--*ILL>A ten year old girl named Jenny went with her family and friends to see the Christmas light displays around the city. At one church they stopped and got out to look more closely at a beautiful nativity scene. Her grandma said to her, “Isn’t that beautiful! Look, Jenny, at all the animals, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus!” Jenny responded, saying, “Yes, grandma, it’s really nice, but there is one thing that bothers me: isn’t baby Jesus ever going to grow up? He’s the same size He was last year!”
<>Well, of course, Jesus did grow up, and His life and death and resurrection are the reasons we worship and the reason we can celebrate Christmas.
--Today we’re beginning the sermon series, “Pursuing Christmas.”
<>There are so many misunderstandings about Christmas...beginning with its meaning.
---If you ask people to tell you what Christmas means to them, you’re likely to hear things like “it’s a time for the family to get together,” or “a time to give presents,” or other things, such as singing Christmas carols, shopping, etc.
<>But actually Christmas is about worship!
---When our Roman Catholic friends say they’re going to a worship service, they call it going to Mass.
---Christmas MEANS the Mass of Christ, the worship of Christ.
---Of course, that’s a lot different from how many people celebrate it.
<>In the weeks to come we’re going to clear up some of the misunderstandings, separating legend from reality.
---We’re going to look at Christmas through the eyes of shepherds, Wise Men, an innkeeper, and Mary.
<>But in this first message, we’re going to examine why we give gifts at Christmas.
---Some believe giving gifts at Christmas started with the Wise Men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus.
---Others cite the legend of St. Nicholas, who liked bringing toys to boys and girls.
---But actually, giving a gift at Christmas started with GOD...when He gave His only Son.
<>Today I want us to examine THE GIFT THAT STARTED IT ALL.
--I invite you to open your Bible again, and this time turn to Philippians, chapter two.
---ILL>I’m reminded of Christmas morning at Joey’s grandpa’s house. Joey was so excited as he looked at the huge present that was wrapped with a big bow standing in the corner of the room, too big to fit under the tree. He saw his name on the tag, and could hardly wait for his grandpa to tell him it was his turn to open the present. You see, in Joey’s mind it had to be the best present of all because it was the biggest of all.
---What do you think it was? (Give congregation a time to guess)
-----Actually, I don’t know what it was! (I didn’t read the punch line of the story!)
<>What do YOU say makes a gift a really good gift?
--How big it is?
--How pretty it’s wrapped?
--How long it took the giver to purchase it?
--How much it cost?
>TODAY...I want us to examine...
WHAT MAKES THE GIFT THAT STARTED IT ALL SO VALUABLE...
<>THE GIFT IS VALUABLE BECAUSE OF...
1) WHO GAVE THE GIFT.
--John 3:16 -- “For GOD...gave...”
--<>Many times the value of a gift is wrapped up in who it was who gave it to you.
----ILL>This week I saw an ad in the Arizona Republic newspaper. It was an ad placed on behalf of someone’s grandmother, which said: “Lost: one pearl ring. Lost near 35th Avenue and Cactus. Setting is chipped from many years’ wear, has one diamond on each side of pearl. Great sentimental value. Large reward promised.”
------Yeh, it was a pearl ring, but notice the real urgency of seeking the lost ring was the sentimental value.
------No doubt the sentiment was wrapped around who gave grandma that ring.
----ILL>I’m holding in my hand this wristwatch. As you can see, it’s not an expensive watch. I could go to K-Mart and get one just like it for probably less than $20. But I treasure this wristwatch because my grandmother gave it to me after the death of my grandfather. It was his. Now it’s mine. Its street value?--Nothing. But to me it’s priceless because of WHOSE it was.
----ILL>Years ago in a Coca Cola commercial on t.v., Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Mean Joe Green is shown heading into the players’ tunnel to his dressing room after a hard game. A young fan gets his attention, then gives him a Coke. He takes the Coke and turns away to walk on down the tunnel, then stops. “Hey, kid!,” he yells. Then he takes off his sweaty, dirty jersey and throws it to the fan. The boy catches it, then shouts out, “Thanks, Mean Joe!”
------What made a stinky, sweaty, dirty jersey so valuable to this fan? It was because of who gave it to him. It wasn’t just any jersey, it was Mean Joe Green’s jersey! It was valuable because of WHO gave it.
--<>In the case of the Gift that started it all, the Gift itself is actually the most valuable gift ever given.
-----But part of its great value stems from Who gave it to us...our Heavenly Father.
-----For GOD...gave.
2) WHY IT WAS GIVEN.
--John 3:16 -- “For God so loved the world...”
