At Christmas, God did not give us something. He gave us Himself.
• How is your relationship with Jesus Christ today?
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
• Communion with man is at the core of God’s being.
• Our communion with Him is vital; this is the reason He became one of us.
• God wants to fellowship with man. He took on a human body.
• The apostles were able to hear Him with their ears, see Him with their eyes, and touch Him with their hands.
• When Jesus was on earth he ate and drank quite freely with people, even those of questionable character. And became famous for it - He is a friend of tax-collectors and sinners (Mt 11:19). He allowed Himself to be touched by the sick and the unclean.
At Christmas, Christ did not come with a set of rules for Christian conduct.
• He came to relate with you, as saviour and friend.
• To set your life right – to live with a sense of direction and a great destiny, we have to get back to Jesus.
• It is not just getting back to church or to some bible study. You can be sitting on the pews and yet not know Him.
• The way to God is through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Intellectual acceptance of Christ is not enough.
• You must come to him determined to turn from what displeases Him, with a total trust in Christ’s saving power for you.
A young boy was asked to close in prayer at the end of his SS class. He paused for quite a while, trying to think of what to say. In the end, he blurted out: “Pray that everyone will get the present they love. AMEN.” Just one simple line.
• Indeed, at Christmas, we wish that all men will come to appreciate and love the gift God has given.
How do you measure the value of a present today?
• Children would probably like to look at its size. The bigger the better.
• In a Christmas gift exchange, a church member prepared a big and heavy gift – a pack of six cans of coca-cola!
• People like it big, and probably heavy. Do you judge it by its cost or by its brand?
The gift that God gave to us at Christmas changed our lives.
• God has given us what man needed the most. What do we need?
• Many say they need money, but there are many rich who are living a very sad life.
• We see many rich and famous ending their life prematurely because they find little meaning and purpose in living.
• Money, fame and status cannot guarantee us a happy life.
The world needs Jesus. Our problem is with sin, and only Jesus can solve that.
• Christianity is not primarily about some religious principles, doctrines or morals.
• It has to do with the Person of Christ. The world needs to come to terms with the person of Jesus himself.
• The Christian life in the fullest sense is not about observing rules and regulations; it is about our relationship with Jesus.
What did Jesus brings to us? I want to consider the line Jesus said in John 14:6.
• Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
• He did not merely point the way to God. He himself claimed to be the only way to the Father and the source of eternal truth and life.
He is the answer to life’s greatest needs.
• You know what your greatest need is? Not money, not a good career, not education. They are important but they aren’t your greatest needs.
• Man’s greatest need in life is this 3-fold need of direction, truth and life.
THE WAY: At Christmas, God blessed us with a clear direction to our life.
• No one drives on the road without a direction. Without a destination, you would not even start a car. Life needs a direction, and a destiny.
• Do you have that? We all believe in Jesus today, but are we living a purposeful life, with a clear direction and a great destiny.
That isn’t the case all the time. We get distracted by the sights and sounds of this world.
• We drift. It’s not easy to stay the course. I’ve learnt that in topography.
• When you are in the forest and you say, “I’ll walk straight.” Without the map and a compass, your straight is not really straight.
• You don’t even feel that you are deviating. You don’t know it until you’re lost.
He guides us step by step. Prov 3:6 “…in ALL your ways acknowledge Him”.
• He does not just guide you day by day, He guides you step by step.
• Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
• Someone wrote a poem:
He does not lead me year by year; not even day by day but step by step my path unfolds; My Lord directs my way. Tomorrow’s plans I do not know, I only know this minute; but He will say, "This is the way; by faith now walk ye in it."
And I am glad that it is so, today’s enough to bear; And when tomorrow comes, His grace shall far exceed its care. What need to worry then or fret? The God who gave His Son, holds all my moments in His Hand.
THE TRUTH: And then Jesus says He is the TRUTH.
Man greatest problem is that he does not know what the truth is.
Man lives in confusion.
• We do not know what is right or wrong, real or fake, good or bad.
