage this time of year number three don't drink alcohol don't drink alcohol this
time of year people just throw their sobriety out the window and start consuming alcohol i'm
going to read a couple articles for you this article is called drinking increases during the
holidays here's how the extra booze affects your health according to a doctor americans drink
double their typical amount of alcohol during the holiday season according to estimates which could
have serious impact on your health on cbs morning plus tuesday cbs news chief medical correspondent
dr john lapouc wrote down what broke down what to know before throwing back the extra booze this
time of year the world health organization said there is no safe amount of alcohol there's no
safe amount of alcohol you say did you get that from a fundamental baptist website no that's the
world health organization medical professionals the world health organization is saying there is
zero consumption level of alcohol that is safe or healthy or good for you you know the lie that
you heard maybe a couple decades ago oh having a glass of wine with dinner is good for your health
no no right here they're saying there is no safe level of alcohol consumption that is you know good
for you but yet in the holiday season what did this article say that the consumption of alcohol
doubles in the united states you know that is a crazy thing and of course that has effects on our
society it says this nationwide alcohol impaired fatalities in 2021 represented 31 percent of the
total traffic fatalities so 31 percent of all the deaths that happen on the road are because of
alcohol consumption during the 2021 christmas holiday period 36 percent of fatalities involved
in alcohol impaired driver and that's that's crazy to think about because most people stay home at
christmas most people aren't really traveling a whole lot at least i don't and most people i know
don't yet 36 jumped up there here's an article that says this mother of infant killed by drunk
driver in luling christmas night louisiana state police says driver was arrested a family is
mourning the loss of a new mother after she was struck by a drunk driver now a two-month-old is
without his mother family told d sorry wdsu's shay o'connor that 26 year old daisha carter and her
boyfriend ibrahim gray were leaving a christmas pajama party on december 26th around 1 a.m they
headed to their son when they were struck from behind by a drunk driver going extremely fast the
speed limit was about 70 she said we were going about 65 to 67 all of the sudden it felt like a
rocket hit us i couldn't prepare i couldn't do anything it was the grace of god because the
railing kept us from flipping over the bridge gray said gray said after the impact all he could do
next was try to help his girlfriend and the mother of their infant son daisha carter who was knocked
unconscious gray said i crawled over to her and noticed the back of her head was bleeding
mine was bleeding too but since she was knocked out i tried to attend to her i took a shirt and
pressed it behind her head photos show how the couple's car looked after the crash investigators
said a man driving under the influence rear ended them at a high rate of speed kalinda carter the
aunt of daisha carter said he made a decision to get on the road highly intoxicated and drive his
vehicle at that type of speed and it's torn us apart the 26 year old was taken to a hospital
where she would later die of her injuries carter is described as a kind-hearted person
who knew no stranger or enemies she was especially excited about being a mother for the first time in
her life her son messiah will now spend the rest of his life without knowing her love her son will
be able to tell we'll be able to tell him about her and show pictures to him but he'll never be
able to feel that love from his mom he'll never be held by her again that's what happens every day
in this country but you know what that happens extra around the holidays where people are deciding
to be selfish idiots drinking poison ingesting poison into their bodies and then getting behind
a wheel when they have their judgment impaired where they're going to go drive on the road and
kill a little baby's mother for their own stupidity and selfishness you know it's absolutely shameful
and woe unto any christian that consumes alcohol woe unto any christian that would be so selfish
and so wicked as to get behind the wheel and drive a car while being drunk it's disgusting
and you know someone that just negligently gets drunk and just gets behind the wheel and just goes
and kills someone should be put on trial for murder and you know if they're convicted of that
murder they should get the punishment that murderers deserve in the bible and you know people
people often say like oh man there's all these like DUI traps of cops good i hope there's more of
them i hope that cops have zero mercy to drunk drivers because drunk drivers ruin people's lives
for the rest of their life i mean could you imagine if you had your wife taken away from you
by a drunk driver or your mom or your dad or your husband or your brother or your little child not
for anything that that happened other than just some idiot decided to drink and get behind the
wheel you know what it's disgusting go to proverbs chapter 20 proverbs 20 proverbs chapter 20 you know
