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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you over silent blocks by night behold throughout the heavens there shone a holy night go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born on a second the shepherd's spirit trembles when though above the earth angels go roost that hail the savior's birth go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born down in a lonely manger the humble Christ was born and God the blessed Christmas born go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born Dear Heavenly Father we thank you Lord for this morning. Thank you so much God for the wonderful day that you've given us to celebrate our Christmas service Lord and I pray that you would bless every part of our service from the congregation singing, reaching forward, breathing forward and also the fellowship this afternoon. I also want to pray Lord that you bless us as we go so winning Lord this afternoon. Give us a good weather Lord. I pray that you continue to bless this church. We're asking all these things in Jesus name we pray. Amen. For our next song let's turn to hymn number 432 get your hymn books and turn to hymn number 432 let's sing the song Angels from the Realms of Glory. On the first angels from the realms of glory bring your light o'er all the earth ye whose song creation's story now could be Messiah's earth come and worship come and worship worship Christ the Lord be shepherds in the field of the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the you the the the the the the the Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. 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For scripture reading, please open your bibles to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 14. Romans 14. And as our custom, we will be reading the entire chapter. Romans chapter 14. Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Romans 14 verse 1. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. So when you look at the equinoxes which were at March 20th and September 22nd of this year, it's basically the time where there is an equal amount of light as there is darkness, an equal amount of day as there is night, and then when you go three months before and after, you have the other extremes. So, for example, winter solstice, if you live in the Northern hemisphere on December 21st, you have the least amount of sunlight of any day during the year and then basically, six months before and six months after, summer solstice, which was on June 21st, you have the most amount of sun. But then if you live in the southern hemisphere, it's going to be the opposite. So basically on December 21st, in the southern hemisphere, you have more light than any time during the year. And then on June 21st, you had the least amount. Now here's the thing. If you don't live near the North or South Pole, it really doesn't affect your country that much. Right? Like for us here, it does get dark a little bit early during December, but it's not like it gets dark at like one o'clock in the afternoon. But you know, I know someone who's a like-minded brethren in the U.S. who grew up in Alaska. He said during December, 23 hours of darkness. Can you imagine a day with 23 hours of darkness and one hour of light? And then of course six months later, it's the opposite. And it's going to be light 23 hours. I said, how do you sleep? Like how does your body adjust to that? Right? So it doesn't seem like a big deal to us here, but it's going to be a big deal in those locations. The other thing you have to look at is this. If you live, you know, very high up near the North Pole or a lot higher than the equator, it's not only that it's dark for long stretches, it's also extremely cold. Now many of you in this room are saying, my biggest dream is to experience snow. Well, no offense, but I grew up in snow and that's the last thing I ever want to experience again. Right? You know, during the winter time, it's actually a very miserable time as it's very cold. It's dark all the time. Drive to work in the morning, it's dark and it's freezing cold. You're driving on ice. You drive back at like five o'clock, it's already pitch black and everything like that. It's actually not the most fun time during the year, but see it actually makes sense why this time of year is a huge holiday and celebration around the world, even outside of Christianity. You say, why Brother Stuckey? Because if you look at cultures historically that have 23 hours of darkness or close to 24 hours of darkness, all of a sudden you get past December 21st and the sun stays out a little bit longer. It's basically like a hope that you have. It's excitement because especially as they work outdoors, how are you going to work outside in the cold and dark all the time? It's very difficult. So once they get past December 21st, they get excited as the sun's staying out longer, naturally a holiday would develop around this time period. It just so happens that December 25th in this part of the world is that date. Now when it comes to Orthodox churches, the Russian Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox, they don't celebrate on December 25th. They celebrate historically January 6th, but now many of them celebrate on January 7th. So basically it's a little bit later. I don't really know all of the history or why that is, but I know the Catholics and the Orthodox like to pretend they don't agree on a lot of stuff even though it's the same religion. But basically the first week of January is when they're celebrating Christmas. So if you lived in Russia, then you know what? You're going to be celebrating on January 7th instead of December 25th. Okay. When you look historically at religions and cultures around the world, even outside of the Christian realm, they picked this date around this time to celebrate. And you know, one of the most famous examples is Sol Invictus, which was supposed to be like the Roman god. It was the sun that they worshiped. And they would basically worship the sun. They said he was basically conceived on March 25th. Nine months later, December 25th is when the sun was born according to this religion. Okay. Now in many ways, and we'll look at this later on, the actual sun is actually a picture of Jesus Christ in a lot of different ways. There's actually a verse in the Bible that calls Jesus the son of righteousness, S-U-N. But you know, honestly, even our language itself kind of has this concept because think of the word Silung. What does Silung mean? It means birth and it means sunrise. Right? So obviously the language itself had this sort of understanding because when you see the sun rise up, it's almost like a birth, especially if there's 24 hours of darkness and you literally have no sun, all of a sudden the sun starts coming out. And even in our language itself, the word Silung means sunrise. It also means birth, which is kind of interesting. Now you say, Brother Sukkie, so what are you saying about the timing? Well, here's my opinion. It doesn't really matter what day you pick. If I lived in Russia, I would celebrate Christmas on January 7th. I think it's Armenia celebrates it still on January 6th. If I lived in Armenia, I'd celebrate it January 6th. If I lived in a country that celebrated it on a different day, I'd just pick a different day. There's nothing where I'm like, it must be December 25th, but I also don't see any reason to fight against it being December 25th. You say, Brother Sukkie, that's just your opinion. Well, everything we believe and teach, we use the Word of God. Right? Romans 14, verse 5. Point number one, what about the timing of the date of Christmas? Romans 14, 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 the Bible says, there's some people that would pick one day above another and others say every day is the same. