Unexpected Gifts
At this time of the year we start thinking about buying Christmas gifts for our love ones. Have you ever been given a gift that you didn’t expect? Have you ever been given a gift that you thought you could never use? Have you ever been given the surprise of your life? Today we are going to look at some of the gifts that God as given.
First let’s look at Sarah and Abraham. The lord appeared to Abraham while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. Let’s read what was said to Abraham and Sarah’s reaction.
Gen 18:9-15
9 "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said.
10 Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"
13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, ’Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."
(NIV)
Sarah was barren and could not give Abraham any children, so she gave to her Husband her maidservant, Hagar, so that she could bear Abraham children. From the scriptures we know that Hagar gave Abraham a son named Ishmael. Sarah had given up all hope of having any children. When she overheard the Lord telling Abraham that Sarah would bear him a son, she laughed because she knew her time had passed and it was medically impossible for her to have children at her age. Plus she was old and tired and didn’t really look forward to raising a rambunctious boy. Aren’t you glad that nothing is impossible with God? He gave Sarah a child and even gave her the strength to raise him.
Have you ever laughed at things that God wanted you to do? I have. I would never have dreamed that I would be going into the ministry at the age of 55. When God called me for the ministry at the age of 15, I ran. God is a patient God. He waited until I was old and tired and could run no longer. God then said it is time. I laughed just as Sarah did until I realized that God was serious. Sarah soon realized that God was serious too, when she became pregnant with Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham and Sarah had prayed for many years, to be blessed with a son. God not only answered their prayers, but God told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and that through his offspring all nations on earth will be blessed. This is a covenant that has been fulfilled by the saving grace of Jesus Christ. So the gift was not just to Abraham and Sarah, but to all the people of the world that accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Now let’s look at another unexpected gift.
Luke 1:10-20
10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.
13 But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,
15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.
16 Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.
17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
18 Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
19 The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.
20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."
(NIV)
Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were unable to have children. They were now very old and Elizabeth was past childbearing years. This time it wasn’t the woman that laughed, it was Zechariah who did not believe. When the Angel fixed it so that Zechariah could not speak, I am sure that he believed then. Again this was not just a gift to Zechariah and Elizabeth, it was a gift to all of us. Their son John the Baptist came to prepare the way for our Savior Jesus Christ.
Do you have any unanswered prayers in your life? Have patience. God hears all of your prayers. He answers them when He knows the time is right. Always have faith that God hears your prayers. Then be still and listen for His answer. Most of all accept His answer, for God knows better than we do on what we do need and when we need it.
Now that I have accepted my Lord’s call to the ministry, I know that He will give me one of His churches to pastor, but it will be when He says it is time and not when I want it. God is all knowing and He knows when the church He has for me is ready and when I am ready for it. We must always be prepared for what ever God asks of us. We must learn to trust God in all things, great and small. When God tells you that He has a task for you, get ready; start preparing so that when He opens the door of opportunity, you are ready for the task at hand.
Now let’s look at our last unexpected gift.
Luke 1:26-35
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
(NIV)
Mary had not prayed for a child. She wasn’t married yet and was still a young virgin. Can you imagine her shock and surprise to hear that she was to become pregnant? She was to become pregnant without lying with a man. She would be overshadowed by the Power of the Most High (God) and carry the Son of God in her womb. This must have been an even greater shock. She must have been thinking how can God use a poor, plain, teenager like herself to give birth to the Son of God and the Savior of the World. God knew Mary’s heart and knew that she was worthy of such a task. God knew He could trust Mary and Joseph to raise His one and only Son. They did a great job, but that was because they listened to God and put all of their trust in Him. Have faith and trust God and He will never let you down.
Are we worthy in God’s eyes? Does God favor us? If you are living a righteous life, if you are doing God’s will, if you are putting God first and if you are worshipping God, then you are in God’s favor.
Let’s examine our lives today.
Have you accepted Christ not only has your Savior, but have you allowed Him to be the Lord of your life? This means that you are doing His will and not your own. If He has called you to teach the Children’s Sunday school, why haven’t you done it? If He has called you to serve in the church van ministry, why aren’t you doing it. If He has called you to be an Usher, then why haven’t you approached someone about it? Is it that these tasks are too trivial for you and you want something more exciting or is it that you just don’t want to be bothered or inconvenienced. What if Mary had said that she didn’t want to be bothered or that she wanted to enjoy her marriage to Joseph without having kids right away? Knowing that all blessings comes from God; we need to be excited about serving Him in any way that is asked of us even if it means that we may miss the Dallas cowboys game on TV or the first day of deer hunting.
Being a Christian, have you learned to give back to God what is His? God created us for fellowship with Him. Are you worshipping Him and reading His Word everyday? The more time that you spend in worship, the closer you will come to God and the more you will want to give of your time and tithes.
Being a Christian, are you fulfilling the great commission?
Mark 16:15-18
15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
(NIV)
If you are a Christian here today and are not fulfilling our Lord’s command to tell others about the Good News of Jesus Christ, then during the invitation get things right with God. Come to the altar in humbleness and get on your knees to ask God for guidance on how you are to serve Him and His Church. If you would like for someone to pray with you concerning servitude, come during the invitation and we will pray with you.
You may be a Christian here today looking for a church home. Bel Aire Baptist Church is a Bible believing; Bible reading; Bible preaching Church, which would be honored to have you as members if God is leading you to move your membership here. Come during the invitation.
If you are here today and you have never accepted Jesus as you Savior, the Holy Spirit is calling you. You know who you are. It is not an accident that you are here today hearing the word of God. Jesus left heaven, to be born as a man here on earth, so that you could have eternal life with God. Jesus suffered both humiliation and great physical pain while He was here. He was even beaten and nailed to a wooden cross to die. Christ did all of this for you. He did it because He loves you and wants to give you the undeserved gift of eternal life. He lived a perfect and sinless life that you cannot do. With sin in your life it is impossible for you to enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the blood that Jesus shed on that cross has a cleansing power, great enough to wash all of your sins away. You may be thinking, "How can I be certain of this?" You can be certain that all of this is true, because on the third day, God raised His Son, Jesus Christ, from that tomb where He was buried. Today Jesus is alive and sits at the right hand of God our Father in Heaven. Jesus is calling you to make that commitment today. Jesus is offering you not only salvation, but He will give you the Holy Spirit to comfort you and to lead you in the path of righteousness. When the music starts playing, start walking down the isle. You know God is calling you. You also know that if you don’t, you may not have another opportunity. None of us knows when we are going to die. You could die in a car accident this afternoon and without Christ as your Savior, you will spend eternity in a very real and painful place called hell. Are you willing to take that chance, just because you are afraid to take that first step? Come now as the music plays and accept Jesus as you Savior.