alcohol is just accepted by our society i mean it's just a given like oh yeah of course it's
the holidays we just drink alcohol it's just totally normal no big deal look at proverbs 20
verse 1 wine is a mocker strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise
let me bring this to our modern vernacular for you the bible saying anyone that drinks alcohol
is an idiot is a moron is a fool why because why would you drink something that's just poison
what if i just said hey man i have this bottle of poison you want to drink it what kind of an
idiot would say yes to that well it's everyone that goes to the store and buys bud light
it's everyone that goes to the store and buys coors and whiskey what other guy other kind of
crap there is out there for alcohol you know people that drink that stuff you are an idiot
and by the way drunkards are to be kicked out of church this church hates alcohol the bible hates
alcohol and if someone is found out to be a drunk you are not welcome to come to anchor baptist
church why because i don't want to fellowship with someone that might go get behind the wheel and
kill someone's child kill someone's mother no you're not my friend you have no fellowship with us
until you get that fixed put the stupid bottle down christmas is not an excuse to get drunk
christmas is not an excuse to drink alcohol why would people take the birth of our savior
and say hey this is a great day to drink alcohol so stupid go to proverbs 31 while you're turning
there i'll read isaiah 28 7 but they also have erred through wine and through strong drink are
out of the way the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink they are swallowed
up of wine they are out of the way through strong drink they err in vision they stumble in judgment
for all tables are full of vomit and filthiness so that there's no place clean you know i don't want
my christmas season to be described by losing my judgment having places just full of filthiness
full of vomit you know that's what alcohol parties are like a bunch of people just throwing up
getting sick all over themselves all over other people you know that's not a god honoring way to
live your life that's not something that honors the temple of god that is indwelled by the holy
spirit no it's wicked proverbs 31 verse 4 says it is not for kings oh lemuel it is not for kings
to drink wine nor for princes strong drink why lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the
judgment of any of the afflicted bible says when you drink two things happen to you you forget the
law that could be in reference to the bible could also maybe be in reference to just the laws of our
land and it causes you to pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted your judgment is affected
under the effects of alcohol why would you want to consume something it's like hey christian hey
person that believes in jesus christ hey someone indwelled by the holy spirit you want to drink
this thing that's going to cause you to forget the bible to forget god i mean when we're saved when
we have the holy spirit why would we ever want to forget god no actually you know who actually
wants to drink alcohol is the next verse it says give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish
and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts let him drink and forget his poverty and remember
his misery no more you know alcohol is for losers alcohol is for people that have miserable lives
with nothing to live for those that are ready to perish but guess what those of us that have
believed on jesus christ are never going to perish no we should have the joy of the lord we are it's
christmas season we're celebrating christ we're celebrating the birth of jesus no we're not just
these miserable people that need to drink something that causes us to forget we exist you know and it's
funny how people will make fun of christianity and be like oh fundamentalists are so you know backward
and they live lives that are so boring and so sad it's like well that's weird because i don't have
to drink alcohol to forget my life because i actually like my life i'm actually thankful for
all that god's done for me but you oh person who doesn't want to go to church you don't want to
serve god you don't read the bible your life is so great you have to drink until you forget how much
it sucks oh but you're living a better life okay you're a hypocrite actually you're what the bible
says an idiot a fool someone that's not wise someone that's been deceived by alcohol go to
daniel chapter five daniel chapter number five let's read a story of a man drinking alcohol
daniel chapter five verse one this is not what you want your christmas party to look like right
here daniel five verse one belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords
and notice drank wine before the thousands drinking alcohol belshazzar whilst he tasted the wine
commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father nebuchadnezzar had taken out of
the temple which was in jerusalem that the king and his princes his wives and his concubines might
drink therein so now what happens when you drink alcohol what do you do you forget the law you
pervert judgment so he went from drinking alcohol to now blaspheming god by taking the articles of
