December 7th, 2003
Let us pray.
Welcome...
Today is the second Sunday of Advent, and when we say Advent, we are talking about
our Lord’s coming to earth in human form, coming as God incarnate; God in the flesh.
This was the first Advent. Christ will come again, not as a baby, but he will come "in great
power and glory to raise the dead, judge the world, and destroy the earth." This will be the
second advent. I trust we all will be ready when our Lord shall come again.
Our topic for today will be, "The Gift of Christmas." Please turn with me in your
Bibles to Ephesians 2 verses 4 through 10, Let’s all stand
and read together. Please shake five persons hands and say, I am looking for my gift.
By the way, what do you mean by, I am looking for my gift? Are you expecting someone
to buy you a gift, or are you searching to buy yourself a gift? It seems somehow we have
lost the focus as to whose birthday we are celebrating. It seems the focus of Christmas
has been lost amongst gifts. "The joy of the season has become the joy of giving and
receiving gifts." A wife may ask her husband, what are you getting me for Christmas? or
the husband might ask his wife what are you getting me for Christmas? If you have
children, they will make a list as to what they want for Christmas. There is nothing wrong
in giving and receiving of gifts at Christmas time. It’s alright to look for a gift, and give a
gift at Christmas time, but please note very carefully, "It does not matter how many toys
you pass out at the orphanage, or nursing home, without the true meaning of Christmas it
is all in vain."
I would like to submit to you today, that there is a gift that we can share this Christmas
that is greater than any other gift you can give. I would like to talk about this gift, the true
gift of Christmas. The gift that God gave us, the gift of his son Jesus.
If you are on a budget, and you are carefully guarding your spending, you will be always
out there looking for a good bargain. On Friday, November 28th, the day after Thanks-giving, I left home very early that morning looking for a good bargain. Did you know that
the day after Thanksgiving is one of the biggest shopping days in America. I heard on the
news that on Friday November 28th, Wal-Mart made 1.52 billion dollars. Do you know
how much is a billion dollars? In America it is 1 plus nine zeroes or we could say one
thousand million, but in Britain, one billion is one million million or 1 with 12 zeroes, that’s
a lot of money.
Wal-Mart knows how to make money, when you walk into the front door of Wal-Mart
there is a greeter standing there with a big smile, a smile that makes you feel welcome and
send you on your way to go shopping......elaborate..shopping with a smile, shopping with some nice music.........
Christmas is a time of gifts, and that means it is a time of shopping, It is a time when
many of us will be saying quite often, charge it, because we have no money to spend.
Ever since the wise men from the East brought their gifts to Jesus people have been
exchanging gifts ever since. It is alright to give and receive gifts, but please be careful in
your spending, and please do not use your tithes and offerings to purchase
gifts......elaborate.. some of you might have to get caught up with your tithes before the
year comes to an end..........
This year, like many other years, millions of people both children and adults will open
millions of gifts. Some wont fit, some will be the wrong color or size, some will be stored
away in the basement, some gift you wont like, and so the day after Christmas many will
be back at the store to return or exchange their gifts. I was in my basement a few days ago
and I noticed a gift that I had bought for a family member several years ago, I will not say
which family member it is, but the gift was taken out of the wrapping paper, it is still in the
box, and never been used........elaborate..
I am sure many of us here today could tell stories of gifts gone bad at Christmas time. I
want you to know that there is one gift that meets everyone’s need. This gift I am talking
about will never wear out, it will never break, it will never need repairs, this gift comes
with an eternal warranty. It does not matter who you are, boy or girl; man or wo-man;
rich or poor; black or white; short or tall; fat or slim; this gift is appropriate for you.
This gift is the gift that we all need, the Gift of Christmas who is Jesus Christ our Lord.
This gift is worth more than any other gifts you have been given; ................elaborate.
Let’s look at our text for today starting at Verse 4, But God who is rich. That word rich
means having an abundant supply. And the God we are talking about has an abundant
supply of mercy. He has more than enough mercy for you and for me. There is enough
mercy because he loves us so much. Love is one of God’s attributes, "but when this love
is related to sinners, it becomes grace and mercy." God is rich both in grace and mercy.
We all deserve to die, but in His mercy God did not give us what we deserve, and in His
grace He gives us what we do not deserve. All this is made possible because of the death
of Je-sus Christ on the cross, the one who is our gift of Christmas. When we were
spiritually dead, lost in our sins, doomed in our sins, the God who is so loving quickened
us together. That word quicken means to restore to life. God made us alive even when we
were dead in our sins. We might have thought we were doing fine, but we were spiritually
dead until God gave us back our lives, and made us alive through the gift of Christmas
who is Jesus Christ our Lord......elaborate....
