Here are two links to a presentation put together by a dear friend, the late Brother Gary Amick about 6 years ago.  Brother David Schwendemann uses this presentation to preach from… he was so impressed with it.  If you have any trouble accessing the information, please feel free to email me at todd@mmcg.org.

PowerPoint Show Version - POWERPOINT SHOW LINK – (2.2MB download)
may require PowerPoint Viewer software

Flash Version –  FLASH SHOW LINK – (823K download)
requires Flash, please click to advance animations and slides

We are working on offering Live Internet streaming of our Sabbath services.  Look for that in the future.  Meanwhile, here are a few links to friends offering live feeds of their Sabbath services:

Tulsa Church of God - Sabbath 1PM CST

Ron Dart and CEM - Sabbath 2PM CST

CGI in Nanaimo – Sabbath 11:30AM PST

“Lacking any scriptural pointers to Jesus’s birthday, early Christian teachers suggested dates all over the calendar. Clement…picked November 18. Hippolytus…figured Christ must have been born on a Wednesday…An anonymous document, believed to have been written in North Africa around A.D. 243, placed Jesus’s birth on March 28″ (Joseph L. Sheler, U.S. News & World Report, “In Search of Christmas,” Dec. 23, 1996, p. 58).

A careful analysis of Scripture, however, clearly indicates that December 25 couldn’t be the date for Christ’s birth. Here are two primary reasons:

First, we know that shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:7-8). Shepherds were not in the fields during December. According to Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, Luke’s account suggests that “Jesus may have been born in summer or early fall. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night.”

Similarly, The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary says this passage argues “against the birth of Christ occurring on Dec. 25 since the weather would not have permitted” shepherds watching over their flocks in the fields at night.

Second, Jesus’ parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke 2:1-4). Such censuses were not taken in winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self-defeating.

Given the difficulties and the desire to bring pagans into Christianity, “the important fact then which I have asked you to get clearly into your head is that the fixing of the date as December 25th was a compromise with paganism” (William Walsh, The Story of Santa Klaus, 1970, p. 62).

If Jesus Christ weren’t born on December 25, does the Bible indicate when He was born? The biblical accounts point to the fall of the year as the most likely time of Jesus’ birth, based on the conception and birth of John the Baptist.

Since Elizabeth (John’s mother) was in her sixth month of pregnancy when Jesus was conceived (Luke 1:24-36), we can determine the approximate time of year Jesus was born if we know when John was born. John’s father, Zacharias, was a priest serving in the Jerusalem temple during the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5). Historical calculations indicate this course of service corresponded to June 13-19 in that year (The Companion Bible, 1974, Appendix 179, p. 200).

It was during this time of temple service that Zacharias learned that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child (Luke 1:8-13). After he completed his service and traveled home, Elizabeth conceived (verses 23-24). Assuming John’s conception took place near the end of June, adding nine months brings us to the end of March as the most likely time for John’s birth. Adding another six months (the difference in ages between John and Jesus) brings us to the end of September as the likely time of Jesus’ birth.

Although it is difficult to determine the first time anyone celebrated December 25 as Christmas Day, historians are in general agreement that it was sometime during the fourth century. This is an amazingly late date. Christmas was not observed in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, until about 300 years after Christ’s death. Its origins cannot be traced back to either the teachings or practices of the earliest Christians.

Did everyone exchange gifts when Christ was born? Gifts were presented to Jesus because He was born “King of the Jews” (verses 2,11). This was the expected custom when appearing before a king, thus the wise men brought gifts fit for a king: gold and valuable spices. Jesus alone was the recipient of the gifts; others did not exchange gifts among themselves.

Did the wise men, as nativity scenes often depict, arrive to find Jesus in a makeshift shelter-a manger – because there was “no room in the inn”?; (Luke 2:7). Not really. By the time the wise men arrived, apparently some time after Christ’s birth, Joseph’s family was residing in a house (verse 11).
Did the writers of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) consider Jesus’ birth to be one of the most significant events for Christians to acknowledge or celebrate? Mark and John do not even mention the event. Although Matthew and Luke mention it, neither gives the date. None of the biblical writers says anything about commemorating Christ’s birth.

Did Jesus Christ tell us to celebrate His birth? No. However, He left explicit instructions regarding how His followers are to commemorate His death (1Corinthians 11:23-26).

An important distinction between these holidays and those rooted in paganism is the realization that these celebrations can be kept in addition to God’s commanded feast days. Unlike Christmas and Easter, they do not alter, replace or distort the meaning of a festival of God or other biblical truths. These particular days are in harmony with the apostle Paul’s admonition for “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

Though at the first Jehovah blessed
And sanctified His day of rest;
The same belief is still expressed -
    ”It’s Jewish.”

Though with the world this rest began
And thence through all the scriptures ran,
And Jesus said ’twas made for man -
    ”It’s Jewish.”

Though not with Jewish rites, which passed
But with the moral law was classed
Which must endure while time shall last -
    ”It’s Jewish.”

Though the disciples, Luke and Paul,
Continue still this rest to call
The ‘Sabbath day’, this answers all -
    ”It’s Jewish.”

The gospel teachers’ plain expression,
That ‘Sin is of the law transgression,’
Seems not to make the least impression -
    ”It’s Jewish.”

They love the rest of man’s invention,
But if Jehovah’s day we mention,
This puts an end to all contention -
    ”It’s Jewish.”