Christmas

We celebrate many things at Christmas: family, food, generosity, blessings, and more. However, the heart of Christmas is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The word incarnation literally means “into flesh.” It refers to God becoming human in order to come to this …

I’ve always been fascinated by names. If I see someone with a unique name, I’ll ask them what it means. I find names interesting. My name is not unique. In fact, Matt is one of the most common names for …

When a plan is put together to address a need, it often will end in a blessing. Over the last two weeks, we’ve learned about that happening with Christmas. We’ve learned about “The Need for Christmas” and “The Planning of …

Have you ever seen a need, made a plan to fix it, and then benefited from the blessing of carrying out that plan? When our family lived in Kentucky, we lived in a house that was built in 1900. It …

“The Eve of Something Great” [on screen] (Selected Passages) Christmas Eve Sermon Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida December 24, 2020 Introduction Will you join me in prayer? (Prayer) One of my children asked me once …

“Celebrate the Hope of Jesus” [on screen] (Selected Passages) Christmas Sermon Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida December 20, 2020 Introductory Comments: At no point in my life can I remember a time when someone could …

“Celebrate the Joy of Jesus” Series: Celebrate the Joy of Jesus [on screen] Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida December 29, 2019 Kids Kingdom Truths: Ask kids, “Who can tell me what joy is?” (allow time …

“Celebrate the Sacrifice of Jesus” Series: Celebrate the Joy of Jesus [on screen] Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida December 22, 2019 Introductory Comments: I’ll never forget the first time I watched Disney’s Mickey’s Christmas Carol. …

“Celebrate the Coming of Jesus” Series: Celebrate the Joy of Jesus [on screen] Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida December 15, 2019 Introductory Comments: At Christmas time we sometimes sing a popular song called, Here Comes …