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Look, if you came in here today and you say, Brother Sukkie, I'm here for church, but honestly, I don't like celebrating Christmas. I'm against it. I'm against the pagan roots. I'll be completely honest, I am not trying to change your mind here today. Because let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. If you have a personal conviction against celebrating Christmas, unless you change your mind on that, I don't want you to change actually what you're doing. Because if you're against it personally, this chapter will tell you you're sinning against your conscience if you choose to celebrate it when you're against it. Right? So honestly, if you're against Christmas and you say I'm against all these traditions, I am not trying to change your mind here today. I'm just going to go through all these traditions and show you where they came from, what the Bible says about them, and you can make up your own mind. I love Christmas. I'm fully persuaded that this is the best holiday during the year. I love celebrating it. But if you're not like that and you say I'm against it, that's perfectly fine as well. Because the Bible says here, one person's going to esteem one day above another, and others esteem every day alike. Now the most direct application would be the Sabbath day. Right? Because in the Old Testament, they had to take Saturday, the Sabbath day, off from work. It was a day of no work. Okay? In our modern day, we do not have to follow the Sabbath day. We follow 9 out of 10 commandments. You don't have to follow the fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. And see, a lot of people think, well, you know what? We go to church on Saturday, therefore we're keeping the Sabbath. The Bible does not say going to church or worshiping God is what the Sabbath is. The day of Sabbath was a day of rest, a day of no work. So look, our church yesterday was not keeping the Sabbath by having church on Saturday. Okay? It's just we happen to have church on Saturday, which there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, it's just a day. Right? I mean, if here in the Philippines, if everybody had Friday off from work, we'd probably have church on Friday. Right? That's just not the way it happens to be. So we pick Sunday because it's the best day. Right? But here's the thing. If you esteem one day above another, you know there's nothing wrong with that. That's great. If you don't, it's perfectly fine as well. For me personally, when it comes to the ordinary day of the week, I do like to take a day off from just to have church and fellowship and everything like that. But at the same time, I've worked on Sundays before, and there's nothing sinful about it because I didn't miss church. There's nothing wrong or sinful about working on Sunday. The Bible never says it's wrong because we don't have to keep the Sabbath day in 2021. There's nothing wrong with working. I mean, if you come home tonight and say, Brother Succy, I'm busy. I got a lot of stuff to do. By all means, you can work for three hours, four hours, whatever. Nothing sinful about it. Right? And so it's perfectly up to you if you esteem one day above another. Now, the most direct application would be your weekly Sabbath or your weekly just days of the week, but it would also apply to having a holiday as well. I will say this, though, that in the Old Testament, they did have a lot of holidays, and those holidays were always associated with something religious because in the Bible, it says Holy Day. And what is a holy day? It's the same thing as a holiday. It's just spelled very slightly differently. And so what a holiday was in the Old Testament was a holy day, and it had a religious significance. Well, here's the thing. In 2021, as Bible believing Christians, what would be the two most significant things to celebrate? What would be the most significant things to make a holy day? Probably the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I mean, throughout the Old Testament, they had lots of holidays. So to me, it makes logical sense that we would pick a day and a time to celebrate the birth and resurrection of Jesus because those are the two biggest events as Bible believing Christians. Verse number six, he that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the Lord. See, right there in verse six, that is the key. Do you regard that day unto the Lord? Right? If you pick December 25th to read the Bible, spend time with family, sing hymns, there's nothing wrong with that, right? Now, here's the thing. If celebrating Christmas to you means getting drunk and gambling like it does to a lot of people, I'd say, yeah, there's something wrong with that because there's something wrong with drinking. There's something wrong with gambling. However, if you regard the day unto the Lord, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, is there something sinful about singing O Holy Night? Right? What could be sinful about singing about the Savior? I mean, are you not allowed to sing those types of songs this time of year? Right? You're not allowed to talk about the birth of Jesus in December, just any other month. Right? Is there something sinful about wearing red or green? I can't believe, Brother Stuckey, you let the choir wear red and green. Well, it's like, you know, there's nothing wrong with the color red. There's nothing wrong with the color green. Right? There's nothing inherently sinful about those colors or any color for that matter, to be honest. Right? The key is, are you regarding the day unto the Lord? And if you are, then by all means, it's fine. Now, if you're doing something sinful on Christmas, I'd say it's wrong, but if you're not, then it's perfectly fine. Okay? To celebrate Christmas. And he that regardeth not the day to the Lord, he doth not regard it. So other people might say, Brother Stuckey, I don't believe in having a Christmas tree. I don't believe in singing these Christmas carols and things like that and candles and wreaths and things like that. That's perfectly fine. You know, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Right? I personally do most of the Christmas traditions, but, you know, if you don't, then that's perfectly fine. Right? It's fully up to you. What matters is, are you regarding the day unto the Lord? And then the Bible says, 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. So it basically comes down to, I mean, because earlier talked about what foods you eat. Well, I mean, if you pray for a blessing on the food, there's nothing wrong with whatever you eat. Right? I mean, it's okay to eat pork. It's okay to eat cow meat or whatever, as long as you pray and ask God to bless that. God says, I'll bless it. Now, if you're on a vegan diet and you pray for God to bless that food, he's going to bless that food too. Right? So basically, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. That is what the Bible teaches. Okay? Now turn your Bible to Malachi 4. Malachi 4. Malachi chapter 4. So the Romans would celebrate December 25th. Sol Invictus was the name of their God. And I'll be honest, if you look up the history of why we celebrate Christmas and the date it is, there are a lot of contradictory opinions. So I personally don't have a consensus on every single thing, because a lot of things just dispute and argue with one another. Right? For my