A Baby Changes Everything
By Senior Pastor Dr. Bill Rains | December 24, 2023
Turn with me to two passages: Micah 5:2 in the Old Testament and Matthew 1:18-25 in the New. Today’s message, “A Baby Changes Everything,” is one I doubt anyone will disagree with. Let’s start with prayer: Father, thank You for this Christmas service. You loved a sin-fallen world so much that You sent Your Son to save us. May everyone here and online receive Your unspeakable gift. Help me preach this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Micah 5:2 says, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Then, Matthew 1:18-25: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost… Joseph… did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him… and called his name JESUS.” A baby changes everything—and this Baby changed the world.
The Focus of History Changed
You know from experience—a baby alters everything. For Faye and me, our sons Tim and Scott shifted our lives—our time, talents, and treasures revolved around them. Days and nights blurred as we rocked them to sleep. But over 2,000 years ago, one Baby in Bethlehem changed not just a family, but all history. Micah foretold it: from tiny Bethlehem would come a ruler, eternal in origin—God Himself.
This birth split time in two: BC, Before Christ, and AD, Anno Domini, “the year of our Lord.” Every calendar, every document reflects it. Despite atheism, doubt, or persecution—where Christians today face death for their faith—Jesus’ birth undeniably reshaped history. Past, present, and future pivot on Him. Even in Bethlehem today, war-torn and quiet, we here can celebrate freely. This Baby was “Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23)—the Creator in a cradle, holding the universe together.
Our Family Situation Changed
A baby changes family dynamics—suddenly, it’s not just about you or your spouse. Jesus’ birth does more: it offers adoption into God’s family. John 8:44 reveals a stark truth: without Christ, we’re children of wrath, not God. Jesus told religious folks, “Ye are of your father the devil.” But God loves us too much to leave us there. He paid the adoption cost—not with gold, but with Christ’s blood (1 Peter 1:18-19).
My son Tim and his wife couldn’t have biological kids, so they adopted Christian from Romania and our granddaughter from China. We love them as much as any biological child—adoption makes them ours. God does the same. Receive Jesus, and your family changes—you become His child, no longer a stranger to His grace.
Our Future Changed
This Baby secures your eternity. Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Jesus told Nicodemus, a religious man, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:3). No religion, no good deeds suffice