----In English we just have one word for it: “Love.”
----But in Greek there are four words:
------Storge love is the word used for things like when we love sunrises, beauty, the great smell of a campfire, etc.
------Philos love is the word associated with brotherly love, when we talk about loving our friends, love for our fellow team members or fellow comrades as in our “band of brothers.”
------Eros love has to do with what we call erotic love, physical, sexual expression.
--<>And yet, when it comes to God’s love toward us, the word is Agape or Agapao.
----->Agape love carries no conditions, has no limits, never ends.
----->God’s love is a “warts and all” kind of love.
-----ILL>George Truett, longtime pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, once described what happened years ago there. One day the police reached Truett with a message that a boy who attended Sunday School at FBC had been accidentally shot by his little neighbor friend. When Truett arrived at the boy’s home the boy was unconscious while two doctors were treating him. The doctors told Truett that the boy was not going to live, that the shot was going to prove fatal. Truett found the boy’s father in a back room in the stupor of a terrible drunk. The next day Truett went back, and the dad was sobering up. The father would walk the floor with tears falling from his face as he looked at the little suffering nine year old boy. Bending over his son, he would say to his son, “My little man is better, and he will soon be well!” But the little boy feebly whispered to his dad, “No, papa. I will not get well.” The father then protested, “No, you will get better, and I will become a good man. I will change my ways!” The little boy kept trying to say something, and Truett finally got the dad to lean over and hear what his son was trying to say. The son told his father, “When I am gone, papa, I want you to remember that I loved you, even if you DID get drunk.” That sentence broke his father’s heart. He left the room, and a few minutes later Truett found him lying prone upon his face, behind the house, sobbing with a broken heart. The dad said to Truett, “Sir, after my child loves me like that, ought not I straighten up and be the right kind of man?” Truett then told the dad, “I have a story ten times sweeter than that to tell you. God’s only begotten Son loved you well enough to come down from heaven and die for you, Himself the just, for the unjust, that He might bring you to God.” The man surrendered his life right then and there to Jesus. In the months that followed, the man was a regular at prayer meetings at the church and would frequently give his testimony, with tears streaming down his cheeks, explaining that it was love that brought him home when everything else had failed. They had criticized him, scolded him, railed at him, pelted him with harsh words because he drank. Then a little boy said, “Papa, I love you, even if you do get drunk,” and love won the day when everything else failed.
--<>Giving is the natural response of love.
-----So, because God so LOVES us, He gave...
--<>Christmas is the time God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, the Father sent Jesus TO us, and Christ died FOR us.
3) HOW IT WAS WRAPPED.
--Most Christmas gifts are wrapped so that you can’t readily tell what’s inside until you open the package.
---ILL>The notorious can of Spam that gets passed along at our annual Christmas White Elephant Gift Exchange Party more than likely won’t be detectable as a can of spam in how it’s wrapped. Otherwise, no one would pick it as the gift they choose to open or barter with.
--<>In the same way, the Gift that started it all came “wrapped” in a surprising way.
-----Its true value remained “hidden” to the first recipients until they “opened” the package, and received the Gift.
-----It is still that way today: there’s no way to truly appreciate the gift until you accept it, and open your heart to receive it.
--->IT WAS WRAPPED IN SWADDLING CLOTHES.
------Luke 2:12 -- “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.”
------Even those who were expecting a Messiah weren’t looking for a baby in swaddling clothes.
--------They were looking for a grown-up King...in royal robes.
------Even those who were expecting a Messiah weren’t looking for Him in a lowly manger.
--------They were expecting to find Him in a palace, in a royal residence.
------Even those who were expecting a Messiah weren’t looking for Him to be surrounded by a poor carpenter and a young peasant mother.
--------They were expecting Him to be surrounded by angels and powerful warriors.
--->IT WAS WRAPPED IN A “MAN SUIT” -- CLOTHED IN HUMANITY.
------Philippians 2:7 -- “(Jesus) emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
------The term is “incarnation.”
--------The root is “carna,” meaning body or the flesh.
--------We talk about carnal knowledge or behaving carnally, referring to the body or responding to our fleshly desires.
--------We use the phrase “carnivore” to refer to a man or beast that eats meat or eats flesh.
-----ILL>A father was putting his four-year old son to bed. Having finishing prayers, having read stories, and after having done all the little bedtime things, he kissed his son and turned the light off. His son started sobbing, “Don’t leave me. I’m scared and don’t want to stay here alone.” The father tried to encourage the little boy to remember that God’s presence was with him always. But the little boy responded, “I know God’s Spirit is here, but I want somebody with skin on.”