personal study, I would say most likely, yes, it's probably pagans and false religions that started December 25th being the date. But I would say there's nothing wrong as Christians to pick that date, because there's nothing sinful about any specific day. Now, I would say this, that if we live during a culture where a specific date was very sinful and wrong, for example, All Saints Day or Halloween, that's probably not the date we would pick for a new holiday to celebrate the Lord. But you know what? Two thousand years later, nobody knows who Sol Invictus is. Right? Most people in this room, you've never heard of Sol Invictus. And if you have, it's only because you've heard of somebody talk about pagan traditions or whatever. Nobody knows who Sol Invictus is in 2021. So I do not believe picking December 25th makes you look like you're this major sinner or worshipping a false god. Nobody knows who that is. Okay, in 2021. Malachi chapter four, verse two, let me let me turn to this as well. I made reference to this where it talks about the Son of Righteousness, but notice what it says. Malachi four, verse two. Malachi four, verse two. But on you that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and he shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. Now, this is not an error in the Bible when it says Son, S-U-N. Okay? You can look at the word, the sentence itself, and it talks about arising. You think of like a sunrise. So it's very specific when it calls it him the Son of Righteousness, S-U-N, because in many ways the Son actually pictures Jesus Christ. Okay? And so like I mentioned earlier, you have the word Silong in Filipino, which means sunrise, and it also means birth, and there is a link there with Jesus Christ. Now obviously we should not actually worship the Son like the Romans did, but there is a link as there's many pictures of Jesus Christ with the actual Son. Now go back to Romans 14. Romans 14. Romans 14. I would say the one holiday, or the one day I think as Bible-leading Christians we really should, you know, basically commemorate is actually Easter. With Christmas it's kind of like it doesn't matter. The reason why I say Easter is because Easter is not really new. It's basically the Passover that bled into the Lord's Supper, and so the Lord's Supper is when we take communion, and so we're going to do it right around the resurrection of Jesus. So we kind of got to pick a date of when we think Jesus was resurrected. Now I don't literally think that it was the date they pick because it changes every year anyway when it comes to Easter, but that's kind of the one holiday because of the fact you're going to take the Lord's Supper, and it's basically the new Passover, so you're going to pick it basically the date of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In terms of Christmas, it doesn't really matter if you do pick that or not, but I would just say this as a parent. When your kids are saying all kinds of things about Santa Claus, it's kind of nice to tell your kids actually Christmas is about Jesus Christ and not about Santa Claus. And look, your kids are going to pick up on those things if you teach them. A couple days ago, I asked my son, you know, what is Christmas about? He said Jesus Christ. Later in the day, I asked him, you know, is Jesus about Christmas, Zeph? And he's like, yes, but it's not about Santa. I was like, amen. Right? He's obviously listening to me. And look, no matter what you do, I mean, you cannot avoid Santa Claus in 2021. It's everywhere. It's in the songs. It's everywhere. The decorations. Your kids are going to see Santa Claus, so you better make sure to teach them that Santa Claus is fake and Santa Claus is false because otherwise they're going to, you know, basically think Christmas is about Santa Claus. Right? Number one, we looked at the timing. According to the Bible, it does not matter what date you pick. It's perfectly up to you. You say, Brother Stuckey, I think Jesus was born on July 17th. Then celebrate Christmas on July 17th is perfectly fine. It doesn't matter what day you pick. As I said, some countries celebrate in January. If I lived in those countries, I'd celebrate in January. Right? What about the traditions themselves? We looked at the timing. Point number two, the traditions themselves. Well, look at verse number one. The Bible says here, him that is weak in the faith receive thee, but not to doubtful disputations. Now what does that mean? Well, being weak in the faith is basically someone who's just not educated on a lot of stuff. They don't have that much knowledge. And the Bible says we should receive those people as long as they don't bring in disputations or arguments. You see, if somebody joins our church that is hardcore anti-Christmas, that's perfectly fine as long as they don't start arguing and telling everybody at church why they're living in sin. Right? You know, our church, we have coffee on the back table. There are people that think drinking coffee is a sin. Right? Well, it's perfectly fine if you have that opinion, but that's obviously not the opinion of our church. So basically, if you were to come to this church and have that opinion, that's perfectly fine because everybody has opinions. But if you start arguing and saying, oh, do you really feel okay drinking that coffee? Right? Then you're doing wrong. Then you're bringing in disputations. And then the Bible says, you know what, you don't receive people that are bringing in all these arguments because they're causing division. Right? We need to be unified. And being unified is not going to state that we all believe 100% the same thing on everything. We need to have the fundamental things that are the same. But you know what, there's going to be differences of opinions on a lot of different topics. And that is perfectly fine as long as people aren't starting arguments and causing problems. So the Bible says if somebody's weak in the faith, receive them, but not to doubtful disputations. Okay? Then it says in verse 2, for one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. Right? So in verse number 2, what the Bible says is, one person says you can eat anything you want. Another person says, just vegetables, just a vegan diet. Right? Well, who's the one who's correct? The person who says, eat anything you want. Because the Bible states the person that is weak is the one that's saying, just eat herbs. Okay? So in this specific example, the Bible tells us who's correct. Basically, eat anything you want. Right? Now, when it comes to diets, everybody has opinions on diets. And there are a lot of different diets. There's the vegan diet. There's also a carnivore diet. And a carnivore diet says you can't eat herbs, you can't eat vegetables or fruits, but only eat meat. There's a lot of extremes. Right? And diets go in phases. Right? In 2021, keto is like really popular. You know, kind of like it's a spinoff of the Atkins and high protein and everything like that. But according to the Bible, honestly, you can eat whatever you want. Right? You can eat anything. If you want to eat cow meat, go ahead and eat cow meat. If you want to eat pork, eat pork. If you don't want to, though, then don't eat them. Right? There might be certain foods you state, I don't want to eat it because I think it's bad for my health and it's not good for me. And I understand that because there are certain foods that I choose not to eat because I just, you know, they're not that healthy, or I like other things that taste better to me or whatever, so it's not worth it to me. Right? But here's the thing. You don't want to go to church and then bring those arguments and cause problems and cause a division over whether or not you're going to eat pork or something like that. Right? The Bible says the person who is weak eateth herbs. Okay? Now, of course, this is referring to spiritually, but physically, if all you eat is herbs, I'm just trying to help you out, you're going to probably be weak as well. Okay? Verse 3. 