Whose birthday is it?

from my message on Christmas Eve, 2012, from Luke 2:1-20

We are celebrating a birthday tonight?  Is is the birthday of Santa Claus? (NOO!!)  Is it the birthday of Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer?  (NOOOO!!)  Is it the birthday of Frosty the Snowman?  (NOOOOO!!)  Well, who's birthday is it?  (It's Jesus' birthday!!)

Ok, then let's sing that "Happy Birthday" song.  (Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Jesus, Happy Birthday to you)

Thanksgiving holiday was coming up.  The teacher of the pre-school Sunday School class was trying to teach about this holiday.  She wanted to be playful in her style, so she said, "Let's see Thanksgiving.  That's the day when we think about all the stuff we have and how we want more than anyone else has and how we don't care about anyone else but ourselves and..."
"No!" the kids started to yell.  "NOOO!!!"
Then one little boy announced, "That's not Thanksgiving, Miss Michelle.  That's Christmas!"

I know we think that Christmas is our birthday, but whose is it?  (It's Jesus' birthday.) 

What else do you have at a birthday party?  You have presents, right?  Well, tonight we are going to offer gifts to Jesus.  How do we do that today?  We are going to take an offering for our mission home in San Antonio that works with mothers and young babies and families that want to adopt these babies.  Because whose birthday is it?  (It's Jesus' birthday)

What else do you have at a birthday party?  You have cake, right?  Well, tonight we are going to have the sacrament of communion, some bread and grape juice.  And because it is Jesus birthday, everyone is welcome, even little children.

A group of first graders got together and decided to write their own version of the nativity.  It was more modern than the traditional dama.  Oh, there was the familiar cast members:  Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, the star, the angel.  But Mary was nowhere to be seen.  Suddenly, some loud moans could be heard from behind the bales of hay. Evidently, Mary was about to give birth.  Soon, the doctor arrived, complete with white coat and stethoscope.  Joseph, with a look of relief on his face, took the doctor straight to Mary.  Then he started pacing.  After a few moments, the "doctor" came out with a big smile upon his face.  "Congratulations, Joseph," he said, "It's a God."

Whose birthday is it?  It's Jesus' birthday.  A God born a human being like us.

What else do you have at a birthday party?  You have candles, right?  Well, we are going to have candles too.  We are going to watch as this whole room fills with the light of Christ. When we blow them out, we are going to be the light of Christ in the world.  It's Jesus' birthday, and we are going to keep telling the world that until He comes again.

Whose birthday is it?  (It's Jesus' birthday)