Lessons from the Christmas
Story

The 2019 Christmas Convention came to a grand climax yesterday. Many came up to give thanks to God and there was certainly no scarcity when it came to singing and dancing. The speaker for the day was none other than Ps. Ebenezer Agyapong (Resident Pastor). The message for the day was themed “Lessons from the Christmas story”.
Pastor began by stating that there have been many arguments made against the celebration of Christmas and went on to debunk those arguments. He stated that Christmas was not to say that Christ was born in that particular period, but a time to remember and celebrate the birth of Christ.
Speaking on the theme, Ps. Agyapong mentioned that there many lessons that could be learnt from the birth of Christ considering at the natural and supernatural factors of His birth. The first supernatural factor he mentioned was the Word of God. He further stated that God’s word is final and that it was the incarnation of the word of God that brought us Christmas. It was therefore necessary to give attention to the word of God especially in this season.
Ps. Agyapong mentioned that the word can be likened to an egg. In it’s raw form, it looks nothing like a fully grown hen with feathers, bones and other organs. However, when the hen broods over it, it develops into a fully developed chick. This led him to the second supernatural factor which is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit made it possible for the word that was spoken to Mary to actualize. Ps. Agyapong then stated that if you can receive the word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in your life, you can become anything.
He further stated that it was necessary that we developed a relationship with the Holy Spirit. “A relationship with the Holy Spirit is sweet and it brings forth revelation”, he added. He emphasized on the personality of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was a person and He speaks as seen in Acts 13:2 when He asked that Saul and Barnabas be separated for the work He had called them to.
The final supernatural factor he mentioned was the ministry of angels. Ps. Agyapong emphasized that angels played a vital role in the birth of Christ. An angel delivered the message to Mary and and convinced Joseph to stay with Mary even when he was skeptical. An angel was involved in the case of Zachariah and Elizabeth and the shepherds as well. Drawing lessons from this, he mentioned that the spirit realm is very much real and there was the need to partner with a spirit being, in our case, the Holy Spirit. “When you know the Holy Spirit is in you and angels are around you, your fears are disabled”, he added.
Moving away from the supernatural, Ps. Agyapong began to talk about the natural or human factors. He mentioned that we could learn a lot from Joseph considering how he was not willing to disgrace Mary even before the angel appeared to him and even when the angel appeared, he was willing to play the role of the father when he very much knew the child was not his. Drawing lessons from this, Ps Agyapong emphasized that we must be able to celebrate others even when the spotlight is not us.
Mary was the next human factor Ps. Agyapong spoke about. Her role had the potential to cause her much disgrace and ridicule. Despite everything that could come with bearing a child when you were not married, her response was, “let it be unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). Drawing lessons from this, he said God could choose to send us through unfamiliar routes, however like Mary, we should learn to trust and accept God’s will.
Another human factor mentioned was Herod, the King. Herod was 70 years when Jesus was born yet was insecure that he would overthrow him. This pointed to paranoia. Pastor encouraged the congregation to let go off such feelings of insecurity. Herod went on to tell sweet words to the wise men yet had evil intentions. This is another human traiat Pastor believed we can learn from.
The wise men were another factor Ps. Agyapong drew lessons from. The wise men, found Jesus. In this modern day and age, we could refer to them as the very educated yet they found Jesus. This is in direct contrast to the behaviors of the a section of the modern day educated who believe they do not need Jesus. They also listened to the supernatural instruction received and did not go back to Herod. Drawing lessons from this, Pastor mentioned that many have died because they did not listen to God.
The shepherds were the last of the human factors he mentioned. The angels appeared to them and they made haste to see the Lord Jesus Christ. After they had seen him, they went around telling everyone what they had seen. Concluding, Ps. Agyapong mentioned that evangelism is an automatic response to encountering Jesus. Many evangelism conferences keep popping up because people are yet to genuinely encounter Christ, he added.
He led the congregation to pray after the sermon. Indeed, it was a service befitting the last Sunday of 2019! See you on Tuesday for the watchnight service!