the temple and filling them with this poison alcohol so that he and all of his comrades can
drink out of it verse three then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple
of the house of god which was at jerusalem and the king and his princes his wives and his concubines
drank in them they drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver of brass of wood of iron and
wood and of stone and then skip down to verse 30 this is the end result of this crazy night we're
not going to go to the whole chapter for sake of time but look at verse 30 it says this in that night
was belshazzar the king of the caldeans slain and you know there is a ton a ton of alcohol related
deaths that happen every day in america whether that comes from people playing with firearms while
they're drunk i mean you know how often people get drunk start playing with firearms and kill
themselves accidentally or kill their friend accidentally or they get behind the wheel of a
car and kill themselves or you know what might happen sometimes especially to saved christians
especially to christians that know the bible to christians that have been in church you know
what might happen is god might just judge you himself maybe god would kill you himself you
want you don't think that god has killed people in the bible you don't think god has saved killed
saved people in the bible you know i'm not going to drink alcohol because number one it's stupid
number two because it's dishonoring to god number three because it's going to cause me to lose my
judgment it's going to cause me to be perverted in my judgment to forget the law of god but you know
what it also might just piss god off so much that he would either chastise me in such a severe way
or maybe even kill me you know i'm not going to play around with that stuff and kids don't ever
play around with alcohol don't think man my parents are really strict but as soon as i get out of the
house i'm going to experiment with that stuff you know what god might kill you the first time you
do it you say well man god sounds mean look i don't care what you say he is just be afraid of him oh
he's mean well think he's mean then but he still might kill you whether you think he's mean or nice
so just be afraid of him go to proverbs chapter 23 proverbs chapter 23 and think about this this
church you just heard the preaching about how we feel about alcohol there's churches all over the
world that will literally serve you alcohol in communion i mean could you imagine looking at
these verses that we just read and then saying not only are we just going to go home and drink at our
own christmas parties but then to serve alcohol in church the devils drink the poison of serpents
really unbelievable number four things to avoid during the holidays don't be a glutton don't be
a glutton now again this is something that in america is just totally normalized and when i say
the word drunkard you know us as christians we probably have a certain feeling about that word
where i hope you haven't been so desensitized to where you hear the word drunkard and you just
don't even care you don't even feel anything but a lot of people i feel like when they hear the word
glutton they just don't care at all because this is something that has just not really been talked
about in our culture this isn't something that we're thinking about as americans we're just
thinking about filling our bellies to the max as much as possible as often as possible in our
country that's what we do and what's funny is when i went to germany one of the things that shocked me
right away was their portion size it was it was bizarre but i didn't see a single fat person in
germany okay and then one of my german friends he came to the united states because he's fleeing
persecution over there and we went out to eat and he's just like these plates are massive he's
like what's going on it's like it's just kind of an american thing to just shove our faces as much
as humanly possible you know that's just kind of an american thing but here's the thing just because
it's a cultural thing here just because it's an american thing here doesn't necessarily make it
right okay look at proverbs 23 verse 20 the bible says proverbs 23 20 be not among wine bibbers all
right we talked about that then it says this among riotous eaters of flesh you know i just i picture
like a cartoon of just you know some sort of beast just like going into something and it's just like
gone in a few seconds just like a riotous eater of flesh someone that's just stuffing their face
verse 21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe a man
with rags you know someone that is a drunkard and someone that is a glutton usually is someone
that does not have any discipline does not have any self-control and if you're a person that doesn't
have any discipline doesn't have any self-control you're probably going to be someone living in
poverty why because you don't have the ability to tell your flesh no when that alarm clock goes off
at 5 30 in the morning that thing goes off and you're thinking well i would just rather sleep
okay well if that happens do what you're going to be drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags so of
course there's just the surface level sin of drinking alcohol it's just on the surface it's
