Mark 10:45

I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said it is more blessed to give than to receive.

As we look forward to celebrating Christmas in just a couple of weeks, this season reminds us of giving and receiving. Lord, we thank You for the gift that You have given to us, which this holiday centers our attention on. We have perhaps seen the stickers, the pens, or the signs that say, "Jesus is the reason for the season." In the midst of all that's going on, we can lose sight of the reason we celebrate: that, Father, You gave to us Your Son. Jesus, You came into the world for a very clear purpose.

As we think on that purpose and consider this gift that has been given to us, I pray, God, that You would help us to apply the principles and truths that we see in Your coming. May we be able to apply what we see here in this passage: that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I pray that You would speak to us today by Your Holy Spirit and through Your Word, and that there would be an effect in our lives. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those who agreed said, "Amen."

You can be seated. This morning, as we do regularly here at Cross Connection, we are going to partake of communion together in just a few minutes. We will do things a little out of order from the way we normally do. We usually have communion at the end of the service, but there is a little change this morning.

As we partake in just a few minutes and observe this Christian ceremony, which is really a sacrament, we celebrate what Jesus did for us. When we have the two elements of communion, which we will in a moment, the bread and the...

Cup, we're remembering what He did for us: that His body was broken for us and that His blood was shed for us. The ceremony was given to us for us to remember, to always keep in mind these things. None of us were there 2,000 years ago to see His death, burial, and resurrection. We think back on those events with trust and faith in those who were eyewitnesses, but it is rather intangible to us.

However, when we partake of communion, that which is intangible becomes tangible. We're able to touch, see, and taste, and we are brought back into remembrance of what the Lord has done for us when He laid down His life. The night that He did that, the night He partook of this with His disciples, is recorded in Luke's Gospel, chapter 22, verse 19. It states that He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying to them, "This is My body which is given for you." Those two words are essential to this whole event: "This is My body which was given for you."

In the very next verse, likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood which is shed for you." So, twice in those two verses, we focus on those words: "This is for you." It is for us to remember what He did for us. This was the purpose of His coming—to lay down His life for us.

As we remember Christmas this season, and as we will do in just a couple of weeks together, we celebrate His birth. His coming into the world was for a very specific purpose and plan: He came to die for us. In Mark's Gospel, we find the theme verse, the key verse of the whole book, in chapter 10, verse 45. Jesus said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many." That is the purpose of His coming—to give His life as a ransom for many. He came to give. He came to give it all. He came to give His life for the ransom and lives of others. This was always the purpose, always the plan of Jesus when He came.

In fact, even 700 years before Jesus came into this world, a prophet named Isaiah predicted...

His coming for that purpose is especially highlighted in Isaiah chapter 53. If you're in the book of Acts, you'll find yourself about the middle of your Bible. You'll come across Psalms and Proverbs right around there. If you're in Psalms and Proverbs, turn to the right. You'll pass Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, and then you'll arrive at the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah chapter 53 was written 700 years before Jesus came into the world, 700 years before He would be crucified. Yet, the passage here beautifully depicts the transaction that took place on the cross. In Isaiah 53, verse 1, the prophet writes, "Now notice this." In verse 4, he continues, "He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb before the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth."

He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people, he was stricken. They made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; He has put him to grief when you shall make his soul an offering for sin.

He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him. He was wounded for our transgressions and has borne our griefs. He is the one who is laid down as an offering for our sin. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, in one of my favorite verses of the Bible, writes this.

He says, "I don't think there's any person who would disagree that we live in a broken world. It's very clear the brokenness of this world. Sometimes the brokenness of this world impacts us personally, but oftentimes we see it at a distance. We see it in the news. We see it in co-workers' lives. At times, it impacts us personally. That brokenness is in the world because of sin.

At the beginning, God created everything good. In Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 2, He creates, and everything that He creates is good. It's perfect. But then, in Genesis chapter 3, man rebelled against God, and through man's rebellion, called sin, sin and death entered the world. Death spread to all humanity, and now we experience the brokenness of that sin and of that curse.

To deal with that, Jesus came into the world. That's why He came. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. He laid down His life to bear our sin and our griefs, to be an offering for sin. He who knew no sin, who had never sinned, became sin for us, that we might receive God's righteousness.

