All right, I'm going to do what we would see as a topical message this evening. I don't normally do that. This would be the classic definition of a topical message. The title of the message today is the Christmas tree. This time of year is the time of year where we have decorations and a lot of Christmas decorations that you have. And we talked about manger scenes this morning. We're going to talk about Christmas trees tonight. This is being a little bit more of a history lesson. I like history and how things have come about. And a few years back, I read a couple articles, one by Dr. Richard Butcher of the title, an article titled from 2000, Oh Christmas Tree, and a well-documented article and much of what I've received here tonight, I've received from that also. The History Channel in 2013 did an episode called The History of the Christmas Tree in 2013 and also an article on historychannel.com about the same information. And I like to see how traditions kind of creep into some of our holidays. And we'll notice oftentimes it's hard to figure out what comes first, the pagan or the Christian, or did the Christians get it from the pagans, or did the pagans get it from the Christians? It's kind of back and forth. It's about like a few years ago, we talked about the December 25th, and where does that come from, and where we have some of our traditions that we have. We will go to some passages of scripture to draw our attention. And each year in the United States between 35 and 40 million live Christmas trees are bought and decorated in the U.S. alone. Can you imagine all the artificial trees that are added on top of that 40 million Christmas trees in the United States and the department stores and churches? How many are on our platform? All right. At least 10, all right? We have 11 here in this side of the building. How many Christmas trees do you have in your home, all right? We have four in our home and two outside. We were coming back from someone's house last evening and on our way back, we saw several houses in a row and just counted the Christmas trees that we saw. And one house had a Christmas tree in every window in the front of the house. Not a little bitty Christmas tree, a little candle sticking out, but I'm talking about like seven foot Christmas tree, each decorated. There were seven, I believe there were seven windows and seven large Christmas trees inside each of one of those windows in several homes. It was almost like they were trying to outdo themselves with Christmas trees. Christmas trees generally take six to eight years to mature. Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states, including Hawaii and Alaska. 100,000 people are employed during the Christmas season in the industry of Christmas trees. 98% of all Christmas trees are grown on a farm, and more than a million acres of land have been planted for Christmas trees in the United States. 77 million Christmas trees are planted each year. On average, over 2,000 Christmas trees are planted per acre. I went to a nursing home not too long ago and was just on the way from the front door to the back portion of the nursing home to make a visit and I counted 10 Christmas trees from the front door to this individual's room. Christmas trees have become a large part of the Christmas tradition in the world and during this season. The Biltmore House. I wonder how many of you have been to the Biltmore House and you've been during Christmas time. It's a beautiful place to go during Christmas time. Inside the Biltmore House there are 67 hand-decorated Christmas trees. You think that's a lot. Last year, last Christmas, 2023, the White House in D.C., there were decorated 98 Christmas trees lying inside the White House. On top of that, it says there were 14,900 feet of ribbon, over 350 candles, over 33,000 ornaments, over 22,000 bells, 142,000 Christmas lights and 72 classic wreaths. And that's just the White House alone. And so there's a lot of decorations. Where did the Christmas tree tradition come from? When was it established and why was it established? And is it a good tradition to have? Can we use it as a tool? And I believe we can use it as a tool to teach the Christmas story. There's just some history here throughout this. A tradition states that Martin Luther in Germany around the early 1500s began a personal tree during the time of Christmas. Or that he put lights on the Christmas tree. As far as we know there is no documentation on this being true. It's one of those fact or fiction. What is known and documented is that the Christmas tree originated in Germany The earliest documentation of the Christmas tree being used and decorated for Christmas was in a small German town in 1521. 1521 in Germany. By the way, Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis on the door of the Wittenberg Church in 1515, and he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church by the Pope in 1521. A German Lutheran scholar wrote in his memoirs in 1650 that he did not know where the tradition of the Christmas tree came from, but in his opinion, it was childish. That was a hundred years later, his opinion of the Christmas tree. So it could be that Martin Luther started the tradition of the Christmas tree. We don't know, but obviously started in the 1520s during the time of the Reformation. Remember what was the Reformation in the early 1500s? Remember it was a reform to pull back and separate from the Catholic establishment of what was going on in Europe. And it was a rebirth back to the Scriptures, rebirth back to faith in Jesus Christ, Sola Scriptura, Sola Christos, Sola Fideo, Sola Faith. All