Scripture: John 11:25-27

Key Words: trusting, believe,

Big Idea:  We are united with our brothers and sisters in Christ because of our believe in Christ Jesus.

What are some of your favorite Christmas movies? One of our family’s favorite Christmas movies is Miracle On 34^th Street.  It is traditionally the first movie we watch in the Advent season.  After we decorate our tree and unpack all our decoration boxes, we have a family move night by the light of the tree and a fire crackling in the fireplace.

Miracle on 34^th Street tells the story of a girl named Susan who does not believe in Santa Claus.  Susan’s mother works at a department store in New York City where she is responsible for holiday productions, like parades, and for hiring a Santa for the store Christmas display.  We meet a character named Kris Kringle.  He is a jolly man with a white beard and a friendly disposition.  As the story progresses, Susan begins to question whether there might be a Santa and if her new friend, Kris, is actually him.  And it’s not just Susan – a lot of people begin to question this and Mr. Kringle ends up having to go to court.  I don’t want to give too much away if you haven’t seen the movie yet, but one of my favorite parts is when people all over the city start to take a stand for Kris.  At the store, in the community, and throughout the entire city, you see people hanging up signs and wearing shirts or buttons that simply say, “I believe.”  One particular scene shows a street full of people from all walks of life cheering together because they all ‘believe’.  Miracle on 34^th Street is a great movie for many reasons, but one is because shows how different people who believe in the same thing can come together with joy exclaiming “I believe!”

Maybe that is part of what makes the Christmas season so unique.  People we don’t know seem to be doing the same things: hustling, bustling, listening to the same music.  We greet neighbors with phrases like “Merry Christmas”, and line up with strangers to take a picture with the jolly old elf.  There is a sense of unity as we all believe in the ‘magic’ of Christmas together.  But the truth is, it doesn’t last.  The decorations are eventually put away, the music changes, life goes back to the way it is the rest of the year.

But here’s the good news: as followers of Christ, we actually get to participate in the true ‘magic’ of Christmas throughout the year. Every week we get to come together with a people from different homes, different backgrounds, and different experiences and we all get to exclaim what we believe together.  We sing, we pray, we confess, we listen.  We are united in what we believe even more than those movie crowds on the streets of New York were united in believing in Santa Claus.  What do we believe?

We have someone even more amazing than Santa Claus to believe in. We have the Father God who is faithful and full of mercy and grace.  We have a Redeemer who made himself nothing and was born as a man that could cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  We have a Holy Spirit who bears witness to us about our Redeemer.  We have truth that will not be packed away with decorations or change like the songs on the radio.  We can trust in our Lord in every season. WE BELIEVE!

The Apostles’ Creed is a great summary of what we believe. Read it together as a family:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; born of the virgin Mary;

suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried.

He descended into hell.*

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the holy catholic** church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

* this phrase represents that Jesus endured the full wrath of God against our sin on the cross, declaring “It is finished.”

** the word “catholic” here does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal, invisible Church of Jesus Christ — all true believers from all times and all places.