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. So the Bible says, you know what, if you're someone who says I can eat whatever I want, don't get mad at someone who chooses not to eat certain things. Right? I mean, let them do whatever they want. Don't despise them or get mad at them. You know, I go on diets, you know, during the year, and certain times I say, oh, you know, I'm on a diet right now. I'm not eating certain foods. Anyway, people do that. People go on diets. They have different styles of eating and things like that. And the Bible says if you say you can eat whatever, don't get mad at the person who doesn't think that. But it also says, and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, because what you oftentimes see is the people that are against eating meat will judge other people and basically bring their opinion onto someone else and say, well, you're living in sin because you're eating that. Right? The Bible says don't bring in doubtful disputations. Either way, the Bible says God hath received him as long as they're not bringing in arguments. So look, if we have a hardcore vegan that joins our church, I mean, if we have a hardcore vegan at our church, which is possible, I don't know, praise the Lord, as long as they're not bringing in arguments. Right? I mean, if a bunch of people join our church that are against eating meat and they're not causing arguments about it, that's great. We don't have a problem with that. Right? There's nothing wrong with that. As long as they're not bringing in arguments, that would be the key. Okay? Verse 4, who art thou that judgest another man's servant, to his own mastery standeth or falleth, yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand. So the Bible says, you know, don't judge someone based on your opinion because we're not talking about something where thus sayeth the Lord, do not eat this food. Or thus sayeth the Lord, you must follow this tradition. It's a matter of opinion of what you want to do. So basically, don't judge another person when they just have a different opinion on something that is not sinful, either way that you look at it. Okay? So when it comes to the traditions themselves, let me just read you this article about Christmas just in general. It says, associating it with drunkenness and other misbehavior, the Puritans banned Christmas in England in the 17th century. It was restored as a legal holiday in 1660, but remained disreputable. So during this time period in the 17th century, it was illegal to celebrate Christmas. And basically, if you were like really happy on the streets or whatever, they could question you, you know, because you might be celebrating Christmas or whatever. So it was like a very big deal in the 17th century when it came to areas with the Puritans. And it said, in the early 19th century, the Oxford movement and the Anglican church ushered in the development of richer and more symbolic forms of worship, the building of neo-Gothic churches and the revival and increasing centrality of the keeping of Christmas itself as a Christian festival, as well as special charities for the poor, in addition to special services and musical events. Charles Dickens and other writers helped in this revival of the holiday by changing consciousness of Christmas in the way in which it was celebrated, as they emphasized family, religion, gift giving, and social reconciliation, as opposed to the historic revelry common in some places. So Charles Dickens wrote a book called A Christmas Carol. Probably many of you have read that book or watched a movie or something on it or whatever. And a lot of the traditions that we have today actually came from that book that he wrote in the 19th century. And then in England, a lot of these traditions became very common. And it became sort of like, you know, a common tradition around the world eventually at Christmas time. So how do we know if a specific tradition is right or wrong? Romans 14, verse 6. What does the Bible say? 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. So the question is, are you regarding it unto the Lord? So here's what I'm saying. It does not matter if something has a pagan origin. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if 800 years ago in another part of the world, they had a Christmas tree for a specific reason. The question is, what does God say in his book? Unless something's inherently sinful, you can't tell someone it's wrong to have that. Now, you can have an opinion and feel bad about it or not want to do it, and that's fine. But you can't say it's a sin unless you've got a Bible verse or a reason. And saying, well, 800 years ago, this is what they did in Norway. Where's your Bible verse? 800 years in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and in Germany and those parts of the world, they were basically doing these Norse mythological things. Where's your Bible verse, though? Just because people had a Christmas tree 800 years ago, where does the Bible say that it's a sin to have a Christmas tree? And we'll look at the verses that they talk about here later on. But certain things, though, are just inherently sinful. One of those is Santa Claus, right? Last year, if you remember, my sermon at Christmas time was Jesus versus Satan Claus, right? Just kind of rearranging Santa into Satan, same letters, right? And I believe that's just a coincidence, honestly, but I'm just saying that Santa Claus is like a replacement of God. What I tell my son, because my son's only three years old, what I say is Santa Claus is trying to steal Christmas from God, which that is exactly what's happening. And Santa Claus has stolen Christmas from God, right? I mean, last I checked, it's not Santa-mas, it's Christ-mas or Christmas, right? Christ is in the name, okay? And so Christmas should be about Jesus Christ. So what I'm saying is this, if you spend Christmas time and you're reading Matthew chapter 1, and you're singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, what is sinful about that, right? But Santa Claus himself, that is sinful because Santa Claus is fake, and it's basically a mockery of God. I mean, he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. I mean, is he a pervert? He sees you when you're sleeping? Because either they're saying he's God, basically, or it's some sort of weird pervert that's watching you outside your house, right, which is pretty creepy. Now here's an article about Christmas, or about Santa Claus, I should say. It says, Father Christmas, otherwise known as Saint Nicholas, was a patron saint of children, the poor and prostitutes. Living around 4th century AD, Saint Nicholas was a generous bishop who was known for giving gifts to the poor, sporting a big beard and a long cloak, much like the Santa we know and love. Now, I don't know anything about this actual person, Saint Nicholas, assuming he existed. You know, I don't want to preach against someone when I don't know for sure whether he's good or bad, or if a lot of this stuff is just made up. We don't really know for sure, okay? It also says this, though, but even before Saint Nicholas, there was another bearded old man called Odin. This deity was worshipped by early Germanic pagan tribes, traditionally portrayed