of this going back, Martin Luther and John Calvin and Swingly, during the Reformation time period, to bring And part of what was going on in Germany as well was the desire to get back to the scriptures in their own language. A strong desire to translate the Bible out of the Latin Vulgate into the German vernacular so that people could hear the Christmas story in their own language. Instead of coming to church and coming to mass and hearing the Christmas recitations from Latin that nobody understood, the common people didn't understand. And the Reformation really pulled about the fact of getting back to the Bible, getting back to the understanding of God's Word. Now it's interesting that during this time, there would be the tradition that would begin in Christian Reformed homes, the tradition of the Christmas tree. So as we see that, we can thank Him, not only for the Reformation, but possibly for the Christmas tree. Now some feel that the Christmas tree is wrong. We shouldn't use those types of decorations. And well, that has a very early root. In fact, I knew some people who felt like it was sacrilege for them to have a Christmas tree in the auditorium or in a church because it was, you know, it was too commercialized and it just didn't belong. But it's just a nice decoration. I mean, we could put, you know, Christmas lights on these little ferns up here and it was the difference in some of those during the time of year, so I understand that. But there is a Christian tradition with the Christmas tree. Interesting enough, you may want to know this, that in 1650 there was opposition to the tradition by many Puritans on Christmas decorations. The earliest record of Christmas tree in America was 1830 by a German community in Pennsylvania. In the New England states, the Puritans and the early settlers during the time of Christmas, they felt was very sacred and solemn. In fact, on the celebration of Christmas Sunday and Christmas Sabbath to the Puritans, their way of celebrating Christmas was that you came into services for four hours long. And you sang, and you were quiet, and you heard the recitation of the Christmas story being read from the Scriptures, and preaching was to be done, and then more preaching, and more preaching, and more preaching. How do you bend a Puritan, all right? In fact, there were laws. William Bradford wrote this, an early pilgrim. Stamp out that pagan mockery. And he did it by penalizing citizens for using decorations in Christmas time. Oliver Cromwell. preached against the heathen, quote, heathen traditions of Christmas carols, Christmas trees, and joyful expressions during this sacred time of year, close quote. You know, I'd like to have been in England during Oliver Qualmer's time. In 1659, the state of Massachusetts, when the state then, the colony of Massachusetts, Bay Colony, of a court of law issued that any observance of December 25th, other than church services, was a penal offense and people were fined for putting out any decorations on their doors. The Puritans would send out their police officers to roam the area during Christmas to make sure everybody was observing Christmas in the proper way. No lights, no wreaths, no trees, no Christmas carols. Just wear your black and come to church. Interesting enough in the early Puritan mindset. Teddy Roosevelt, the early 1900s as president, banned the Christmas tree in the White House. He did it for environmental reasons. All right. It was really not until 1846 that the Christmas tree became accepted by the populace, especially among Christians. When Queen Victoria and her German prince husband, Albert, brought the tradition of the Christmas tree into the home and it was accepted worldwide. A sketch of the royal family standing in front of a large Christmas tree was drawn in an illustrated London News. This was viewed and sent out by the world, and when it was finally, in 1846, acceptable to have a Christmas tree. Now my dad is part, he loves parties, he loves birthdays, he loves Christmas, he loves Thanksgiving. My mom's a little bit more of a Grinch. She doesn't like as much the decorations. Her idea of wrapping presents is putting it in a Walmart bag and throwing it under the tree. My dad loves bows. He would buy the bows that you'd put on, you know, the thing. And we'd find them, we'd take them off and swap them around with different presents and things like that, along with putting G.I. Joes in the manger scene and all kinds of things. But my dad loved to decorate. He loves parties. He loves birthdays. bringing the hats out and decorating the table. My wife is similar in that way, where she loves the birthday hats and pull them out and the noise things and having a party. We had a birthday party last night at the Craig's house with one of their little ones celebrating their birthday. It's fun. Those are special times of year. Decorating with banners and signs and cakes and candles. You know Christmas is someone's birthday? You think about that? I mean, it's the time of year. We can argue about when and is it 25th? Was it in spring? Was it in December? There are scholars that differ. But did you know that even though December 25th wasn't established officially until Constantine in about 350 or 325 AD, did you know we have record? And I read last year, Dr. Kevin Bowder wrote in an article about the celebration of the Incarnation, that we have 150 years back in 150 A.D. after Christ was born. We already know that the early Christians in the church had a time of celebrating the Incarnation at a specific time of year. Now we don't know what that specific time of year was that