• We live in a post-modern world, with no ultimate truth.
• Killing is wrong, but today the terrorists say it can be right, if done according to their beliefs.
• So what is true depends on man’s choice. We can pick and choose what we like believe.
We have fallen into the devil’s deception. Is that really absolute truth? YES!
• Science tells us there is. The sun will always rise from the East, not the West, North, South. It does not come up one day from the East, the next day from the West.
• This is God’s creation, and there are laws of nature.
So is our life. There are laws that govern our life.
• Only in Jesus Christ can we find the truth.
• When Jesus stood before Pilate, He said, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (John 18:37)
Men may reject the truth, hate it, distort it, but it will remain the truth.
• Even if you fail to understand it, it will still be there.
• Therefore we have to believe every word of the Lord and His promises.
• Blessed are those who believe, because we will find them true.
• Don’t be the ostrich with your head in the sand; ignore the truth.
You may choose to ignore God’s Word, but it will confront you one day.
• It pays therefore to believe it and obey Him.
• God’s Word will not change. We are 2000 years from Jesus’ time but the Bible stills hold true.
FOLLOW YOUR BUBBLES
Like scuba diving, when you’re deep underwater you’re surrounded by an aura of light which makes it very difficult to tell which way is up. Furthermore, having a sense of weightlessness, you have no sense of gravity. As such it is easy to get disoriented and lose your sense of direction.
Scuba divers look at the bubbles. It may even seem that your air bubbles are going sideways. One of the things the scuba-diver is taught is to always trust and follow his bubbles. No matter what you think or feel, your bubbles are always correct.
John 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
• The truth saves us; sincerity and a good heart will not.
SINCERITY CANNOT SAVE
Last week, Kay and I had an appointment in Pasadena and had to take separate cars. She was in the white van, and I was in the blue Olds. As we were going, we got in a little traffic jam, and I lost her. I saw what I thought was her white van, and went all the way to Downey before I realized I was following the wrong van. I got there half an hour late.
You can be sincere, but you can be sincerely wrong. The fact is it takes more than sincerity to make it in life. It takes truth.
- Rick Warren, "Myths That Make Us Miserable," Preaching Today, Tape No. 155.
Jesus reveals the truth to us. Listen to Him and do what is right and good.
And lastly, Jesus says, He is the LIFE!
• What we really want is not just to survive, but to have a life!
• Jesus says He has come to give us an abundant life – meaning & purpose.
• It does not necessary mean material abundance. You may have lots of possessions and yet live without meaning and purpose.
• We’ve many famous actors – with fame, status, power, and money, yet decided to end their lives prematurely, because they find life meaningless.
• These things cannot truly satisfy us.
We need to know that purpose of living, its meaning and its value.
• Such an abundant life, the Bible says, on Christ can give us.
• When we accept Jesus as our Saviour, our sin is forgiven and we have eternal life.
• We must treasure the relationship we have with Christ today.
Don’t put your faith in anything else. Don’t just grap anything that comes your way.
ONLY THREE PARACHUTES
An amusing story about the plane going over the Atlantic Ocean with the only people on board the pilot a scientist, a minister and a back packer. The plane has engine trouble and the pilot goes to the passengers to inform them of the situation. He explains that the plane is about to crash and that there is only three parachutes seeing that it’s his plane He informs them that he’s taking one and jumps out!
Leaving three passengers and two parachutes. The scientist says "Well I’m on the verge of a scientific breakthrough I will be sorely missed." So he jumps out, leaving the backpacker and the pastor.
So the minister says, "Look mate I’ve had a good life I know where I’m going and you have your whole life ahead of you, you take the last parachute."
Then before the Minister could finish his words the young back packer says, "No worries, mate, do you see that scientist who jumped out, "Yeah, he’s just jumped out with my backpack"
• It boils down to relationship. We are only as strong as our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
• The only relationship that will fulfil you is the relationship with Christ. The rest just click in and solve itself.