as an old man with a long white beard with an eight-legged horse called Sleipnir, who he would ride through the skies just like Santa's reindeer. During the winter, kids would fill their booties with carrots and straw and leave them by the chimney for Sleipnir to feed on. Odin would fly by and reward the children with little presents in their booties, much like we do with Christmas stockings today. The Santa Claus we all imagine in our heads today is a mishmash of the generous Saint Nicholas, the god Odin and Sleipnir, and Coca-Cola's iconic red dress character. Now, look, from my study, I think this is probably true. I think this is probably true that historically this is what they did in, you know, Scandinavia and those parts of the world, worshipping Odin. I mean, it does sound like there's a lot of links to Santa Claus. You say, Brother Stucky, shouldn't we not celebrate Christmas? No, it means you shouldn't watch the Avengers, where Odin's one of the characters, right? Because they'll say, well, don't celebrate Christmas because it's got pagan origins. Well, the Avengers has Thor and Loki and all of these Norse mythological characters, and this is all of the traditions on Christmas is with Norse mythology. So if you're going to take this stand and say, well, Brother Stucky, I don't think we can celebrate it because 800 years ago there was Norse mythological roots, while the Avengers has Norse mythological characters. Norse mythological gods. I'm all for taking a stand, but what I'm saying is it doesn't matter what the origin is, it matters are you regarding the day unto the Lord or not. There's nothing inherently sinful about having a stocking. There's nothing inherently sinful about having a tree in your house, right? There's something inherently sinful about Santa Claus, and that's the problem, okay? What about the elves? The elves are another example of something that I think as Christians we should have nothing to do with because they are Santa's little helper, right? They're attached to Santa Claus, and here's what it says. An elf is a type of humanoid supernatural being in German, Germanic mythology and folklore, especially North Germanic mythology and folklore. In medieval Germanic speaking cultures, elves generally seem to have been thought of as being beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty. Well, I'm against teaching our kids sorcery, right? You're telling me these characters have magical powers. Well, I'm against teaching sorcery to our kids, right? And it says, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. However, the details of these beliefs have varied considerably over time and space and have flourished in both pre-Christian and Christian cultures. So look, my understanding is elves are basically usually attached to Santa Claus, right? They're Santa's little helpers and everything. They're the magical beings, and they also come from Norse mythology in the Germanic parts of the world, right? My takeaway would be don't watch Lord of the Rings. You say, Brother Suggies, don't you think you're going overboard? Well, the ring actually comes from Norse mythology as well. The name of the character of the ring is Anvarri in Norse mythology. So in this false religion, their sacred books and their folklore, the ring from Lord of the Rings, that actually comes from the ring of Anvarri, which is in Norse mythology. And in the story itself, from my understanding, Loki steals the ring, and then Anvarri curses the ring. And then all of a sudden, he's like the golem. And yes, I watched Lord of the Rings 20 years ago, okay? I'm not saying I've never watched anything that's wrong. I'm just saying now, you know, when you understand the roots of these things, though, these are basically false gods. And so basically, that character, Anvarri, is like golem, right? If you don't know what I'm talking about, praise the Lord, right? But if you know what I'm talking about, then it's just like, you know, golem, who's like obsessed with the ring. Well, that's what I guess Anvarri is in the Norse mythology. And look, the elves and hobbits and that stuff, it comes from Norse mythology. Giants actually comes from like Greek and Roman mythology, but this is all like false gods and false religions. So I would say you shouldn't watch that movie, because you're basically condoning and celebrating those false religions. But what does that have to do with Christmastime? Now, if you have elves in your house, then yeah. If you're, and I hadn't even heard of this until a few days ago, but like, I've never even heard of an elf on a shelf before. Apparently, it's a thing where you like talk to the elf and stuff like that. Yeah, that's weird, right? That's like magic and sorcery, right? It's the same thing as making a wish, you know, to Santa Claus when it's like this is a fake being. It's like, why not pray to God instead of like praying or making a wish to Santa Claus, right? And what we should teach our kids is to bring your request before God. By all means, teach your kids, hey, you live a rotten life, and God's going to curse you in this life, and if you're good, He might give you blessings. Make sure you help them understand it's God. It has nothing to do with Santa Claus, though. Go to Jeremiah chapter 10. Jeremiah 10. Jeremiah 10. Jeremiah 10. This is a church that ruins all of your Hollywood movies, right? The other movie that I did not know this, this one actually really surprised me because the Avengers I knew because Thor, the only character I knew as a kid was Thor because the hammer of Thor. The Lord of the Rings, it makes sense. Once I looked at it, it's like, well, yeah, this mythological stuff anyway. The other movie, and some of you are probably too young to have seen this, but The Mask with Jim Carrey in the 90s, it's actually The Mask of Loki. So that also comes from Norse mythology. And as a kid, you know, I loved the movie. I thought Jim Carrey was hilarious and everything like that. It actually comes from Norse mythology. And I'm sure if he did enough digging, there's probably a lot of Hollywood movies that are based on Norse mythology, Greek mythology, Roman mythology, worshiping false gods, right? That's not something we should be teaching our kids. People talk about the Christmas tree, and this is a big one where they'll say, well, the Christmas tree is sinful. And they're going to go to Jeremiah chapter 10, okay? And let us read this passage. And here's the thing. At our church, I don't think anybody could say that I'm afraid to preach the truth. That idol you make doesn't speak. It must needs be born, meaning you created that idol. You say, Brother Stuckey, do people really do this? Look, you know on YouTube, they'll say recommended videos? I remember one time there was a recommended video where it said, you know, the Hindus were giving a bath to their idol. And I was like, what is this about? And I clicked on it. And literally, they had this idol that was decked with all of this stuff. And they were pouring cow milk on it. And there is a huge crowd. It's like a big festival, I guess. And everyone's like celebrating it. And it's just like idolatry to the tenth degree, right? This is the sort of thing they're talking about because people make idols, and then they'll decorate it and turn it into something. And then they'll pray to it, they'll talk to it, and they'll think that it has some sort of magical powers. The Bible's reminding you, well, it must needs be born. Well, see, God is the beginning. In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning is God. God wasn't born. I mean, physically, Jesus Christ was born here