Valley Gospel
A Pentecostal church experience.
Valley Gospel
What Happens When The Holy Ghost Hosts Christmas (Christmas Eve)
What if the most powerful way to celebrate Christmas is to see it through the eyes of the Holy Spirit—past, present, and future? Join us in this message delivered by Theodore Gardner, as we revisit the manger without sentimentality, the stable that smelled of hay and animals, and the unexpected guests who arrived dusty from the fields. That humble scene reframes everything we think we know about glory, reminding us that the greatest event in history unfolded with no comfort but with unshakable purpose.
From there we step into the present and confront a tension many of us feel: crowded traditions and thin devotion. We talk honestly about how the church grew with fire and unity, and how we’ve drifted into division and distraction. The heartbeat of the message is simple and urgent—return to the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, Christmas becomes performance; with the Spirit, Jesus stays at the center. We wrestle with symbols that shape faith—the cross, the blood of Christ, the gifts of the Spirit—and ask whether replacing them with plastic trees and seasonal cheer has dulled our worship. James 1:27 challenges us to care for the vulnerable and keep our lives unpolluted by the world.
Then we look ahead to Christmas future, to the feast hosted by Jesus and the song of angels. The narrow way is not meant to scare us but to sharpen our focus. Grace saves us through faith, and faith grows as we hear the word of God again and again. So we make a clear call: preach the Holy Spirit, preach the blood, point to the cross, open the altars, and keep Christ at the center—not by guilt, but by commitment. We end in worship, lifting up the One who moved from throne to manger to cross to throne, all for love.
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Hello. Welcome to Valley Gospel Church. We are a non-denominational Pentecostal church located in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Our sole mission is to present the living truth of a risen Lord, Jesus Christ, to a remnant church and a lost world. Let's get into the service recorded live at Valley Gospel Church. Good evening.
SPEAKER_00:Merry Christmas. It's good to see a lot of visitors here today. Introduce me, but my name really doesn't matter. I'm up here to represent the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus. And uh it's uh if you know me, it's a very brief message. I don't usually speak very long. It's always scary to be up here anyway. But when preparing this message, it's uh I was kind of moved, and we're gonna do our version of a Christmas carol. You know, the one with Scrooge, and he gets visited by three different ghosts, the ghost of the Christmas past, and the ghost of Christmas present and the future. Being that this is a Christian church, though we're gonna do the Holy Ghost of Christmas past and present and future. And it's gonna start off in the past. It's gonna start off in this setting where the greatest event in history took place. The birth of our Lord. And also the birth of Christianity itself. And Christianity Christ. Amen. And when thinking about this, I'm trying to envision. I said, Holy Spirit, give me a vision of it. And it wasn't what I would have expected for a godchild to be born in. It wasn't a holiday inn, it wasn't warm water and towels for Mary to help her with her delivery. It was close to being one step away from being homeless, at least shoulderless. And they had a little roof over their head, but they shared this space with animals and livestock and hay and probably wouldn't pass a health inspection today. And being uh the birth of a godchild, nowadays they'd be surrounded by all these hired church officials. But they they weren't there for this. They did have some guests. There were some shepherds who came up out of the field. God knows how long they'd been out there and what they were wearing and how clean they might have been. But it wasn't what I would have expected. Amen. Now, don't get me wrong, the announcement of the birth of our Lord was very special and heavenly, and a company of angels came out singing with the announcement of Jesus Christ being born. But it probably wasn't that heavenly in the stable. It's probably what Mary was going through. And it made me wonder. Being a follower and a servant of the Lord, and I asked my father in heaven, you couldn't have done something maybe just a little nicer. You know? Maybe kick one family out of the inn so they could have got a room for him and his wife. But nevertheless, regardless of the simple setting, the King of Kings was born on that evening. And everything that we believe in, the birth of it all. But then we turn up to now, the Holy Ghost of Christmas present. And here at Valley Gospel, the day still represents that very historic event when the Virgin Mary gave birth to the Lord. However, it means even more to us now. Now we celebrate not only his birth, but also his life, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. Now salvation means so much more to us than it probably did to the shepherds coming out of the field. And with this great salvation, you would probably think, and although I'm very happy to see everyone here, I would have thought that it would be standing room only from the people in the world. I mean, Paul set out and started churches, and uh the disciples went out and made disciples, and the church was growing, and it was growing, and 3,000 were added. But now I ask myself, what happened? Why did the growing stop? Or why did it change? How did denominations got split? Why don't we agree with one another anymore? And I think that while they were doing church building, they left out one of the building blocks, and that would be the Holy Ghost. With the Holy Ghost, we have nothing different between us. We have one God, one Holy Ghost, one spirit, one salvation, amen. One future to be with the Lord. But I'm afraid that the Holy Ghost of Christmas present has been replaced with Santa Claus. Now, am I saying something wrong? Am I saying it's demonic? No, I'm not saying that. But I'm saying if there's no Christ in Christmas, then what is it? Amen. The cross of Christ has been replaced with a tree. And not