The Gifts Of Christmas: Love Series

The Gifts of Christmas: Love

Scott Bayles, adapted from Outreach

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 12/11/2016

What would Christmas be without the songs and carols?

Even if you wanted to, there is no possible way for you to escape hearing Christmas carols over the next few weeks. In church, while you’re shopping, while you’re on hold with the cable company, out of kids’ mouths, 24/7 on WBGL you’re going to be inundated with Christmas carols. I, for one, love Christmas music.

Bear with me, then, because today we are going to play a little game. It’s called “Name That Christmas Song.” I’ll read a phrase from a well-known song, and you try to think of the title. Ready? Here we go.

• We’re snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be. (“Sleigh Ride”)

• When we finally kiss goodnight, how I’ll hate going out in the storm. But if you really hold me tight, all the way home I’ll be warm. (“Let It Snow”)

• Ho ho the mistletoe is hung where you can see. Somebody waits for you. Kiss her once for me. (“Holly Jolly Christmas”)

• Mistletoe hung where you can see, every couple tries to stop. (“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”)

• In the meadow we can build a snowman and pretend that he is Parson Brown. He’ll say are you married, we’ll say no man. But you can do the job when you’re in town. (“Winter Wonderland”)

Do you notice a theme here? Valentine’s Day may get all the glory for being the holiday of love, but it’s seems like Christmas has cornered the market as the season of love and romance. In fact, in the “2014 American Wedding Study” conducted by Brides magazine, researchers found that 19 percent of all engagements occur in December, making it the most popular month to get engaged. And can you guess what day is the most popular to pop the question? Statistics show that Christmas Eve is the most popular day for engagements. Facebook confirmed this last year, showing that Christmas Eve is the most popular day to get engaged, followed by Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and then Valentine’s Day.

Whether or not you have someone to snuggle up together with or meet under the mistletoe, Christmas is the season of love—and not just because couples find it romantic.

If you were with us last week, you know that we began a journey through the true gifts of Christmas. We’re unwrapping the four most important gifts we could ever receive. Last Sunday, we unwrapped the gift of hope. We talked about experiencing past hope, present hope and patient hope during the Advent season. The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival,” and this season offers us the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, to celebrate His birth, and to be alert for His second coming.

The second gift of Christmas that we’ll unwrap this Advent season is love. Advent is a season for rediscovering the coming of our Savior—and for gaining even greater understanding of how wide and long and high and deep His love is for us. This is the gift we unwrap today.

There one verse in the Bible marked by love that encapsulates the Christmas story. I’m going to guess that if I just say the reference John 3:16, many of us in the room hear the familiar verse run through our heads automatically. Just in case, it goes like this: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

This single sentence sums up the story of Christmas and highlights God’s love in sending Jesus. The problem is, sometimes we are so familiar with this verse that we can recite it and look right past it, but here we discover one of the greatest Christmas gifts of all—the gift of love.

In fact, if we break it down we’ll see four aspects of God’s love contained in this beloved verse. First, we see the origin of love.

• ORIGIN OF LOVE

Jesus begins this sentence with the words, “God so loved…” (John 3:16). Love at Christmastime or anytime, begins with God. Love has been God’s story from the beginning. From the moment of creation, God’s love was part of the fabric of our world. God’s love was with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden both before and after sin entered the world. God showed His love by saving Noah and his family from the flood and giving them a new start. In the Old Testament God gave the commandments and law out of love for his children. And His love turned the world inside out when He sent His Son to live among us.