Christmas and Ketchup

So what does Ketchup have to do with Christmas? That’s exactly the question my preacher asked this morning when he started his Christmas sermon series called “A 4-Star Christmas.” The first sermon in the series was titled “Star of Anticipation” and he opened this morning with the song “Anticipation” playing and him holding up a bottle of ketchup. The scripture he used was Romans 8:18-25, a scripture about “Future Glory.”

Have you ever thought of this time before Christmas as the anticipation of the birth of the baby Jesus? But since this has already happened, how can we anticipate it? “Star of Anticipation” was about what we, as Christians, actually anticipate…the hope of our creation, “the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (verse 21)

My favorite verses in these scriptures ...

24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

So this Christmas, when you come across a bottle or packet of ketchup, remember that as a Christian our hope and our anticipate is not in the birth of Christ, but the salvation that he brought us when he was born. Next week, “Star of Preparation.”