on earth, but Jesus existed from the very beginning. But an idol, you had to create. It doesn't speak to you. It must needs be born. Now, of course, one day, I mean, it's going to be different during the end times where the image is going to talk to you, right? But at this time, I mean, you make an idol, it's not going to talk to you, right? I mean, unless you put batteries in it and basically, you know, it's not going to talk to you, right? The context in Jeremiah 10 is talking about basically idols. Verse number 9, it says, silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workmen and of the hands of the founder. Blue and purple is their clothing. They are all the work of cunning men. But the Lord is the true God. You see how there's a distinction being made between a false God and a true God? If you have a tree in your house, nobody thinks that you're praying to that tree and treating it as a God in 2021 in the Philippines, right? Now, during this time, maybe they would have, right? But during this time in 2021, if you have a tree in your house, nobody thinks that you're praying to that tree and that you believe it's real. The Lord is the true God, the Bible says. And then it says, He is the living God and an everlasting King. At His wrath the earth shall tremble and the nation shall not be able to abide His indignation. And of course, God's the living God. I mean, you cut a tree out in the forest, it's only going to be alive for so long, right? I mean, eventually it's going to die, but God never does die. He's the living God, everlasting, wasn't born, He has always existed. Verse number 11, Thus shall you say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. Verse 14, drop down to verse 14, Every man is brutish in his knowledge, every founder is confounded by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. Do you see how the Bible refers to the graven image, idolatry? That is the context of Jeremiah chapter 10. Basically, people that would have a tree, and whether they choose to carve it into an object or just keep it as a tree and pray to it, it's still idolatry. But having a tree in and of itself, that is not sinful. The context here in Jeremiah 10 is not about a Christmas tree, it's about praying to a tree and basically turning it into a God, which is not what... I hope you're not doing that, right? We have a tree, and you know, we don't pray to it. We put gifts under the tree, stuff like that, we don't pray to the tree, okay? Now, turn your Bible back to Romans 14. Romans 14. Romans 14. Now, from my understanding though, historically speaking, seemingly before the Christians used a Christmas tree to basically, you know, talk about Christmas time and as a tradition, in the old Norse religion, which is in Scandinavia and Germany and those parts of the world, they would basically have a tree and they dedicated it to Odin, or they prayed to the tree like it was Odin, which is their false god, okay? Now, I would say this. If I lived in Scandinavia in the 13th century and people would think that having a tree in your house meant you're worshiping Odin, I probably wouldn't have a tree. I can't point to a verse that would say that would be a sin, but I would say it would be an unwise thing to do because you might destroy your testimony even though you're not doing anything wrong. You understand what I'm saying? I'll give you an example in the modern day, and this is my opinion, you could disagree and that's fine. If I was a missionary in India, I probably would not eat cow meat. Not because I think eating cow meat's a sin. However, I feel like some Hindus wouldn't want to listen to the Gospel, and then some Hindus who got saved, it would probably be a big jump to start eating cow meat, and they might look down on you simply because you're eating cow meat, right? So there are certain things that it's not a sin, but culturally it might not be the wisest thing. Now, I wouldn't stand up and say you're in sin for eating cow meat, though, because I have no Bible verse to say that. I would just say that it would probably not be the wisest thing living in that culture. Now, I like cow meat. I'm glad that that's not a thing here in the Philippines where I have to make a decision, right? I like cow meat. It tastes great. But anyways, but I'm just saying certain things culturally, maybe it's not the wisest thing. I mean, if you lived in that part of the world 800 years ago, maybe it's probably not a wise thing to have a tree because people are going to think that you're basically worshiping Odin. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but here's what I'm saying. Does anybody think in 2021 if you have a tree that you're praying to Odin? Does anybody know? Nobody knew who Odin was until the Avengers came out, right? One of the big things is the Christmas tree. Another thing they mentioned are the colors of green and red they say are pagan colors, okay? They say that green and red represent fertility, and here's what it says. The traditional Christmas colors of red and green are complementary colors that represent fertility. Pagan-derived decorations that are still seen at Christmas time include the green leaves and red berries of holly, mistletoe, and wreaths, okay? So they say, well, you know what? You shouldn't wear green and red this time of year. Well, if it's wrong to wear red this time of year, then it's still wrong in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, or whatever, right? Because maybe red and green this time of year has pagan roots, but let me explain to you an origin far before Norse mythology. How about God that created colors, right? So I think that one's a pretty foolish one. If you're going to take a stand against the Christmas tree, I can sort of see your opinion, but on this one with red and green, like, I think that's absurd because it's not like there's a million colors, right? I mean, there's only a small handful of colors. I mean, do we just have to only wear black or white or something? I think that's getting a little bit ridiculous, okay? Now, I will say that, you know, with some of these things like mistletoe, ivy, holly, wreaths, with mistletoe, that is very associated with Norse mythology as well, and I learned a lot about Norse mythology the last week or two, just preparing the sermon, but apparently mistletoe was used to kill a god in Norse mythology. Loki tricked a god into killing one, and then basically to revive that god from the dead, they basically kissed under mistletoe, which is our tradition of kissing under mistletoe. They do in some parts of the world or whatever. We never had mistletoe growing up, and yes, I'll say that it has pagan roots, and I would not be for non-married people kissing underneath the mistletoe, okay, or at an office party or whatever, but I would say the colors green and red in and of themselves. What is sinful about this? Now, you know why people like green this time of year, though? They like green because it's dark and it's cold and it's snowing, and when you see green, it's like a sign of life. Just inside of you, there's something just intuitively that just kind of makes you excited, makes you feel good, right? I mean, people visit the province, and it's like green, right? I see color. There's plants, right? Whereas many parts here in Metro Manila, you don't necessarily see green, right? You go to the province, it's like, man, there's green, there's color, there's life, right? Well, that's what it's like growing up in a cold climate. We had winter all the time. You have snow on the roads and everything like that. Well, once you start seeing green, it's like