Home Weblog Background Mission, Values,
and Beliefs Philosophy of Ministry Where in the World
is Corunna, IN? Historical Perspectives Consultants Introducing the Staff News Become a Partner Resources Resource Overview Books by the
Church Doctor Audio CDs Video Wit and Wisdom
of the Church
Doctor Documents Surveys and
Questionnaires Your Shopping Cart Overview Free Inquiry Kit Distinctives Sample Report Accolades Client Showcase 70 Days of Vision Bulletin/Newsletter/
WebSite Audit Church Government Church Vitality Profile Coaching Creative Insights
Analysis Demographic Diagnostic Facility Planning Finishing Well Follow Up Packages Getting Down to
Business Harvest Search Ongoing Relationship Personal Career Phone Consultation Pre-capital Campaign
Jump Start Reaching Financial
Empowerment Spititual Gifts Staffing Strategic Strategic Planning
for Judicatories Worldview Consultation Worship Audit
Campaign Worship Newsletters Events Contact Us Links RSS Feeds Privacy Policy Terms of Use Link to Us Login
Weblog

This weblog is written and edited by the staff and consultants of Church Doctor Ministries to discuss topics pertaining to forwarding and enabling the Great Commission. Feel free to comment or contact us with any questions, discussion, agreements, or disagreements.

« Our Christmas Gift to You!
Happy New Year from CDM »

Candy Cane Christmas Message

Category: Church Doctor Ministries | December 22, 2009
Posted By Tracee Swank

While doing some research in the CDM archives I came across this sermon message from Kent Hunter from 1977. A meesage worth repeating for today.

We all have seen a candy cane. It is a popular symbol of Christmas. But it is more than a popular symbol of Christmas. It is a popular symbol of Christ. The candy cane is the symbol of the shepherd’s staff. Did you ever wonder why the staff was curved at one end? It is because the sheep often got themselves in trouble. They would fall into a ravine and couldn’t get out on their own. Or they would get tangled in a thicket and couldn’t get free by themselves. Or they would go too far into the river and lose their footing and begin to be taken down stream by the flowing water. The shepherd would use the hooked portion of his staff to put around the sheep’s neck and pull it to safety.

This is what the Good Shepherd does for us. The baby Jesus, the Christmas Christ is the One who rescues us. God’s message is loud and clear to each of us today. Perhaps in these past days and weeks and months we have become a sheep who has gone astray. Perhaps we have fallen into a ravine of unbelief and secularism. Perhaps we have failed to listen to God speaking to us every day.

Perhaps we have become tangled by hatred or gossip, selfishness or greed. Maybe we feel we are caught up in the tangled mess of guilt to the point where it seems you’ll never get out. Or perhaps we have become involved with temptation and found that we have gone too far — and the current of sin is pulling us down the tubes.

The Good News is that God has spoken to us through His Son. This is the real message of Christmas: that God has come to this earth to rescue us. That candy cane reminds us that He came to pull us to Himself — to bring us back to the people God created us to be. To be free from the burdens of guilt, to be filled with forgiveness and the peace of God, to live with new life and meaning — this is God’s purpose behind Christmas.

Source: Kent Hunter
Sermon
Our Savior Luther Church
Detroit
Christmas Day, 1977

Leave a comment