Every December, preachers face the same challenge: how do you make the Christmas story fresh when your congregation has heard it dozens of times? The shepherds, the manger, the angels—these are beautiful scenes, but for many churchgoers, they’ve become background music to the holiday season.
Here’s the thing: the power of the Christmas story isn’t just in the events themselves. It’s in the centuries of anticipation that came before them. When you connect Old Testament prophecies to the nativity, you’re not just retelling a story—you’re showing your congregation that God has been orchestrating the greatest rescue mission in history across thousands of years.
Let me show you how to do this effectively.
Why Old Testament Connections Matter
Think about Matthew’s approach. In the first four chapters alone, he cites seven Old Testament fulfillments—the virgin birth, Bethlehem, Egypt, the slaughter of the innocents, Nazareth, John the Baptist, and Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. Matthew knew his Jewish audience needed to see that Jesus wasn’t a surprise twist in God’s plan. He was the promised One they’d been waiting for.
Your congregation needs this same perspective. In a culture that reduces Christmas to sentiment and nostalgia, showing the prophetic backbone of the nativity story grounds the gospel in historical reality. It shows that God keeps His promises—a truth people desperately need to hear.
The Big Three Prophecies Every Christmas Sermon Should Touch
Let’s start with the prophecies that pack the most punch:
1. The Virgin Birth (Isaiah 7:14)
Isaiah prophesied that a virgin would conceive and bear a son named Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Written approximately 700 years before Jesus’ birth, this prophecy addresses something no human could manipulate or orchestrate.
When you preach this, don’t just mention it in passing. Lean into the scandal of it. A virgin birth wasn’t just miraculous—it was controversial. It challenged everything people thought they knew. And yet, this impossible sign became the entry point for God Himself entering our world.
Preaching Tip: Connect this to your congregation’s impossible situations. The same God who did the impossible in Mary’s womb can do the impossible in their lives.
2. Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
Here’s what makes this prophecy remarkable: when King Herod’s priests and scribes were asked where the Messiah would be born, they knew the answer immediately from reading the prophecies in scripture. Bethlehem wasn’t a major city—it was a small, insignificant town. Yet God chose it centuries in advance.
The irony is powerful: the Savior of the world was born in a place nobody important paid attention to. That’s the upside-down kingdom Jesus came to establish.
Preaching Tip: This is gold for anyone in your congregation who feels overlooked or insignificant. God doesn’t choose the impressive—He chooses the unlikely.
3. Names and Titles (Isaiah 9:6)
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
This prophecy is Handel’s Messiah on steroids. Isaiah told people to look for a child—not a long-reigning king, but a son—yet His names would be “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father”. It’s a divine paradox that should stop us in our tracks: God as an infant. The Creator dependent on His creation for milk and warmth.
Preaching Tip: Use this to highlight the incarnation. The baby in the manger isn’t just special—He’s God in flesh, entering into our weakness to give us His strength.
Beyond the Basics: Fresh Prophetic Connections
Once you’ve established the foundational prophecies, you can explore some deeper connections that most of your congregation has never considered:
The Seed of the Woman (Genesis 3:15)
Often considered the first Messianic prophecy in Scripture, this verse finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus—the offspring of a woman who would crush Satan. Right after the fall, God promised redemption. The Christmas story is the beginning of sin’s undoing.
This shows your congregation that Christmas wasn’t Plan B. From the moment humanity fell, God was already setting the rescue in motion.
Out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1)
Joseph fled with his family to Egypt, fulfilling the prophet Hosea’s words, which in context referred to God bringing Israel out of Egypt at the Exodus. Matthew saw Jesus as the perfect Israelite, the one who would succeed where Israel failed.
This connection gives you a chance to show how Jesus embodies and fulfills Israel’s story—and by extension, our story. Where we fail, He succeeds. Where we break promises, He keeps them.