a sign of life and hope, and it literally is life when you're seeing green. So during the wintertime when there is no green, people use the color green because it puts them in a better mood, okay? Another thing they mention are Christmas carols. So the history of Christmas carols actually have pagan roots as well. It says this, while the carols we sing for Christmas are undeniably Christian, the tradition itself of going door to door singing to your neighbors comes from another pagan tradition called wassailing. The rather funny word comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase of wassail, translating to good health. So basically, people went from house to house, and when they would do caroling, it was basically a sign to try to give you good luck, because during the wintertime, many people would die during this time of year. It's when people get sick, it's when they get viruses and things like that. So they would sing to basically give good luck. Here's the thing, though. If you sing Christmas carols door to door, you're not doing it to basically, you know, wish good luck to people, right? And they also say you would wish good luck and ward off evil spirits. I don't think anybody thinks that when we sing O Holy Night door to door, we're basically getting rid of evil spirits or basically being like a sorcerer or whatever, some sort of magician. Nobody thinks that in 2021. Now, if we lived in a culture we're singing door to door, people would look down on, I probably wouldn't say it's a good thing to do, because they're going to get the wrong idea no matter what you're singing. But we're not singing the songs they would be singing, right? If you go caroling door to door and sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, what's wrong about singing about the Savior? Absolutely nothing. A couple other ones real quickly, candles also have a tradition in paganism as well, where it says this, early Germanic tribes practiced a similar tree decorating tradition, this time with fruits and candles to honor the god Odin throughout winter solstice. Christians seem to have merged the tree decorating with ornaments, candles, and fruits to make Christmas tree decorating one extravagant tradition. Throughout history, candles have been used to ward off darkness and evil. The first use of candles in December was during the Roman Saturnalia festival, where tall tapers of wax were offered to Saturn as a symbol of his light and also given as a gift to guests. As Christianity became more widespread, candles were put in front of the windows of houses in order to guide Jesus as he went from house to house on Christmas Eve. So they said the candles were put out, and what that did was it would ward off evil spirits from the house. Now I have no doubt that Catholics probably believed that in the past, and probably in the Philippines themselves, using candles are probably something they do in Catholic countries and Catholic parts of the world to basically get rid of evil spirits, you know, this hocus pocus and everything like that. I don't really think though in 2021 that's what people think about candles, right? So if you have a candle in your house, there's nothing inherently sinful about that. Now it could be a bad idea in the culture you live in if that means that you're basically warding off evil spirits. It's going to give them the wrong idea, but there's nothing wrong with a candle in and of itself, okay? And the last one I'll mention real quickly, and there's a lot of different ones you can mention, but the last one is giving gifts they say has pagan origins. And it said that giving gifts was given because it would basically give you good luck. So basically people would give gifts to one another so they'd have good luck and everything. And look, it's sort of understandable that in these parts of the world they would get very worried because you have things like the Black Plague that killed like one-third of Europe. And so many times their diseases would kill a large percentage of people, so they had these sorts of traditions that came up because they're being very superstitious. Here's the thing, though. Nobody thinks when you're giving out a gift in 2021 that it's basically giving them good luck or good fortune or anything like that or has magical powers. That's not what people think in 2021, okay? So look, there's nothing sinful in and of itself of those sorts of traditions. Santa Claus, I would say, is sinful. Elves, I would say, are sinful. Just what is teaching, right? Now you might hear one of these things, maybe you didn't know these, and if one of them you say, Brother Sucky, I didn't know that and I don't feel right about doing that and knowing that, that's perfectly fine. As I said, I'm not trying to persuade you to take my opinion during the sermon. My stance is it doesn't matter what the roots are of it. All I said is I think if you lived in a culture like that it would be wise not to associate. And look, sometimes in a culture there's certain things it might be wise just to adapt what the culture has, right? I'll give you an example. Is there anything sinful about having a coat of many colors? No, I mean, Joseph had a coat of many colors. As a guy in 2021, I'm not going to wear a coat of many colors. You say, why? I don't want people to think I'm a homo, right? That's the reason why, okay? But is there anything wrong with a coat of many colors? Well, absolutely not. I mean, Joseph had a coat of many colors. It's just a color. There's nothing inherently sinful about a color. But at the same time, because of what it associates with now, yeah, I mean, I probably wouldn't wear a coat of many colors in 2021, right? If that's a gift, I got it, and it's just like, well, you know, someone else can wear that. I'm not going to wear that, right? But at the same time, I'm not going to say, well, thus saith the Lord, you're wearing this color, so that's a sin, because there's no Bible verse to say that. There's no color that in and of itself would be sinful to wear, but certain things, depending on what culture you live in, they can adopt certain things. And of course, try to take the customs of that culture if they're not sinful, and try not to go against the customs and make yourself look like you're sinning when you're not, okay? Point number one, we talked about the timing. And as I said, I don't think it matters what day you pick to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and you don't even have to if you don't want to. Number two, we looked at the traditions themselves. I would say determine, is it inherently sinful? Is there something actually sinful about doing something, right? I know in the U.S. growing up, you know, you bake cookies during Christmas. I don't know, maybe that has pagan roots, but there's nothing sinful about baking a cookie. Unless you spike it with alcohol, there's nothing sinful about making a chocolate chip cookie, right? Now, I will say this, that chocolate chip cookies do have a root with Santa Claus to some degree, because, you know, you would basically put out chocolate chip cookies and milk for basically Santa, they would say, but there's still nothing wrong about a chocolate chip cookie. There's nothing wrong with drinking milk on Christmas Eve or Christmas. Now, this is kind of a side point, but my dad, his favorite food is chocolate chip cookies. So I remember growing up, we were taught Santa Claus, but my dad would always say, I think Santa's very hungry this year. I think we need more chocolate chip cookies to put out for him. Maybe another batch of a dozen cookies or whatever, right? But there's nothing inherently sinful about a chocolate chip cookie, even though there's an attachment to Santa. Santa's wrong because he's basically taking the place of God. Chocolate chip cookies, well, there's nothing wrong with that, right? So let's go back to Romans 14. Let's just close up the chapter verse by verse. Romans 14, verse 7. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. The choices we make, they affect other people, so he should think very hard about the decisions we make, right? None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth 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 Lord's. For to this end Christ both died and rose 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 it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And see, the Bible says here, you know, why are you judging your brother about something where you don't have a Bible verse to say they committed to sin? We are all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And look, if some of the traditions I practice on Christmas time, God says I didn't approve them, then I guess I'll lose rewards in heaven, right? But unless somebody points to me a Bible verse that says wearing this color is a sin, then I just don't buy it. I don't feel guilty about wearing this color during Christmas. Now if you do feel guilty, this chapter teaches you should avoid from that custom if you feel like it's wrong. But I personally don't see anything scripturally that would say wearing this color or doing a pink elephant gift exchange or whatever would be a sin, right? Verse number 11. 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 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 esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. So the context going back when it talks about food, if you understand and know that there's nothing wrong about eating any type of meat, it's perfectly fine, then great. But at the same time, you don't want to cause your brother to sin. So if somebody thinks it's wrong, don't try to force him to eat something that he thinks is a sin, right? There are people that think it's wrong to drink caffeine. If that's their opinion, that's fine. That's not the stance I take. That's not what I believe. But if somebody believes that, we don't want to try to force them to drink Coke to fit in with everybody else. Let them do what they want. I mean, let them make their own decision, because you're causing them to sin. Even though drinking Coke I don't believe is a sin, if they think it's a sin and they do it, you're causing them to sin actually, because unless their conscience is clear in that matter, then they're sinning for the action that they actually did. And so it says, but if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest 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. So basically, according to verse 17, it really doesn't matter what you eat and drink. Now, we preach against alcohol, because there's the Bible that says that's a sin, okay? But look, if somebody wants to drink juice or pop or whatever, right? I mean, we're going to have pop later today, and there's people that don't drink pop. They don't want to for their health, or they think it's bad for them or whatever. It's fine. They don't have to drink pop. It's fine to drink water. It's fine to drink whatever, right? And then it says in verse 18, for he that in these things serve with Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith 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. So Paul is very clear in this chapter that there's nothing wrong with whatever you want to eat, whatever you want to drink, various traditions and things like that. Unless there's a Bible verse to say it's a sin, God says it's not wrong. He says all these things are pure. So that is the correct stance. This is not an issue where it's like, we don't know which is right or which are wrong, because Paul tells us what is right. Paul says it's okay to eat pig in 2021, as long as the pig is dead and it's already cooked, things like that, right? But what I'm saying is this. There's nothing wrong in 2021 with eating pig or any of the unclean animals that were in the Old Testament. We've got a whole chapter with Peter where he learns this lesson. Hey, you know what? It's fine, right? What God hath cleansed, don't say is unclean. God says it's okay because those who are a picture of Jesus Christ. And when you understand that, you realize, well, I can eat whatever I want, right? It doesn't matter what foods you eat, according to the Bible. But here's the thing. It's also okay if somebody chooses not to. We don't have to force them to be just like us. It's okay for us to be different. And honestly, when it comes to diet, the Bible mentions diet a lot. And honestly, because people have different diets and they have different styles of eating. There are certain foods that some people don't like to eat, right? I mean, if somebody is on a keto diet, they're probably not going to eat a whole lot of rice, right? They're probably not going to eat a whole lot of bread. Diets like that are not that popular here, where rice is very popular. But in the U.S., it's like many people are on the keto diet, right? Now, I'm not on the keto diet, but I'm also just not that big of a fan of rice, okay? So just to let you know. But anyways, it's okay with whatever you want to eat. There's nothing wrong in and of itself. Verse 21, it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in 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. So kind of the takeaway of this chapter is this, that if you have a stance on something, don't cause a big argument at our church because people have a different opinion than you. It's okay for them to have a different opinion. But also in verse 22, if you have faith, which basically means you know the Scriptures, you know what the Bible says, and you know you're right, you also don't have to prove that you're right. You also don't have to cause somebody else to sin because you're proving how spiritual you are. It's okay if you know in and of yourself that what you're doing is right. Just have it between you and God. Because what the Bible says in verse 23, that if someone doubteth, he is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith. If somebody eats something, and they think it's wrong, but they do it to fit in, they're actually sinning. Even if it's not wrong to eat that. That's what the Bible's teaching here. So what I'm saying is this, if somebody is against one of the Christmas traditions, well here's the thing, don't cause a fight at our church because we're doing a pink elephant gift exchange. Don't cause a fight at our church because the colors are red and green in this section, of the bulletin. Because you're against red and green or whatever. But at the same time, we don't have to try to force somebody to adopt our opinion on something because honestly it doesn't matter to God. The kingdom of God is not meat as it's said, but basically righteousness and holiness and peace and doing what's right. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your word on this topic. Ask you to help us just have a great day today, a great time of fellowship, a great time of soul winning, and a great time just celebrating Christmas. But if people have a different opinion, God it's perfectly fine. Just help us all be persuaded in our own minds and know what the scripture says for ourselves. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 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Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Amen seven ten minute break