even a real one. Nowadays, they use plastic. The blood of Christ was exchanged for Agnog. Our children celebrate Christmas without Christ. How could it have changed so much from that simple setting in a stable with a baby in a manger? No more travelers trying to seek out the Messiah. No more gifts for our king. Now we give gifts to each other. I don't get it, it's not my birthday. Although I still receive the gifts and I take them, and I thank you both, everybody that gave me one. I appreciate it. But I have to ask myself, am I allowing too much of the worldly reviews and ways to pollute my spirituality? I just gotta ask. In James 127, he says this pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this to look after the orphans and the widows in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Not only a warning to his time, but a warning to all generations. Don't be defiled. Stay pure. And I don't want to ask the question because I already know the answer, and it's yes, I have let some of the ways of the world into my life. Enough to corrupt my worship on Christ, I have to examine myself. Am I too far gone? I'm never too far gone from Jesus. He's always right there. When conviction through the Holy Spirit may hit me, all I have to do is get on my knees and pray and repent, and he'll get me back on track. But will you pray it? Or do I enjoy the celebration on somebody else's birthday at the Lord's? I think I'm gonna take this message and this revelation a little more serious this year. We were here last year on Christmas Eve. A lot has transpired throughout the year, but this year, I'm a year closer to his coming back, amen. And I want to be careful, I want to examine myself. Why though? Why, Katie? Why are you worried? Because there still is a holy ghost of Christmas future. And Jesus Himself is gonna be the host. And there is gonna be big dinners and big fixings, and there is gonna be heavenly singing with angels, company of angels, singing, holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty. Then there was another question. And it's not my business, but I have to ask it. The modern-day churches and the the believers that are in there, well, they all go to this great festival. I can't say whether they will or not, but Jesus said this. Narrow is the way, and few are those that find it. I don't know if I like that, but narrow is the way. And you know, I got you gotta keep your focus, amen. Let me ask you a question. Do you think that removing the crosses from our sanctuary matters? Or refusing to mention the shedding of his blood for our sins. Do you think that matters? How about denying the baptism of the Holy Spirit or all of his gifts? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if you remove Christ from Christmas. It's not for me to say all I know is what the Spirit tells me. I know that James says this. Keep oneself from being polluted. One self. That's just one, that's me. I can only be responsible for me. And you have to be responsible for you. Will you examine yourself this Christmas and ask some of those hard questions? You know, last Sunday I was so happy to see the Sunday school downstairs so filled with so many kids. Like more than ever, right? And I know for sure that every one of them was told about the reason for the season, the birth of Jesus Christ. And you know, we may share in gift-giving tomorrow and big dinners with all the fixings, but I know you, and we've been together a long time, and I know without a doubt that Jesus will be the focus point of your whole day. And if he would choose to come back tomorrow and surprise us, I know that he would be a welcome guest in your house. And the Holy Ghost of Christmas future would begin, but it would be for eternity. Amen. I don't have a long message, but there are some things I'd like to say before I end this. In the years that I've been attending this church, I often wondered why the repetition, why our pastor always had to go back and preach about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Over and over and over again. Every month or so here comes another message about the Holy Spirit. I heard it before, huh? I heard it before. But now I get it. Without the help of the powerful Holy Spirit, we too would allow the removal of Christ from our Christmas and from our churches. So let's remember one more time. Narrow's the way to the kingdom of God, and few are those that find it. Also remember this it's by grace that you've been saved. But through faith. And faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So that's why you need to continue to tell your pastor tell me again about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Remind me again about the power of the blood. Point me again in the direction of the cross. Please open your altars again so I may recommit my life to the Lord. And always keep. Help me to keep Christ in my Christmas. But not through conviction. But through commitment. Amen. It's good to say everyone. I know that you have a wonderful Christmas tomorrow. Thank you for letting me share.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. We pray it was an encouragement and a blessing to you. You can contact us at Valley Gospel Church at 1069, Butler Logan Road, Springdale, Pennsylvania, 15144. We invite you to listen to this week's worship service that follows and tune in for next week's podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Church, here is love. From a throne to a manger, to a cross, to a throne, all because he loves us.
SPEAKER_03:When the brand of life all rounds and for us is bread and slug. And who's the wild On the Mr. Mountain Torn? Through the clock. And break the eye. And perfect justice. Let's sing it again. Oh come let us ador him who comet us ador him who comet us ador lift up on high the name of Jesus Magnify Conglorify Christ Jesus the Majesty Yes Lord Worship is Majesty Jesus who died now glorified the king of all kings Oh come on let's worship him so lift up on high the name of Jesus Yes Lord magnify Com glorify Christ Jesus the King Majesty Majesty Hallelujah All worship is majesty Jesus who died He's now glorified the Kingdom of Kings Jesus who died He's now glorified The King of all kings Say it one more time Jesus who died Jesus who died He's now glorified the King of all kings