We've been thinking about our need to have the explosive power of a new affection for the Lord Jesus Christ.

And as we think about Christmas and the way we celebrate it, I think it's important for us to say,

there are no special holy days now for believers.

Yes, the life of an old covenant Old Testament believer was punctuated by holy days because God's

people had national holidays. Actually, they had a lot of them. But they were religious holy days.

And actually, that's where the word holiday comes from, isn't it? And you probably know that before the Protestant Reformation,

the church had created a whole calendar of holy days, Christmas being one of them. And the

reformers, especially in my own country of Scotland, reacted against that.

It felt the church had been insisting on observations that went beyond Scripture, and sometimes

against Scripture. And so all these special days came to an end, including Christmas.

In fact, when the Scots commissioners went to the Westminster Assembly

in the mid-17th century, the assembly where the famous confession and catechisms were written,

the Scots were appalled to discover that people were not working on Christmas Day. And even

when I was growing up in Scotland, Christmas Day was only a half-day holiday.

Now, I have Christian friends who maintain that old tradition, because Scripture doesn't command us to celebrate Christmas, and therefore they say the church shouldn't.

Sometimes, sadly, I think that can be expressed in a rather mean-spirited and even spiritually

superior way, suggesting that those who do celebrate the incarnation at this time should feel

guilty about doing it.

But there are actually several considerations that have led me to believe that it's legitimate, appropriate and helpful

for us to celebrate Christmas.

One is that the Scripture doesn't tell us that we should have sermons in September on sanctification,

or that the last Sunday in some particular month in the year will be Mission Sunday, or that

...