Rachel Weeping (Jeremiah 31:15)
Not all prophecies are pleasant, not even messianic prophecies. When Herod ordered the slaughter of the innocents, it fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children.
This is crucial for your congregation to understand. The Christmas story doesn’t sanitize suffering. Jesus entered a world of violence, grief, and injustice. He didn’t come to escape it—He came to redeem it.
Practical Preaching Strategies
1. Build the Anticipation
Don’t jump straight to the manger. Spend time showing your congregation what Israel was waiting for. What did they expect the Messiah to be? How did the prophecies shape their hopes and dreams?
When you build this context, the arrival of Jesus becomes even more powerful—both in how He fulfilled expectations and how He shattered them.
2. Use the “Already Written” Approach
Here’s a simple but effective technique: When you reference a prophetic detail in the nativity, pause and say something like, “This was already written 700 years before it happened.” Let that sink in.
Only God knows the future—prophecy establishes His divine fingerprint all over Scripture. This helps skeptics and believers alike see that the Bible isn’t just religious literature—it’s testimony to God’s sovereign orchestration of history.
3. Connect Prophecy to Application
Don’t let prophecy stay academic. Every prophetic fulfillment reveals something about God’s character:
- He keeps promises (even when it takes centuries)
- He works through ordinary people (Mary, Joseph, shepherds)
- He chooses the unlikely over the impressive
- He enters our mess rather than demanding we clean up first
These truths should land in your congregation’s Monday morning reality.
4. Let Matthew Be Your Guide
Matthew employs seven Old Testament fulfillments in describing Jesus’ birth and early life, carefully checking each event against Scripture. Follow his lead. When Matthew says “this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet,” he’s teaching us to read Scripture Christocentrically—to see how all of it points to Jesus.
You can train your congregation to read their Bibles this way too. Christmas is the perfect time to show them how.
The Visual Advantage
Here’s something many preachers overlook: the right visuals can make these Old Testament connections even more powerful. When you’re preaching about Isaiah’s prophecy, imagine having a beautifully designed worship background that transitions from ancient Hebrew text to the manger scene. Or when you’re connecting the Exodus to Jesus’ flight to Egypt, show the visual parallel.
Worship backgrounds aren’t just decoration—they’re sermon reinforcement. They help your visual learners (which is most of your congregation) see the connections you’re making verbally. When done well, they make the theological depth you’re preaching more accessible and memorable.
Don’t Forget the Wonder
In all your exegetical work and prophetic connections, don’t lose the wonder. The Christmas nativity is not just a “story”—it is prophecy fulfilled, God-breathed, incredible, and holy.
Your congregation needs the theological meat, yes. But they also need to stand back in awe at what God has done. The prophecies aren’t just proof texts—they’re love letters written across centuries, promises whispered to people in darkness, telling them that rescue was coming.
And when that baby was born in Bethlehem, every promise, every prophecy, every hope came to fulfillment in human flesh.
Making It Stick
The best Christmas sermons do more than inform—they transform. When you connect Old Testament prophecies to the nativity story, you’re doing several things at once:
- Building faith: You’re showing that God keeps His word
- Deepening understanding: You’re revealing the Bible as one unified story
- Creating anticipation: If God kept these promises, He’ll keep His future ones too
- Fighting cynicism: In a skeptical age, you’re providing evidence for faith
This Christmas, don’t just retell the story. Show your congregation that the story has been unfolding since the beginning of time. Show them that the baby in the manger is the long-awaited answer to centuries of prophetic promise.
That’s a Christmas sermon they won’t forget.
Ready to make your Christmas messages even more powerful? Check out our collection of hundreds of professionally designed Christmas worship backgrounds at Videos2Worship.com. While most collections offer 10-20 backgrounds, we provide the variety you need to match every moment of your Christmas services—from the anticipation of Advent to the celebration of the Nativity. Help your congregation see and feel the connection between ancient prophecy and present fulfillment.