When you look at the gospel account, it's not just recorded in the four gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The whole of the Scriptures point to this good news of the gospel. However, there is a sense in which you begin to ask the question, why? Why would God do all this for us? We rebelled against Him. We turned away from Him. Shouldn't it be us who are trying to work our way back to Him? Of course, that's what religion does. That's what religion says.

But instead, He came and paid it all, as we sang. He dealt with the penalty and the power of sin as He took our sin upon Himself. He has borne our griefs, our sorrows, our iniquities. Why? Well, of course, when you ask the question of why, our minds often go back to what is perhaps the most famous, definitely the most translated verse of the Bible. If you watch any football game today, you might even see its address in the end zone on somebody's placard there: John 3:16."

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Love is that which compelled this great gift. In fact, that's point number one on your outline: love compels the giver to give.

The Apostle Paul speaks to this as well in Romans chapter five when he writes, "But God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." The demonstration of God's love is evident in the death of Jesus Christ. He loved the world, and therefore He gave His only begotten Son.

You see, love is intangible until it becomes tangibly real or made known in the form of a gift or some service. We can throw the word love around; in fact, we do in our culture quite frequently. We may even devalue this concept by flippantly using the phrase, "I love you, man." This can lessen the impact of the word. However, you don't really know that someone loves you until that intangible word or idea is presented in a very hard, concrete, tangible reality in our lives.

Jesus described this to His disciples in the Gospel of John chapter 15 when He said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends." Yet, the expression of God's love is of a magnitude greater, in that He did not lay down His life for His friends alone. Romans 5:8 states that while we were yet sinners, when we were still in rebellion to Him, when we were His enemies, Christ died for us, demonstrating God's love to us.

It was the love of God that compelled the greatest gift from the greatest giver. He demonstrates His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Many people, even those who don't necessarily know or memorize Bible passages, have heard or know about John 3:16. A very similar verse with a similar address is found in 1 John 3:16. In 1 John 3:16, the same author, the Gospel writer John, says, "By this we know love."

Because He laid down His life for us, this is how we know God's love: in that He laid down His life for us. The Lord wanted us to tangibly come in contact with that love—to touch it, hold it, see it, and taste it. He wanted us to never forget the awesome gift of His love for us in His death on the cross.

So, the night before He would be betrayed and crucified, He sat down with His disciples and instituted for them, and for us, the sacrament of communion. This sacrament allows us to hold in our hands and taste the expression or illustration of His love because we are prone to forget, especially as time goes on. To help us remember, He gave us the sacrament of communion.

At this point, even though it's a bit out of order from the way we normally do things, I’m going to invite our worship team to come back up. Our video team is scrambling right now because I forgot to tell them we were doing this—sorry, Brett. I’m also going to invite the ushers to come up along with our worship leaders. They will distribute the bread and the cup. They will pass a tray with a cracker and a small cup. Please take it and hold it, as we will partake together after we have all received it.

As they are coming up, let me pray that the Lord would center our attention and focus during this time. Father, we do take it on faith—not blind or foolish faith, but a trust that is rooted in eyewitness testimony from people who saw You crucified, were there when You were buried, and saw You alive after Your crucifixion, after You were raised from the dead. More than 500 witnesses testified and glorified You in their testimony, proclaiming that You are alive.

Though it is the distance of 20 centuries from us, Lord, we still today, as the church has done for 2,000 years, partake and remember Your body that was broken for us and Your blood that was shed for us. In this simple act, as we will partake of the bread and the cup in just a few minutes, I pray that You would remind us.

Of your great gift, help us as we come into this celebration, this season of Christmas, to not soon forget the reason for which You came. It was all for us. Lord, help us now to set our affections and our attention upon You as we worship You. We thank You, Jesus.

All these pieces, broken and scattered, and mercy gathered. Empty-handed, but not forsaken, I've been set free. I've been set free. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Oh, I once was lost, but now I am found. I was blind, but now I see. I can see You now.

In Your eyes, laying Yourself down and raising up the broken to life. I can see You now. You take our failures, You take our weakness, and set Your treasure in jars of clay. So take this heart, Lord.