wrong being a glutton it's just on the surface it's wrong but it also has consequences down the road
that'll lead you to a lifestyle that you don't want to go down i mean no one wants to be in
poverty no one wants to be clothed with rags go to deuteronomy chapter 21 deuteronomy chapter number
21 but again you know our society doesn't really view gluttony as a big deal a lot of baptists even
kind of glorify it you know it's really weird but a lot of baptists will even glorify the fact that
they're so fat they're so out of shape they are so unathletic they can't do anything except stand up
here and breathe super hard it's like dude this is not something to brag about now look everyone
has their sins everyone has their struggles but there's a difference between struggling with
something and realizing that it's wrong and trying your best and just like glorying in your shame
that's weird okay yeah everyone has problems everyone struggles everyone's a sinner but not
everyone just brags about their problems that's just strange it should be a shame unto you let
me show you how serious this is in the bible deuteronomy 21 18 if a man have a stubborn and
rebellious son which will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and that when
they have chast chasing him will not hearken unto them then shall his father and his mother lay hold
on him and bring him out unto the elders of the city and unto the gate of his place and they shall
say unto the elders of the city so now the parents are going to list their grievances that they have
with their son this our son is stubborn and rebellious he will not obey our voice notice
he is a glutton and a drunkard and all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die
so shalt thou put evil away from among you and all israel shall hear and fear you know i think when
we read this story and this is a very controversial passage of scripture atheists really hate this
passage but you know i think when we usually read this passage we're focusing on the fact that this
child is so rebellious this child's wicked this child's disobedient to their parents they're lazy
they're drinking alcohol but i don't think we often focus on the fact that one of this kid's
problems is that he's a glutton he is a glutton and this combination of problems with this kid
is actually so severe that the bible's saying you know what the the fix for this person is
and all the men of a city shall stone him with stones now look i'm not saying gluttons should
be stoned with stones all right don't make some stupid clip friendly atheist or whatever you know
that's not what i'm saying what i'm saying is that gluttony is such a big deal in the eyes of god
that when all this combination of factors were taken into account for this person that this was
a person that was worthy of death because again someone that is a glutton they usually have tons
of other problems related to that lack of self-control right if someone can't restrain
their flesh from food you know what oftentimes they can't restrain their flesh from fornication
they often can't restrain their flesh from adultery they often can't restrain their flesh from being
stubborn and rebellious and not obeying their parents you know it actually is a spiritual issue
not just a physical issue it's not an eating disorder no it's a sin okay not an eating disorder
it's a sin against god is what it is that's what gluttony is go to proverbs again proverbs chapter
25 proverbs 25 now here's the thing i'm not saying to not enjoy the holiday season by eating great
food i'm not saying don't eat dessert i'm not getting up here like some weirdos teach saying
sugar is sinful or you have to fast or anything like that no no no look what the bible says
proverbs 25 16 it says hast thou found honey eat so much as is sufficient for thee lest thou be
filled there with and vomit it now here's the thing there's nothing wrong with honey in fact
honey is something that's very good let me show you that in proverbs 24 look back proverbs 24 verse
13 my son eat thou honey because it is good and the honeycomb which is sweet to thy taste so on one
hand we have the bible saying hey eat honey honey is good it's sweet but on the other hand we we
see hey don't eat too much honey eat what's sufficient for you otherwise you're going to be
vomiting it out and you know i don't know exactly where the line is where god looks down from heaven
and says like this person is a glutton or this person is engaged in the sin of gluttony but let
me tell you where the line for sure is if you're eating so much that you're vomiting you for sure
have crossed that line okay that is not healthy that is not pleasing to god no eat honey hey eat
the ham eat the desserts eat all the wonderful christmas things but don't go so overboard to
where you're becoming a glutton hey the birth of our lord jesus christ is not an excuse to sin it's
not an excuse to drink alcohol it's not an excuse to become a glutton it's not an excuse for those
things you know what else is not an excuse for number five this will be my last point this evening
don't get lazy during the holidays don't get lazy during the holidays oftentimes this time of year
people just completely stop caring about everything stop caring about their job they stop caring about
