Psalm 24; Matthew 24: 36-44

Bizarre requests come from people who make out their wills. One woman in New York left a very strange will and a sizeable estate. She bequeathed everything "To God." Attorneys set about with the details. To begin the proceedings they filed the case naming God as the "party of the first part." The court sent out summons issued to God, as though these papers could be served. You know the press and media had fun with it. After all the steps were taken, the final report to the court read, "After due and diligent search, God cannot be found in New York City."

Some people still believe that He cannot be found there. In fact, it takes some doing to find Him there or anywhere. That has been so from the beginning of history. Just ask Noah. He was part of a pretty sinful culture. God? Where was God? He was with Noah building an ark. He led a young couple to Bethlehem to register for the census so many years ago. There is a painting by artist Jan Breughel. He captured on canvas a large mass of people converging on Bethlehem. A line to register as the law required, seemed endless. Your first impression of the painting: people everywhere! But look closely in the lower right hand corner. We see Mary and Joseph, seeking a place to stay.

It’s easy to overlook Noah or Joseph and Mary. We have to look hard to find them, because their part seems so insignificant to the larger events. They get lost in the shuffle of the crowd. They seem only swept along by events. They do not seem to be significant players at all. Follow the news today. We want to be near the so-called "movers and shakers" of our world. But if we do not know where to look for God, we are likely to miss Him completely. Even at Christmas!

Many will miss Christmas again this year. Oh, they’ll celebrate. They will have a tree, even Santa may show up. They will join others in shopping like those flesh-eating fish piranhas. But they will not get their Christmas cheer where God is, but other places: a bottle, a diamond, a new car. Soon a piece of paper from the credit card company will tell them what they must pay for that kind of Christmas. So close...let’s be sure we know where to look. Some look for God at the annual Christmas pageant. They have their own energy and, of course, those mistakes. Four children walk onto the church stage with each child carrying one letter to spell, "Noel," of course it gets reversed: "Leon."

We can get Christmas backwards. It happened the first time. The leaders did not have a clue to the event unfolding before them. The world was trembling, waiting with hope, for some great event to happen. But what? When? Where? I would probably be with the crowds, not paying attention, just trying to get registered and get back home. We need to develop our eyes to see - to hear, and to respond! Look in the right places - be gripped by Christ at Christmas! Where do we begin to look for God? And how?

Where to look? Our Bible!. How to look? Through the cross of Christ. With that point of view, consider The First Christmas, the Next Christmas, and This Christmas. What difference will it make? You have to come to your own conclusion. I believe that if you look in the right place, you might surprise youself with Christ at Christmas today!

We must look back through the cross of Christ. Part of Psalm 24 became our call to worship. We read this Psalm on Palm Sunday, as well as Christmas. Hear the cry of one writer who has seen the majesty, the glory of God: "Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong,.. mighty..in battle!...The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory!"

Look through the cross and gratitude overwhelms us. We begin to understand WE ARE REDEEMED FROM OUR SIN, only as we know for certain that the figure on the cross was truly God-become-man - IMMANUEL!

Through the cross We become gripped by the truth GOD RAISED JESUS FROM THE GRAVE IS TRUE... IMMORTAL GOD BECAME HUMAN - AND CONQUERED THE DARK TERROR OF DEATH!

Look through the cross and you will rejoice that Jesus Christ ASCENDED BACK TO HEAVEN....God who lived with us, will take us to be with Him, if we love Him!

We know the people almost totally missed His first coming. The high and mighty had gotten it all backwards. God slipped in unnoticed to change the whole world...and the order of things. Oh yes, God came in full glory, with angelic choirs and a star. But He came, you might say, in street clothes. Bethlehem? Yes! That was God’s way!

We look back to Christmas with grateful hearts. We celebrate His first Advent, "Joie Noel," and "Feliz Navidad." God made an irreversible decision to become a man. We are gripped by the wonder that God visited His planet as ONE OF US! God and men and women are forever joined together. This same Jesus promised to return.

