Last week we started a new series called, “The Night that Changed Everything.”  We’re looking at the significance of Christmas, a night that changed much more than most of us imagine.  We’ll see its impact on five segments of society:

  1. The Night That Changed the Religious
  2. The Night That Changed the Powerful
  3. The Night That Changed the Poor
  4. The Night That Changed You
  5. The Night That Changed the Wise

This week we’re looking at how it changed the poor.  Often the poor are excluded from important events – there were reports of homeless people being temporarily removed from the streets before the Atlanta Olympics, for example.  When the world was watching, Atlanta didn’t want them seeing poverty.

But strangely, the Christmas story puts poor people front and centre.  Mary and Joseph themselves are travellers with apparently modest means.  The first visitors to see the baby are shepherds.

We’ll explore this week why it’s significant that the poor are so prominent in this important event.

Question: What role do the poor play in our world?

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Ryan Sim - December 9, 2013

Monday - A New Idea - The Night That Changed the Powerful

Last week we started a new series called, “The Night that Changed Everything.” We’re looking at the significance of Christmas, a night that changed much more than most of us imagine. We’ll see its impact on five segments of society: The Night That Changed the Religious The Night That Changed the Powerful The Night That Changed the Poor The Night That Changed You The Night That Changed the Wise This week we’re looking at how it changed the powerful. This one can be hard for us to see. In Western culture, we’re used to thinking that those who celebrate Christmas are far from powerless. They have long been the majority in Western countries, and the Christian church has been a dominant player in society. Christmas is a visible sign of that power – it’s become a huge part of even secular culture, even if that version is stripped of its truth. But what actually happened at Christmas was the birth of a baby boy - one of the most powerless things you can imagine. Human babies are so helpless and vulnerable, not powerful except in the emotional control they exert without knowing. As we saw last week, the baby named Jesus was identified early on as a king – given gifts from Magi, and so on. But unlike Prince George, he wasn’t born in a private hospital with attendants and staff looking after it all. He was born powerless, in a stable, laid in a feedtrough. And yet, he struck fear in the hearts of the powerful. We’ll look at that story this week. Question: What scares powerful people?

From Series: The Night that Changed Everything | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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