Fragrance of The Father VI
“Our Cross for Christ After Christmas”
Script. Philippians 2:1 - 11 (NIV)
Introduction:
In Max Lucado’s book the “Applause of Heaven” reads, Even though by the “book” I’m guilty, by God’s love I get another chance. Even though by the law I’m indicted, by mercy I’m given a fresh start.
“For it is by grace you have been saved … not by works, so that no one can boast.” 9
No other world religion offers such a message. All others demand the right performance, the right sacrifice, the right chant, the right ritual, the right séance or experience. Theirs is a kingdom of trade-offs and barterdom. You do this, and God will give you that.
The result? Either arrogance or fear. Arrogance if you think you’ve achieved it, fear if you think you haven’t.
Christ’s kingdom is just the opposite. It is a kingdom for the poor. A kingdom where membership is granted, not purchased. You are placed into God’s kingdom. You are “adopted.” And this occurs not when you do enough, but when you admit you can’t do enough. You don’t earn it; you simply accept it. As a result, you serve, not out of arrogance or fear, but out of gratitude.
I recently read a story of a woman who for years was married to a harsh husband. Each day he would leave her a list of chores to complete before he returned at the end of the day. “Clean the yard. Stack the firewood. Wash the windows ….”
If she didn’t complete the tasks, she would be greeted with his explosive anger. But even if she did complete the list, he was never satisfied; he would always find inadequacies in her work.
After several years, the husband passed away. Some time later she remarried, this time to a man who lavished her with tenderness and adoration.
One day, while going through a box of old papers, the wife discovered one of her first husband’s lists. And as she read the sheet, a realization caused a tear of joy to splash on the paper.
“I’m still doing all these things, and no one has to tell me. I do it because I love him.”
That is the unique characteristic of the new kingdom. Its subjects don’t work in order to go to heaven; they work because they are going to heaven. Arrogance and fear are replaced with gratitude and joy.
Transitional:
We give and serve one another because of the love that is in our hearts; it is easy to give to the ones we love. In loving Christ it will be easy for us to give out to others.
We give at Christmas time out of a heart of love but should the giving stop after Christmas is over?
I. Let’s talk About The Giving Of Christmas:
1. The giving of Christmas I’m not talking about presents I‘m talking about the giving of ourselves to the ones we love.
2. The sacrifices that we make during this time of the year for those we love.
3. However you might ask how does this tie into God’s word?
4. Boy, I’m so glad you asked!
5. Philip Makari has a little to say about giving which is good, “Here I speak of a special type of giving, the giving of our total selves first to God.
6. It is the giving of body, soul and spirit for God’s use that we may achieve, for ourselves and for others, the higher ends of God.
7. This is not, as you can see, charity giving. This is dedication giving.
8. It is the giving of who and what we are.
9. It is the type of giving expressed in a an engraved picture on one of the ancient cathedrals in Europe where an apostle stands between an altar and a plough, the symbols of dieing and serving, with the inscription, ‘READY FOR EITHER.”
10. This rule of sacrificially giving of ourselves that we might prepare the way of the Lord is like the case in all the experiences of life.
11. It is a common- sense rule that applies to all the situations of life:
12. Without serving that which we need to achieve, we simply can’t achieve it.
13. Life is a series of giving’s that we might gain.
14. Only where there is input can we expect an output.
15. Only when we deposit, can we expect return.
16. Don’t participate, don’t expect. No pain, no gain.
17. Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could.”
18. You might ask what does this has to do with Christmas.
19. At Christmas time we sacrifice what we want for other people.
20. We sacrificially give to those we love.
21. It is fun to give to someone else.
22. To see the excitement on their faces and the surprise look of enjoyment that words cannot describe in what they received.
23. That is why we cam cord and take pictures to capture the surprise joyful look at our family and friends.
24. Giving makes us feel good and it makes the one we gave to feel equally as good.
25. Seeing our children laugh and have fun is the joy of every parent at Christmas time.
26. Seeing our spouse happy is the joy of marriage.
27. Giving to a friend is the joy of friendship.
28. In a sense God is taking snap shots of us his children when we give to others to sacrifice our need for the need of another.
29. Where some day we will be rewarded for the good that we have done for others out of compassion and love from our hearts.
30. Like in a Star Trek movie where Spock says to Captain Kirk, “The needs of the many out weight the needs of the few.”
31. Verses 1-4 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
32. Doesn’t this sound like Christmas time, do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility consider others better than yourself, look not only at your own interest but to the interest of others.
33. This is a command that out of love we should do this all the time all year long.
Transitional:
When we draw closer to Jesus the more his attitudes and mannerisms we will take to our own personality traits as a natural consequence that happens when we allow Jesus into our hearts.