early, but we know they celebrated one time of year, the birthday of Jesus. Going back to 150 A.D. So maybe it wasn't officially established until December 25th, a couple hundred years later, Christians have been celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, they celebrated Easter as well. We know they did that. That's recorded for us in the Scripture as well. But they also celebrated His birth. And that's interesting by the fact that it's Jesus' birth. Christians ought to get together and celebrate the incarnation. And why not bring out the balloons? Why not bring out the candles? Why not bring... We do that for our celebrations, why don't we do it for His? It's a good time of year every year to worship the celebration of Jesus' birthday. It just happens to be December 25th. and has been set at that for a very long time. There's no reason to balk at it and change it to a different date. Just enjoy it. But how should we enjoy it? The Christmas tree, I believe, can be a part of the way we celebrate the birth of our Savior. If you'll just follow with me, the symbol and the connection that we would put along with some history about how this tradition came about. Ways in which Christmas tree can remind us of the birth of Christ. First of all, we can remember that the Christmas tree can remind us of the ultimate tree that Jesus died on. We turn back to Galatians chapter 3. If you're sitting around maybe a good devotion for your children or your grandchildren, is just to bring out. You don't have to do it this long and go into all the history that I kind of enjoy connected with it. But you can use it as a tool to teach the Christmas story. We sang just earlier, born to die upon Calvary. The reason Jesus came is He came to suffer and die upon a cross. that was recorded for us in the Scripture. And Paul says in Galatians 3 in verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a what? A tree. That's quoted from Deuteronomy 21, 23. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt upon a tree, the cross. Turn over to 1 Peter, that's what Paul says about the cross. What does Peter say about the tree and the cross in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 24? Verse 23 says, who he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not. Who has committed himself to him that judges righteously, submitting and surrendering himself under the will of the power of the Father himself. who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the what? On the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes we are healed. Quoting Isaiah in this passage of scripture. Jesus hung on a tree and his body was broken upon a tree and he gave himself for our sins upon a tree. And so during this time of year we can celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ with the recognition that his birth brought to us redemption because of his death upon the cross. One of the things that I just mentioned that didn't take it from the passage in Revelation chapter 12 But one of the articles that I believe that we could probably also incorporate in our manger scene to complete the story is a cross. In Sparta, when we set out, someone had made a wooden manger with some straw in it, and we would set it out in front of the church and put some lights on it, and someone made a wooden cross, and we put the manger scene with the straw coming off, and then behind it with a light that was shining, it reflected on the front of the building, this giant cross, and there you had the picture of the reason Jesus came into this world, to suffer and die upon a tree. That's the meaning of what Jesus came to do. And what a wonderful Christmas reminder this holiday, this birthday celebration, that Jesus came and he died upon a tree. Jesus came to be a curse for us. He took my curse upon his shoulders and it is through his stripes that we are healed. In the 11th century, this is the Middle Ages, there were religious plays that were called mystery plays. They were popular throughout Europe. Remember, this is a time where theater was a major part of how people would learn. They were highly illiterate during the Middle Ages, and so they would learn things by acting, and oftentimes there would be comedies. Shakespeare would later on come out of some of this. But during the Middle Ages, these plays that were often told, mystery plays, they were performed sometimes in churches. What we would see, maybe a pageant. or they were done in outdoor courts. These plays were designed for religious depictions, telling the story of the Bible, much like what we would see as acting out a story in front of the people to tell them about the Bible and the Scripture. The most popular of those mystery plays in the 11th century was called the Paradise Play. This play told the creation story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It was a play set from Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. It was told that Adam and Eve were in there, they were characters in this play. Sin would be taught in this play as well as their banishment from the garden and from the paradise. The play would end with a promise of the coming Savior at His incarnation. The play was simple and the only prop that was used for this play was in the center of the platform, an evergreen tree was used on the stage. This was called the paradise tree. It was a tree that was adorned with apples. And in during the major section of the play, Adam and Eve, the characters would walk up to the center of this tree. And there they would pluck an apple off of the tree. and they would take it and eat it. This tree was a