What Christmas Is About

WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT
December 14, 2025

GOD WITH US

Zephaniah 3:14-20

 

Proverbs 18:24 (NIV) One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

 

 

 

Hebrew 13:5 (NIV)God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

 

 

Matthew 1:23 (NIV)“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means “.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew 18:20 (NIV)Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.

 

John 14:6 (NIV)Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

 

 

 

TEXT:

Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NIV)14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel!  Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! 

15 The LORD has taken away your punishment; he has turned back your enemy.  The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.  16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.  17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”  18 “The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you.  19 At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered.  I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame.  20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home.  I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the LORD.

 

 

 

THREE WAYS GOD FEELS ABOUT YOU: 

 

1. GOD IN YOU          

 

 

 

 

 

Zephaniah 3:17a (NIV)The Lord your God is with you …

 

 

Zephaniah 3:17b (NIV)He will take great delight in you…he will rejoice over you with singing.

 

 

 

 

Zephaniah 3:17b (NIV)He will take great delight in you…he will rejoice over you with singing.

 

 

 

 

2. GOD TAKES OF YOU

 

 

 

 

What do we need from God:

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Zephaniah 3:15 (NIV) The Lord has taken away your punishment…

 

 

 

Romans 3:23 (NIV) says, We have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.

 

Isaiah 53:6 (NIV) said, We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…

 

 

Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

 

 

Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him [on Jesus] the iniquity of us all.

 

 

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that has brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

 

 
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Zephaniah 3:15b (NIV)…he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you …

 

 

Zephaniah 3:15c (NIV) The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.

 

 

 

Zephaniah 3:19 (NIV) At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered.

 

 

 

 

Romans 12:19-21 (NIV)Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the contrary:  “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John 14:27 (NIV)  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

 

Philippians 4:7 (NIV)  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 

 

Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV) He will quiet you with his love.

 

 

Colossians 3:15 (NIV)Let the of Christ in your , since as members of one body you were called to peace.

 

 

Proverbs 10:12 (NIV)Hatred stirs up dissension, but love over all wrongs.

 

 

1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)Above all, love each other deeply, because love over a multitude of sins.

 

Romans 12:18 (NIV)As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

 

 

John 14:27 (NIV)Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

 

2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace . The Lord be with all of you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. GOD HAS FOR YOU

 

 

Zephaniah 3:20 (NIV) “At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.

 

 

 

Mark 10:29-30“I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children of fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.”

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)“For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

 

 

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Matthew 1:23 (NIV)“…and they will call him Immanuel”- which means “God with us.”

 

 

PRAYER:

 

ALTAR:

 

WORSHIP:

 

 

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