There might not be a next Christmas. Not a pleasant thought today, is it? For some it might be a blessing - no more Christmas bills. But our Bible guides us once more to consider our Lord and His mark on our lives.

We meet Jesus talking with His disciples. They must have been puzzled with it all. But Jesus wanted them above all to STAY ALERT! When Jesus lived, they did not have a party for His birthday. They wanted to know how the world will turn out. Jesus only pointed to Noah and his family. They lived in a world concerned only about themselves and forgot God. But Noah kept God in his heart and life. He found favor in the eyes of the Lord. You could find Noah working with God, building an ark. What a laugh he must have been to the people. But when the rains finally came, no one was laughing.

Jesus described life in the day of Noah almost like the 21^st century. Except for our own inventions, we are not much different from the people in the days of Noah. Our lives are filled with all sorts of activities and distractions. "They did not understand until the flood came and took them all away..." (39). They were not paying attention. They were not looking for God. Stay alert. Heads up, people!

Two men in a field, one will be taken and one will be left; two women grinding at a mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Jesus is not talking about the so-called Rapture of the Church so many long for. He spoke of judgment. If we will not look for God...if we will not listen for His voice, we will be taken out of the way. His warns us to keep alert.

Because of the first Christmas, He gave us our dignity to be men and women, boys and girls. We accept ourselves LOVED AND FORGIVEN! That is straight from God our Father! Let’s face it. Dignity is in pretty short demand. Greed and violence, lust and envy, power and prejudice mark the landscape of human history. Today...we are technological giants and moral midgets. But right into the heart of all this, Immanuel, Jesus, came to save and give us dignity to serve Him!

Remember, church is not the place where you are told how bad you are...but how great God is! He is great enough to see our mess and still come with outstretched hands of love. We love Him and serve Him each day, or until He returns! Let’s not miss His Second Coming. But that is the struggle. We suffer here. We don’t do a good job looking for Him to return very soon.

The next Christmas might not arrive, because our Lord, the King of glory has come back!

My challenge: be alert to look for where God is and what He is doing! Join Him! Then, it will not matter about the next Christmas. If He comes back before, we are ready! Only those people who pursue God with a passion will enjoy the blessings He has for us!

Let’s have a great Christmas today! But to do this...to have the best ever, let me challenge you to expand your view of God. One Sunday school teacher instructed her class to count the stars, to see if they might grasp the joy of that special star of Jesus.

The children returned the next Sunday with their "counts": from 149 to ge-zillians! But Bobby reported he counted only "three." "But, Bobby, how is it you saw so few stars?" "Well, teacher, our backyard is very small." That is our problem, too. The backyard of our life experience is too small for what God wants to show us. Few people have the great expectant joy of seeing Jesus come to us. We get side-tracked with gifts we hope will be wonderful and useful. Our faith is too puny. We need the sense of expectancy! Be bold to see signs of His soon coming as we are gripped by Christ at Christmas today!

Let’s expand our view. Because of the cross of Christ, we can look and find God all over the place. Look for God in Israel. Palestinians throw rocks and are hurled back by rubber and real bullets. No matter which side you find yourself, it is the longing for freedom and a future to live a full life in peace. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Look for God in our election of President. Pray that our next leader will move forward and help to bring the justice of God to our nation and those around us.

Look for God here in Russellville, Pray that God will lead us to be more generous with our abundance right here. Become His hands to offer food, toys and to pay some utility bills. One doctor caught the idea: he gave free medical attention one day to the desperate.

Look for God in your own life, in your own home, and watch Him work through you in marvelous ways!

The first Christmas breaks in our lives with the truth that God became one of us...died for us, raised for us, will receive us to Himself. The next Christmas may not come...but we will be ready! This Christmas we can shout with the Psalmist...

Lift up your heads, everyone! THE KING OF GLORY HAS COME IN!