Sermon Central
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What Does Christmas Want From You?
Contributed by Mike Fogerson on Aug 7, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: Christmas wants to give us a special gift that we won’t want to exchange.
What Does Christmas Want For You?
December 22, 2002 FBC, Chester, Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker
A On Christmas eve, Jarod’s parents became concerned because they could not find their young son.
a Finally, they checked his room and found the five-year-old sitting quietly on his bed. His mom said, "Jarod, we’ve been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing in your room?"
b Jarod replied, "Nothing! With you and God and Santa Claus watching me all the time, I can’t do anything!"
B Santa brings us what we deserve, God brings us what we don’t deserve.
a Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In the verses preceeding this one, Paul uses the metaphor of slavery to sin.
[16] Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? [17] But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. [18] You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness....[22] But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
b Paul told his captive audience that God’s gift of could set them free forever. (ETS)
C Christmas wants to give you a special gift that you won’t want to exchange for anything else. (ESS)
a I hope you’ll accept God’s gift of eternal life. (Objective)
b What gift are you getting for Christmas? (Probing Question)
T.S.: Let’s peek in on two gifts that we can get this Christmas.
Conclusion:
Paul told his captive audience that God’s gift of could set them free forever. (ETS)
Christmas wants to give you a special gift that you won’t want to exchange for anything else. (ESS)
A We’ve looked at two gifts that we can get this Christmas.
a The first gift was the gift we deserve this Christmas.
b The second gift is the gift Christmas desires to give us.
B I hope you’ll accept God’s gift of eternal life. (Objective)
a You can get what you deseverve or you can get what you don’t.
b Get Gift Certificate from second box. Make audience aware that the only way this gift is any good is if you accept it, redeem it. God wants you to be redeemed.
What gift are you getting for Christmas? (Probing Question)
I The first gift we’ll peek at is the gift we deserve this Christmas. (Rm. 6:23a)
"FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH...."
A In Santa’s book there are gifts for those who have been naughty/nice.
a You get what you deserve, earned...coal/switches.
b Romans 3:23 "FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD." We all deserve coal and switches. We’ve been naughty.
(IL.) What do coal and switches have in common? They both burn!
B The bible describes hell as a place full of "coal and switches."
a 34 X’s Hell & Fire, Mk. 9:43, 48 "fire never goes out." Matt. 25:41 "Eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Luke 16 Lazarus’ friend the rich man in agony in hell’s fire!!!!
b The New Testament interchange the words HELL & DEATH all the time!
*Many of us will spend our lives being slaves to sin and after we’ve finished our career of sinning we go to get our pension and we discover that it’s "DEATH" (Perhaps use novelty check with "Death" written in the "For The Sum Of" spot.)
T.S.: If we got what we deserved this Christmas, we would all be facing a pretty bleak holiday.
II The second gift we’ll peek at is the gift Christmas desires to give us. (Rm. 6:23b)
"BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD."
A The gift of eternal life is free, but it cost the heavenly father the life’s blood of his Son. (Jn. 3:16) Open second box
a God sacrificed so we could get this present. (He came from heaven to earth, glory of heaven for goats in a stable, left a throne to be born in a manger, royal Robe for swaddling clothes)
b In a real way, the wood of the manger and the wood of the cross are from the same tree. (Scream of God’s sacrifice)
B We deserve death, yet God wants to give us life.
a Eternal Life: Heaven, streets are asphalted with gold, walls of jasper, all-you-can-eat-all-day-long....it never turns night!!! (No tears, sorrow, regrets, disappointments, no telemarketers no trouble we’ll see.)