---->That’s Who Jesus is: God with skin on.
------ILL>A Christmas card by Dayspring cards says it well: “The Word did not become a philosophy, a theory, or a concept to be discussed, debated or pondered. Instead, the Word became FLESH...the Word became a PERSON to be followed, enjoyed, and loved.”
---->Jesus came and dwelt among us...was tempted like we are, but never sinned...because He’s God in the flesh...He’s God with skin on....He’s God in a “man suit.”
4) HOW MUCH IT COST.
----John 3:16 -- “...His only begotten Son...”
----Philippians 2:8 -- “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
----Romans 5:8 -- “For God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
--<>God the Father spared no expense.
-----He’s like Hallmark: He cared enough to give the very best.
--<>God the Father has given us the most precious gift He could possibly give...
-----He gave us the Gift that cost Him the most of any gift He could have given.
-----He gave us the Gift more valuable to Him than anything.
-----He gave us something that is one of a kind...He gave us His one and only Son.
--<>And He didn’t just give His Son to us for us to look at.
-----He gave us His Son to die for us.
--<>How much pain did the Father endure as His only begotten Son was beaten, nailed to a cross, jeered by the crowd He was sent to die for? As He slowly bled out?
-----How painful was it for the Father to endure when He could have stopped it...but didn’t...because of His love for us!
----LYR>Earlier today we heard the words: “How deep the Father’s love for us! How vast beyond all measure, that He would give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure! How great the pain of searing loss: the Father turns His face away as wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory.”
--<>APP>If you judge the greatness of a gift by its cost, then the Gift that started it all is the greatest gift ever!
5) HOW USEFUL IT IS…
----John 3:16 -- “...so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
----1 John 4:10 -- “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
---I’ve done some research, and I’ve discovered that the death rate here in Maricopa County....is 100%.
-----And it’s the same in every other county, and every other country in the world.
--<>And yet, talk about a useful gift, God has given us the gift of eternal life...wrapped up in Jesus.
--<>The Gift that started it all enables us to keep on living...God has provided us with eternal life.
------Romans 6:23 -- “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
------1 John 5:11-12 -- “...God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
-----ILL>A little boy was allowed to select a dog for his birthday present. At the pet store he was shown a number of puppies. From them he chose one whose tail was wildly wagging. When asked why he selected that particular dog, he explained: “I wanted the one with the happy ending.”
----In the Gift that started it all, the Father has given us the assurance of a happy ending...eternal life with Him.
-----ILL>In the game of Monopoly one of the most valuable cards is the “Get out of jail free” card.
-------But in the Gift that started it all the Father has given us a “Get out of hell free” card, wrapped up in a relationship with Jesus.
----How much more valuable could a gift ever be than that?
--<>That Gift that started it all keeps on giving...It enables us to enjoy the greatest life on earth too.
-----John 10:10 -- “The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.”
-----The truth is that even if there wasn’t a heaven (although we know there is), a relationship with Jesus would still be worth it in living down here to the full.
--<>APP>If you judge the greatness of a gift by its usefulness, the Gift that started it all is the greatest gift ever!
6) HOW EFFECTIVE IT IS.
----2 Corinthians 5:17 -- “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
----Philippians 3:7,10 -- “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ...that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”
---ILL>If I get a toaster for Christmas, I expect it to make toast. If I get a d.v.d. player, I expect it to play d.v.d.’s. If I get a hair curler, I’ll save it for re-gifting.
--<>The question that needs to be asked: Does the gift do what it was intended to do?
--<>How effective is the Gift that started it all?
-----Has it effected a change in your life?
-----Billions throughout the ages have given testimony of how their lives have been changed by it.
-------They’ve found forgiveness and hope.
-----Millions around the world gather every week to truly “Christmas,” to worship Christ.
-----Missionaries and Bible interpreters have laid down their lives in their efforts to bring the good news of Jesus to distant lands, in languages that they can understand it...even if it costs them their lives.
-----Men and women all through the last 2,000 years have given up riches and comfort, left lucrative professions, chosen the road less traveled and the road the world deems less prestigious...in order to serve Lord.
-------It’s that powerful!
--<>APP>If you judge the greatness of a gift by how much your life is changed as a result, this is greatest gift ever!
BRINGING IT HOME...
--Today, the Gift that started it all IS here in the room...it’s wrapped up with your name on it, awaiting your acceptance, awaiting you to receive it and open it up.
--Of course, the Gift has a name: His name is Jesus.
---->It’s big....It cost a lot...It was given by God Himself...because He loves you...and it will change your life for the good...and forever.
--<>Have you opened it yet?
