HER FAITH INSPIRES Ep 265 The reason for Advent and why Christmas isn’t pagan

Season: 10 Episode: 150

Listen to episode 146 in Spanish:

Summary:

This time of year you’ll hear Christians argue that Christmas is pagan and shouldn’t be celebrated. In this first Christmas episode of the season, we talk about why everyone should celebrate Advent. Advent means the arrival of a notable person and no matter if you think Christmas is pagan or not, the birth of Christ is a historical event that ought to be celebrated. We dive into what Immanuel, God with us means for us today and the new Advent study on the website that will lead you through the anticipation, declaration, and expectation of Immanuel, God with us.

Get the Advent Study Here 👇🏻

Shandafulbright.com/shop

Hey guys! Merry Christmas. I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and you’re getting ready for the Christmas season. This is my favorite time of year because I love celebrating Christmas, the cozy fires, the Hallmark movies, and decorating my house for Christmas. But it also means I get to focus on Christ and Christmas theology on my podcast, and I really love to bring these conversations into your earbuds this time of year. 

These episodes might be a bit shorter because I want to focus on a few points and then leave you to think about them, but either way I hope they edify you – the listener and help us all focus on Christ this season.

Advent Study

Speaking of advent, my 25 day Advent study is now available in the shop. You might be wondering what an advent study is and the good news is we’re going to talk about all of that today. This advent study is called Immanuel, God with us. It is my favorite saying (for a lack of better expression) at Christmas. When you stop and reflect on the fact that God came down to be with His creation – just like He did in the garden – it brings a whole new focus and meaning to the way we celebrate Christmas. So in this advent study we go through an inductive bible study method of reflecting on Christ through the anticipation of Immanuel, God with us, the declaration of Immanuel, God with us, and the expectation of Immanuel, God with us. I’ll get into that a little more during this episode and tell you the significance of all of that. To get the study, go to shandafulbright.com/shop and purchase either the hard copy or the digital download. 

A few things we’re going to discuss today are: 

1. Is Christmas pagan and what if someone tells me it is?
2. What îș advent?
3. How to keep Christ at the center this season.

Is Christams pagan? 

1. No. We know it’s not because Christ’s birth is a real event in history. 
2. How you celebrate it might have nothing to do with Christ. But does that mean you can’t celebrate Christmas? No.

a. Christmas tree

b. Lights

c. Presents 

d. None of these are inherently bad. 

3. December 25th isn’t Jesus’ actual birthday. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate Immanuel, God with us. We can acknowledge that God in the flesh came down to earth without it being His actual birthday. I don’t think Jesus is mad about that. 

4. Just because Christ’s birth wasn’t celebrated and declared a day of recognition until years after His resurrection doesn’t mean that it’s pagan. Christianity also wasn’t a recognized religion while Christ walked the earth, yet here we are. It’s not about how it came to be; it’s about why you celebrate it. 

5. I have a blog post on my site about this and I go into more detail. You can find it at the link in the show notes or go to shandafulbright.com and read it. 

6. Discussion that comes up every year just like Halloween. Although I think the Christmas bering pagan debate is more lame than the Halloween debate. 

If you don’t celebrate Christmas, celebrate advent. 

1. What is advent: the arrival of a notable person. The advent season is celebrating the arrival of Christ – or Immanuel, God with us. 
2. This is something to celebrate. Christianity is the only religion where God came to man. Every other religion is man trying to earn his way to God. Advent helps us reflect on that.
3. Advent is Christ only. It isn’t trees, presents, or twinkling lights. The focus is on Christ alone. It helps us fix our eyes on Jesus and what He did for us. 
4. The reason I titled my advent study (notice it’s not a devotional) Immanuel, God with us, is because this is truly a wonder. Back in Genesis, God was with man. Our sin separated us from Him. Because we sinned, we could no longer dwell in His presence. But God did not have to take on flesh in the garden because we didn’t need Him to identify with our weaknesses and die for our sins. But when we disobeyed Him, that had to happen. 