tree of death and sin. In the early 1500s, the Catholic Church actually forbade the mystery plays because they saw abuses that had crept in and were teaching people different things than what they wanted to be taught. According to the Eastern Orthodox Church, December 24th was the Feast of Adam and Eve, It was during this time in Germany that many Christians began to set up for themselves their own trees. It could be that this paradise tree, which had been banished by the Roman Catholic Church, was now being decorated with apples inside someone's home and not on stage. In fact, in 1603 in Germany, we have a record that those who decorated their trees decorated them with red apples. Could be. The Christmas tree does remind us that the ultimate tree that our Savior suffered, bled, and died upon. The Christmas tree can also remind us of the gift of life. You say, well, where do you get that at? Well, Christmas trees have always been evergreen trees. Spruces, pines, firs, frasiers, eastern white pine, Virginia pine, red cedar, cypress trees, all of these are very famous trees that are used throughout for Christmas trees. They're evergreen trees. Now these are trees during the darkest and coldest times of the year that still stay healthy and alive. Go out to the back and look at your nice, beautiful cedar tree right now. Or not cedar tree. It's with the acorn tree or one of the oak trees. There you go, an oak tree. And they're dead. Their leaves are gone. They're dormant, what we would see. but it's the evergreen trees that are consistent throughout the winter season. They display a life still in the coldest time. In the northern hemisphere, the shortest day and the longest night falls on December 21st or 22nd. This is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, and many others believed that it was during this time of year, those who worship the sun and the moon, that the sun god was sick. And, you know, he couldn't get out of bed. And so that's why he had a hard time, you know, coming up. This is where they come. The sun was sick and weak. And they would celebrate the winter solstice because now it was the time of year that the sun would now be awakened. and would come back, they would celebrate the winter solstice because this was the time that things would start to get better. It was during this time of year that evergreen trees were set up as a representation of triumph over death, winter and darkness. The ancient Druids and the Vikings believed that the evergreen tree was a symbol of life and was given to them by the gods. It's interesting that even in ancient traditions going back far before Christ was ever born that the evergreen tree was seen as a symbol of life in a time of death. Evergreen is what we give it because it's consistent. It's green all year around. Now some of those, you know, leaves and needles begin to change, that's true. The truth about Christmas and the reason that we have evergreens is because it's the only tree this time of year that we can cut down and looks nice on the inside, just practical. Could it be that the Christmas tree is a symbol of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world so that we might have life as well? John 3.16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Matthew 1 and verse 21, in the promise that is given to Mary and to Joseph, saying that He will save His people from their sins. He will be a Savior. He will bring life in the spirit in the time of darkness and death. John 11, 25, Jesus said to Mary and Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. And whosoever believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth in me shall never die. Do you believe this, Martha? Do you believe this, Mary? Jesus is teaching that He came to this world, born to die for our sins, but on the third day on that Easter resurrection, He came out alive, a conqueror, a victor over death, hell, and the grave. And He has given us life in a time of darkness, and in a time of a curse, in the time of sin, in a time of winter. He's brought new life all year round for all eternity to those who look to Jesus as the reason for the season. My dad told the story that when he was young, during the 50s and 60s, they started celebrating Christmas, not through Christmas trees, but artificial Christmas trees. And one year they had a silver tree. He had the gold tree and silver tree was fake, obviously. And he said that was just a really big deal. They bought this silver tree, you know, and it was kind of a, you know, a big thing, probably to go with his silver suit that he wore, I don't know, in that time frame. Do you remember in 1965 Charles Schwartz made popular Charlie Brown's Christmas? And you remember in the story of Charlie Brown's Christmas, he goes down to the Christmas tree farm and he sees all the silver and red and blue and gold trees decorated all around. And right in the middle, he finds this puny little tree. Remember the whole story? And he brings it out and brings it to the play and brings it in and sets it before them. And you remember he's laughed at because this puny, little tree right in front of instead of picking the more glamorous silver trees or the beautiful trees. And it's interesting that the metaphor that was given in that story is clear and plain even to this day. In fact, the story itself, one of the classic Christmas cartoons that would quote Luke right in the middle of the story, the true reason of Christmas. Try to put that in our woke environment today. Probably got to put some kind of disclaimer in front of it saying, somebody may be offended. The gospel is preached in