their church they stop caring about their family like look just still work hard throughout the
holidays ecclesiastes chapter 10 you should be close to it ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 18 says
by much slothfulness the building decayeth and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth
through laziness brings forth decay and during the holiday season you don't want your career
to start decaying right men you're out working hard you're out providing for a family oftentimes
on a single income that takes a lot of work you know if you've got a good job that's something
that i hope is very valuable to you that you take with a lot of care and pride in your work
and you know what you should not let that start to decay in your life just because it's the holiday
season still at work give it all you got at work obey your boss try to do the best job that you can
try to produce as much as you can for the company don't just say like hey it's the holiday season
i'm just done working know what that's going to cause is the building to decay go to first
corinthians 15 first corinthians 15 but most importantly obviously keep working hard at your
job but keep working hard for the spiritual things keep doing works for god keep doing
works at this church look at first corinthians 1558 it says therefore my beloved brethren be
ye steadfast unmovable notice always abounding in the work of the lord for as much as you know
that your labor is not in vain in the lord you say hey what what is the right time of year to
quit church there is no right time of year hey when is it when do i get a break from reading my
bible you don't well when can i just take a season of life where i should stop praying to god when
should i you know stop going soul winning there's never an appropriate time for that the bible says
always abounding in the work of the lord you know we don't take vacations from god yeah take
vacations from your work do the best while you're there but when it's time to be off sure take
vacation relax rest but you know what never take a vacation from god never just say well you know
it's cold outside it's christmas season we're just not going to church this sunday you know that's
not right well you know christmas falls on a wednesday this year so we're not going to church
that makes no sense no continue to abound in the work of god stay there i'll read for you this
proverbs 24 says the sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold therefore shall he beg and
harvest and have nothing hey keep soul winning in the winter time keep soul winning in the winter
time god says that the slugger the lazy person doesn't plow by reason of the cold you know what
be steadfast always abounding in the work of the lord yeah it's cold out there but guess what praise
god our church had eight salvations today out in the cold those people were headed to a devil's hell
where they were going to spend all of eternity but we had some people today that said yeah i know it's
cold but you know what they make these things called base layers and they make these things
called jackets and gloves and hats and masks and scarves and you know i think brother ben in texas
was telling me about like an electric suit they're like a body heated suit i mean i don't care what
you have to do stay warm we want you to be warm and healthy and all that but keep going soul winning
don't give up on soul winning go to romans 13 this will be the last place we turn just because
it's winter doesn't mean that all of a sudden we start drinking alcohol being a glutton being lazy
you know it doesn't make sense this is the timing year if anything we should sharpen things up and
say hey this is christmas this is when we're celebrating the birth of the lord jesus christ
hey what am i doing for the lord to render unto him for all of his benefits towards me am i quitting
church am i quitting soul winning that does not make any sense here's what we should do last verse
romans 13 13 let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering
and wantonness not in strife and envying but put ye on the lord jesus christ and make not provision
for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof hey during the holiday seasons continue to walk
honestly as in the day and not allow a time that should be glorifying to god that should be a
blessing to us where we have some time off work not taking that and just squandering it and allowing
it to be an excuse to sin more no if anything we should take it as a time to reflect and to double
down on our efforts for christ okay so number one don't be judgmental towards other christians
about celebrating christmas number two don't get covetous number three don't drink alcohol
number four don't be a glutton let's pray lord thank you for this day thank you for this great
time of year we do thank you for the birth of your son i just pray that we would always remember
that christmas is about him it's not about how many things we can get but i just pray that you
help us to have the right perspective on the holidays and help us to continue to be spiritual
people throughout them we love you and just let me pray amen for our last hymn if you would grab
your hymnals and turn to hymn number 423 joy to the world hymn number 423 number 423
we'll go ahead and start there right on the first joy to the world