Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO Why Christmas? Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA December 21, 2003 The Fourth Sunday in Advent All of us have questions: "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" Today I'm posing another important question: "Why did Jesus come to earth?" Or, "Why Christmas?" In the Scriptures, we find three specific reasons that God sent His son into the world:* 1) To correct misconceptions about God. One of the biggest problems in the world is that people have distorted views of God. Colossians 1:15 says Jesus Christ is "the visible expression of the invisible God." We cannot have a clear understanding of the character and nature of God unless we look at Jesus. Jesus came to show us what God is like. 2) To express God's love. God loves us -- and He wants us to know it. It is true that "Jesus is the reason for the season," but it's just as true that you are the reason for the season. God sent Jesus into this world for your benefit and mine. He came not only tell us of His love for us, but to demonstrate that love in clear and unambiguous terms. 3) To reconcile us to God. Because God loves us, He desires a relationship with us. There is an obstacle to that relationship, described in Isaiah 59:1-2. We are separated from God because of sin. God made you so He could love you, and have you live with Him forever in an intimate relationship. Your sin made that impossible. So God came to this earth -- in the person of Jesus Christ -- to die for your sins. Through Jesus you can be reconciled to God and live as a member of His family. This is God's Christmas gift -- offered to you and to everyone: a relationship with Him, made possible through Jesus Christ. So then, "Why Christmas?" Because: > God wants you to know the truth about Him; > He wants you know how much He loves you; > He wants a relationship with you.   Supporting texts: John 1:18 | John 14:9 | Colossians 1:13-15 | Hebrews 1:1-3 | Ephesians 3:18-19 | John 3:16 | 1 John 4:9-10 | Romans 5:8 | Isaiah 59:1-2 | Genesis 2:25, 3:6-10 | Ephesians 1:5 *The outline of this sermon mirrors Rick Warren's 2002 Christmas sermon, The Purpose of Christmas. Rick is the pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. His outline is used with permission. A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of this sermon is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 031221a: Why Christmas? © 2003 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us