this cartoon. In fact, I had an article that I found from a pastor who wrote, who read an article about Charlie Brown's Christmas. He said, what, this person wrote it with a critique. What could possibly be wrong? A story about that with a scripture and the true meaning, the singing of heart, the herald angels sing and Christ is born in Bethlehem. It turns out that he says the author of this story didn't like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree at all. He complained that it was a sellout for commercialism, the very thing that the show is complaining about. He conceded, he says this, this is a secular author who's writing about the meaning of the Charlie Brown story. You couldn't ask for a better metaphor For a child born unto a carpenter in the humble surroundings of a manger, who would grow up to bear the sins of many, than a tiny, underappreciated sapling, unable to support even a single crimson ball. The author here laments that when the Peanuts gang pretties the tree up in a standard Christmas tree covered in garlands and bright lights, He quotes, they took the perfect metaphor of the meaning of Christmas and made it into a more commercialized meaning. That was the part where you remember he goes out, he comes back. But listen to what Schultz's meaning in that story. He said, I agree with the anonymous writer that the bent over Christmas tree was the perfect metaphor for Jesus, who incidentally wasn't the son of a carpenter, but was the son of God. However, I think he misses the real symbolism that Schultz, a Christian, intended for the tree. When Charlie Brown puts the famous bulb on the tree and it bends over, he exclaims, I've killed it! And he leaves the room. When he comes back, it has been transformed into a beautiful thing. Doesn't that remind you of exactly what happened to Jesus? Who came into this world, according to Isaiah 53 in verse 3, was despised and rejected of men. The meaning that he died on the cross, a tree. And Isaiah 53 11 says, after the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of his life and be satisfied. What Charles Schultz really did was properly connecting Christmas with Easter. Jesus was born to die for our sins and rise again. And when Lioness says, that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. The Charlie Brown Christmas tree is really a resurrection tree. A masterful stroke where Schultz told the story of Jesus and what will happen to believers on Judgment Day when they put their faith and trust in Christ. I believe all of that? I don't necessarily know. But I do know he meant symbolism and metaphor in the story itself. And if you look hard enough, you can understand that all the commercialization about the giving of gifts and the Christmas is all about this and all about the glamour of this. And it all pulls our attention away from the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus came into this world to suffer and die upon the cross to give us life. to give us life. And then last year, the Christmas tree reminds us of the light. The light that was brought into the world. The first Christmas trees were decorated with many different ornaments and different things. I remember one year we put popcorn on our tree. What are the different things you put on your tree? One year we put icicles, you know, you bought those little things and you put them on and you grabbed them and we had these things and we would throw them on the tree and they would hang on and look like a piece of trash. But that was just what was decorated that year, you know. One year we put bows, we put ribbon. One year my dad put all red balls on the tree, red and blue balls. He wanted to color coordinate it. Some of you did do different ones. And we had garland. You remember those long garland that you would use then? They were silver and you would wrap them around the tree and that was part of a decoration. a lot of different kind. The first Christmas tree in Germany that was decorated that we have on record was Strasbourg, Germany, recorded in 1605 by an unnamed resident. This person recorded, quote, there were fir trees in the parlors, hanging there on were roses cut of many colors of paper, apples, wafers, gold foil, and sweets. One writer in 1650 stated this, they're hanged upon the trees, dolls and sweets. Some of you say, well, that sounds like a good thing. We should put sweets on our tree. That way every morning we can just go and, you know, get some, you know, Krispy Kreme donuts, all right? Different people decorate their trees differently. But one thing seems to always be similar in the tradition of the decoration of the Christmas tree, lights. It was stated by tradition that Martin Luther was walking towards home one winter while writing a sermon, he saw the stars twinkling against the backdrop of the evergreen trees outside of town. To try and recapture that scene, he brought an evergreen tree into his home during the Christmas season and put candles and set them on the branches. It was Thomas Edison's assistant that first came up with the electric lights to put on the Christmas tree. I'm reminded that as we look at our Christmas tree, the lights from the tree that show forth both the star on the top and the lights that are around. The star reminds us obviously of the Matthew 2 story of the star that was shining that the wise men followed. That prophecy of the star in Numbers 24 and verse 17, of the star of Jacob that would come. And most of the trees, a Christian type tree, would either have an angel or a star on the top reminding us of that Christmas star that ultimately pointed them to the Savior. And then we also understand that Jesus is the light of the world. A lot of traditions and things that we put in have meanings and double meanings and symbols that point us back. But Luke 2 and verse 32 in the prophecy of Simeon, I believe as Jesus is brought to the temple, he said this, he will be a light to lighten the Gentiles. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 4 says that men are in darkness, blinded by the God of this world to blind us. 1 John 1.7 said, but if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And Jesus said in Matthew 5.14, we are the light of the world. We are to be a light during this Christmas season to share to the world from our hearts the message of Jesus Christ. Going all the way back to the late Middle Ages on December 25th, a large candle called the Christmas light was lit on Christmas Eve. In Germany, many smaller candles were placed on wooden pyramids and lit, symbolizing Jesus as the light of the world. These Christmas pyramids were used as decorations in the German homes, traditionally for Jesus as the light of the world. It sees that this tradition, which can be dated back before the Christmas tree, was taken and added to the Christmas tree and slowly the wooden pyramids began to disappear for the more modern Christmas tradition. You can still go to Germany today or if you want to travel down to Coleman and see a little German town, they have one of those Christmas lighted pyramids that's standing in the middle of the Christmas market. of several Christmas stores in Germany that we went to that you can see these, you can buy these. They were candles that would oftentimes have a fan at the top and they would turn around and this little pyramid with oftentimes characters that are around them, they make them small and they would make them big as well. Even though we can still see these German wooden candles for decorations like pyramids, we saw one of, I saw one of these in Germany and a few of the shops But it seems clear that the tradition of lighting the tree was a symbol of Jesus as the light of the world going back even before the Reformation. Remember I told you and introduced the paradise tree in that mystery play set around Adam and Eve and the story of good and evil and obedience. And that possibly that Christmas tree was brought into out of that play and into people's homes that it was banished by the Roman Catholic Church. This tree was also connected to the tree of life in the creation story. It has been thought that this tradition of the paradise tree in the Christmas light or the Christmas candle may be connected. A star was placed on top. Apples were placed around and replaced with now tinsel balls and candy. The tree was put up on the Christmas Eve and gifts and German sweets were put under the branches. This became known as Tannenbaum. Do you have a Christmas tree in your home? I think it's a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Set up a tree, put the characters on it, put a light on it, put some stars on it. And during this Christmas season, maybe on Christmas Eve, stop. and with your children and your family, use that opportunity to worship the birthday of the king. It should be more than just a tree to us, it should be a reminder for us of the reason that Jesus came into this world. What a wonderful time of year to share the good news of the gospel. And if we can use tools to teach our children, very much like the Jewish people did, and many early Christians would use tools to point their children and their family story of Jesus Christ. The example for us, maybe just practically, is learning to use these traditions and help us take these traditions out of the commercialization and the abuse that oftentimes happen in a world that incorporates all of these other things and let's Let's kind of take some of these Christian traditions back. Maybe they're not in the Bible, but we can take them back and explain what for hundreds of years, in some cases, a couple thousand years, or at least 1,500 years, for some of these situations that have been tools to teach the gospel for many generations. Could we possibly continue some of these traditions and not get away from teaching the truth? Father, I praise you. Help us as we close tonight. Lord, thank you for the tools that we often have to point people to the truth. Yes, we've got baptism as an ordinance and we've got the Lord's table that is set for us as a command that as often as we do this, we do it in remembrance of you. But there are other traditions that have come about that aren't in and of themselves necessarily wrong. You don't have to be like the Puritans. But we can come together and use these decorations and these opportunities, even this time of year, to teach the message and maybe take back in some way that's been sabotaged by a marketing, money-making, anti-God society that would love things to be more about Jingle Bells and Frosty and Rudolph than about Jesus and shepherds and wise men. And Lord, help us to, as Christians, to do things that honor you and to point to Jesus Christ. I thank you for the opportunity that we have in this country to celebrate a reason of the season freely and not be afraid of being attacked or abused like some Christians are in the Middle East and in China, North Korea. We are thankful for the opportunity that we can celebrate with family openly and share that message with others. And Lord, I pray that in the next few weeks, as we come together, both from a church side and from families, that as we get together, we would share the true meaning of Christmas. In Jesus' name that we pray.