II. Oh To Have Christmas All Year Long:
1. I’m not talking about buying presents all year long but the attitudes of Christmas all year long.
2. The attitude of the giving of ourselves to others for the sake of Jesus Christ.
3. Matthew 5:42 (NIV) Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
4. Matthew 6:2 - Matthew 6:4 (NIV)
2“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5. Luke 6:37 - Luke 6:38 (NIV)
38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
6. Whatever we do, it will be given back to us.
7. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
8. Galatians 6:7 - 10 (NIV)
7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature£ will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
9. We will reap what we have sown.
10. Illustration: On Christmas morning, the children in a family do not usually all receive the same gifts.
One gets a football, one a puzzle, another receives a dollhouse, and another a table game.
Yet, although each child does not receive the same gifts as the others, the parents intend the gifts to be enjoyed by all the children as they use them together.
The same is true of the gifts God gives His children.
We do not all have the same gift, but we are all to use our gift for the good of all in God’s family. Contributed by: A. Todd Coget
11. All of us receive different gifts at Christmas time to some are personal some are not but all gifts will benefit everyone.
12. When both spouses are happy with their personal gifts doesn’t that in turn make for a happy atmosphere for everyone else.
13. All of us have gifts that everyone can benefit from.
14. We must use our gifts to give to others all year long.
15. Wouldn’t it be fun to have Christmas all year long?
16. In a sense we can have Christmas all year long.
17. The meaning of Christmas is in the giving, sacrificial giving.
18. To be a giving person requires a mental change in our attitudes.
19. As Rick Warren says, “God is always more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements.
20. When we stop focusing on our own needs, we become aware of the needs around us.”
21. Verse 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Transitional:
Jesus life was compiled from a life time of giving, serving those in need of what he had to give, himself.
III. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ:
1. Verse 7 but made himself nothing (RSV says he emptied himself), taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
2. Verse 8 says he humbled himself.
3. Rick Warren poses an interesting question, “when was the last time you emptied yourself for someone else’s benefit?”
4. Andrew Murray- The cross of Christ is His greatest glory. Because he humbled himself by dying on the cross in our place, therefore God has highly exalted him.
5. The cross was the power that conquered Satan and sin.
6. As Christians we share with Christ in the cross.
7. Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit, and we live as one who has died with Christ.
8. As we realize the power of Christ’s crucifixion, we live as one who has died to the world and to sin.
9. Christ, the crucified one, lives in us.
10. Jesus said, to his disciples: ”If any of you wants to be my follower…you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
11. They had seen men carrying a cross.
12. They knew that it meant a painful death.
13. All his life Christ bore his cross-the death sentence that he should die for the world.
14. As Christians we must bear the cross, acknowledging that we are worthy of death, believing that we are crucified with Christ, and that the crucified one Lives in us.
15. “Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ”(Romans 6:6).
16. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there”(Galatians 5:24).
17. When we have accepted this life of the cross, we will be able to say:” God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ “(Galatians 6:14)
18. As Christians we share in the cross of Jesus Christ.
19. We need to crucify our selfish natures to his cross in order that the fragrance of his Spirit will rest upon us.
20. Everything that self represents is an affront to Christ.
21. Romans 8:5 - 8 (NIV)
5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
Transitional:
So as Christians we need to pick up our cross in the 21st century for Jesus Christ.
In Conclusion:
Our Sacrifice Is It Worth The Price? :
1. Matthew 11:28 -30 (NIV)
28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
2. Every one of us as our own cross to carry for him, we cannot carry our cross like someone else for each of us is unique, so therefore our crosses that we carry are unique also.
3. Each of us has differing gifts to share with others that is why Paul compares the church to the body.
4. Matthew 16:21 - 28 (NIV)21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
5. All of us have got to pick up our own crosses and follow him, to lose our life in him in order to really find it.
6. To know what the meaning of life is all about is to find it in him.
7. Paul J. Meyer wrote in Unlocking Your Legacy: "Cost and self-sacrifice do not make something hard. Nobody feels sorry for the athlete who wins an Olympic medal, even though the person paid an incredible price through grueling effort behind the scenes, denying himself or herself certain things, probably for several years, all for one hopeful brief moment of glory. The medal, once attained, minimizes every cost and self-sacrifice."
Meyer continues, "Following God is similar in many respects. There are costs and self-sacrifice to be made, but that does not mean it is hard to follow God. Hard is when you compete but never win, invest but lose everything, work but receive nothing for your efforts, and show love but receive hate in return.... When I compare my costs and self-sacrifices with what I have already received and will receive in return, my costs and self-sacrifices are insignificant!"
8. The sacrifices we make for God yield great returns when we get to heaven.
9. Can we have Christmas all year long?
10. Of course we can, “giving” is in the attitude, if we have the attitude of giving we can do it all year long.
11. Charles Thomas Studd (1860-1931) had this motto: "If Jesus Christ is God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." Contributed by: Martin Dale
12. Is that your prayer and aim?
13. Verse 8 he became obedient to death even death on the cross, so that we in turn might find life in that same cross.
14. Pick up your cross to find the true meaning of life, to find abundant life in him.
15. When we do the fragrance of the father will be upon our lives for others to feel and want to experience for themselves.