Look at verse 6 of our text (read) We who were dead, graveyard dead, lying in the
grave, could not help ourselves, God lifted us up, he exalted us, he raised us up from the
grave, and now we are sitting in heavenly places along with Christ Je-sus, the gift of
Christmas. God did not raise us up and left us in the graveyard, but He made us to sit in
heavenly places. Yes we are physically here on earth, "but our spiritual position is in
heavenly places in Christ Je-sus," and one of these days we shall be with him. Because of
Je-sus Christ, the gift of Christmas, we are now somebody, we are now children of the
king, and now we can be seated in heavenly places. We all should be thanking God for the
gift of Christmas, Je-sus Christ our Lord......elaborate... I have my Christmas gift, because I have Je-sus. I have a friend that no one can take away from me. Friends on earth may
forsake me, friends on earth may push me aside, but thank God my friend will be with me........"What a friend we have in Je-sus.......
Let’s look at verses 7 through 9 of our text (read) It is said that "God’s purpose in our
redemption is not simple to rescue us from hell, as great a work as that is. His ul-ti-mate
purpose in our salvation is that for all eternity the Church might glorify God’s grace."
When we say grace, we are talking about salvation completely apart from any merit or
works on our part. We are talking about the free undeserved favour of God. The apostle
Paul insists that it is by grace that we are saved. We can do all the good works that we
can, but the fact still remains, it is by grace that we are saved. We have nothing to do with
our salvation, but simple to accept Je-sus the gift of Christmas. We have not earned it, and
we could never have earned it, it is simple a free gift from God, and all we have to do is
accept it. If someone came to you this Christmas and gave you a package and say this is
your Christmas gift, and said that you owed them some money, then that would not be a
gift, because a gift is always free. Salvation is God’s gift to man, it is God’s Christmas gift
to you......
If salvation was by works there would be a lot of people boasting about what they have
done, or what they are going to do; but thanks be to God works has nothing to do with
our salvation. When Je-sus Christ our gift of Christmas died on the cross, the veil of the
temple was torn in two, from the top to the bottom, making it known that the way to God
was now open. As a result, there would be no more need for earthly sacrifices. Jesus
Christ, the gift of Christmas paid it all, and he has finished the great work of salvation.
"God did it all, and He did it by His grace," and salvation is offered to the whosoever
will that will accept it.
In verse 10 of our text it reads like this (read) That word workmanship means, "that
which is made, a manufactured product." We who are saved are now a part of God’s
"new creation" and God continues to work in us to make us what He wants us to be.
Those rough edges He has to chip away. Those bad attitudes He has to control. Those
nasty temper and unforgiven Spirit, He has to put under control through the work of the
Holy Spirit. Thank God, He is still working on me, to make me what I ought to be. God’s
purpose is to make us more like Christ, our gift of Christmas. In 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17
it states, "Therefore if any man be Christ ......elaborate...
Sometimes it might take a long time for God working in us, for some it might be a life
time. God spent 40 years working in Moses before he could work through him. Moses started off his ministry depending on his own strength. He killed an Egyptian, and he left town. Away from home, away from friends, "as a humble shepherd in the desert, Moses
experienced God’s working in his life, a working that prepared him for 40 more years of magnificent service."
For 13 years Joseph suffered "before God put him on the throne of Egypt, second to Pharaoh." As a youth David was anointed king, "but he did not gain the throne until he had suffered many years as an exile." Saints of God, the great Almighty God "has to work
in us before He can work through us." As a Christian are you going through trying times?
Maybe God is just working in you. Do you sometimes feel you are severely tested? Maybe God is just working in you. Do you feel sometimes you are going in circles, and it seems nothing is being done? Maybe God is just working in you. Does it seems sometimes the world has turned against you, and those who are close to you have turned their backs on you? Maybe God is just working in you. God cannot work through us unless He works in us. It is important for us as Christians to find the time daily to spend in the
Word and prayer, and to yield to Christ during times of suffering. It is through the Word, prayer and suffering that God works in us...........elaborate...
We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. We are not saved by our good works, but saved unto good works. The good works that we do is not to glorify ourselves but to glorify God. All the good works in the world cannot put us right with God; good works
cannot earn salvation, but once we have been put right with God, once we have been saved there should be good works. If we are saved, if we are children of God, and there is no good works being produced or manifested in our lives, then something is wrong. Please note very carefully, we cannot manufacture these good works, they "are the results of
the work of God in our hearts." Paul writes in Philippians 2 verse 13, "For it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The evidence of our good works is that we have been born again. In Matthew 7 verse 21 we read, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
These works are not only good, but they are prepared; good works which God hath before ordained or prepared that we should walk in them. The unbeliever, that
unsaved person walks according to the course of this world, but the believer, the child of God walks in the good works God has ordained or prepared for him.
Are you still looking for your gift, if so, I present to you Jesus, He is the gift of Christmas. It is said that, "He is the comforter who brings comfort in times of trials. He is the Holy One whom we can put all trust and find all peace. He is the redeemer who
erase all our sins. He is the I am that is all powerful God who is greater than any problem.
He is the Son of God who destroys the works of Satan. He is the teacher who taught us how to live as overcomers. He is the man of sorrows who was broken for our healing. He is our advocate who takes our petitions to God. He is our Savior who has saved the
whole world." Just like any other gift that you are given, it has to be received, and so on this second Sunday of Advent I give to you Jesus The Gift of Christmas, will you receive Him..........
Let us stand
Call to Discipleship
Closing song/prayer