Other Religions

1. Judaism, Islam – the other theistic religions – say you do good and God might accept you. 
2. Buddhism – work to find enlightenment. Maybe then you’ll have peace.
3. New Age says you are God and you should follow your heart. 
4. Mormonism and JW say Jesus is not God but He was pretty important and all. 
5. Christianity, the God of the Bible – OT and NT – says God took on flesh and Gal 4:4-5 says, “but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” The fullness of time – Christmas is the time we celebrate the coming of the Lord. 
6. So when someone tells me Christmas is pagan, I’m like – I’ve heard it, I’ve read about it, and I know what the Bible says – you do you and I’ll do Christmas and celebrate advent – Christ’s birth – Immanuel, God with us. 

Anticipation of Immanuel, God with us: 

1. Difference between devotional and Bible study. 
2. Anticipate means: to regard something as probable; you prepare for it or predict it. Jesus fulfilled at least – being conservative with the numbers – 300 OT prophecies. The prophets of the OT anticipated Jesus’ arrival. 
3. Prophecies include when He’d be born, where He’d be born, how He’d be born (virgin birth), and that doesn’t include prophecies about His life, death, and resurrection. 

Declaration of Immanuel, God with us: 

1. Declare: to say something solemnly or emphatically. 
2. The NT people declared that Immanuel, God is with us. The angels did it. Mary did it. Elizabeth did it. John the Baptist did it. The apostles did it. Those who were healed did it. 
3. When they made the declaration that Immanuel, God is with us – they were saying the prophecy was fulfilled. Christ is come. 
4. We know that this is the hinge of the calendar we all use to keep track of the times by. Jesus split the calendar in two – from BC to AD. Some can argue with this and say no, that’s not it, it has nothing to do with Christ. But Jesus was born around 3-4 BC and we started counting up from there. 

Expectation of Immanuel, God with us: 

1. Expect: to regard something as likely to happen. 
2. The third section of the Advent study is expectation and this is the time we live in. We expect Christ to return for us. Jesus said He would come back just as He left – on the clouds. 
3. The birth of Christ is not only about us looking back to the event of His brith, it’s about looking forward to His return. 
4. The garden is Immanuel, God with us. Christ’s birth is Immanuel, God with us. Christ’s return is Immanuel, God with us. He was anticipated, declared, and is expected to return again. 

So those are the three sections of this 25 day advent study where you will no doubt learn about the prophecy, the declaration, and the anticipation of God being with us. 

How to keep Christ as the center this Christmas.

1. That’s always the challenge for me because holidays get me out of my routine. The advent study will help. You can take a break from normal bible study reading and really focus on Christ. It’s only 25 days and it takes you right up to Christmas or even a little after. You can go back to your normal routine in January. 
2. Do the fun stuff but also do the nativity. I love my nativity in my house but don’t only use it as a decoration. Read the Christmas narrative in Luke and think about the characters and players in the scene who declared Jesus was Immanuel, God with us. 
3. Just like you are intentional about decorating, baking, and buying gifts, be intentional about spending time with the Lord. 

4. Remember what is not spending time with Christ – gift giving. Sharing a meal. Volunteering at the mission center. Those are good things and those are showing others the love of Christ, but that is not spending time with Christ. In order to truly make this season about Christ, we need to sit at HIs feet and remember that we worship an awesome God who rescued us and gave His son for us because He is Immanuel, God with us. 

Close: 

I hope you enjoyed this episode and that you are intentional about keeping Christ in Christmas. Please consider the advent study and purchase that or the digital copy at Shandafulbright.com/shop. It’s colorful, purposeful, and I designed the entire thing myself. It is a keepsake that you will want to hold onto for years to come. If you have any questions for me you can email me at hello@shandafulbright.com and I’ll catch you on the next one.