I'll be your blessing, the world to see, your life in me. Oh, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I am found; was blind, but now I see. I can see you now. In your eyes, laying yourself down, I can see you now. During the middle of my life, I can see you now.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I am found; was blind, but now I see. I can see you now. I can see the love in your eyes, laying yourself down and raising up the broken to love.

In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23, the Apostle Paul writes,

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which He was betrayed, took bread, broke it, and blessed it. He gave it to His disciples and said, "This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Let's partake together. Amen.

In the same manner, He also took the cup after they had eaten. He said, "This is the blood of the new covenant, my blood that was shed for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Let's partake together. Amen.

Father, we thank You that we have a reminder in these things, simple as they may be, of Your body that was given for us and Your blood that was shed for us. In doing this, in eating of this bread and drinking of this cup, we are proclaiming Your death until You come. We proclaim that You are not still dead, but You are alive.

Lord, the reality of Your death, burial, and resurrection, the reality of the purpose for which You came 2,000 years ago, ought to impact us in some way. So God, I pray that with the remainder of our time together this morning, You would speak to us about how this ought to affect us. We thank You. We praise You, Jesus. Amen.

Now, how does this simple reminder apply to us? You can pass your cups to the center; our ushers will grab them for a minute, so you don't have to hold on to those. How does this reminder of communion apply to us or affect us today? What effect does it have? Should it have?

I referenced just a few minutes ago, 1 John 3, verse 16. The beginning of the verse says, "By this we know love." By His death on our behalf, by Him laying down His life for us, His body broken for us, His blood shed for us. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. But that's not the whole of the verse. The verse continues and says this: "And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." So point number two on your outline.

His gift compels me to give as He gave. When we look at the gift that He gave, expressed in His actual crucifixion and sacrificial death, does this mean that I need to give my life, lay it down, and physically die for others? Well, there's kind of a yes and no to that.

No, you don't lay down your life physically and die for others. Only His life laid down for us, the life of the sinless sacrifice, the life of the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world, has the power to atone for our sin. If I laid down my life, it would be an insufficient payment because I am a sinner just like you. It would not atone for your sin. It's like having a massive credit card debt and only ever paying the minimum payment; that is not going to pay that debt off. The same is true with our sin. It is such a massive debt, the debt of our sin. There is no way that I could lay down my life to deal with that. Jesus did that.

John says that we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. This does not mean physically laying down our lives and dying. So, what does it mean? There is another component to this. The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, writes just before he says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us." Just before Paul writes that, he states in 2 Corinthians 5:14, "For the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."

Now, there are two important words in that passage in 1 John 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 that we need to take note of: the words "ought" and "should." John says that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Paul says that we should no longer live for ourselves. This implies an ethical response to what Jesus did, an ethical response dealing with what is the right thing that we should do.

In response to what He has done, as He has laid down His life for us and we have received that gift by putting our trust in Him, how shall we then live? How should that affect us? How do we apply it in our lives? There is something we ought to do; there is something we should do in response to it.

Again, the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 12, verse 1, says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." Another way of saying "your reasonable service" is "your right response." We are going back to the moral response to what Jesus has done. He laid down His life, expressing His love. Therefore, we ought also to lay down our lives, as John says. Paul states that we should no longer live for ourselves. In Romans 12, verse 1, he emphasizes that it is our right response, our reasonable service, to offer ourselves as living sacrifices.

This concept goes back to the fact that there is a sacrifice, but we remain alive. We are not laying down our lives physically, but there is a spiritual side to this. It is our worship to the Lord that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices. The question arises: if we are not actually going to lay down our lives and sacrifice ourselves, but remain alive as sacrifices, how do we give in a way that is commensurate with the degree to which Jesus gave for us?

Point number three on your outline is that to give as He gave requires a sacrificial loss. There is an old saying that you may have heard: you can never outgive God. This is true. When you look at the extent of His sacrifice and consider what He did—like we just did in partaking of communion, where His body was broken and His blood was shed, and He died—you realize that when you think about giving in response to that, there is no way we could ever give to the degree that He gave.

So, what can we do in some way to offer this sacrificial worship back to Him? What can I sacrificially give to express my praise and gratitude to God?

For what the Bible calls this indescribable gift? It's a gift so awesome and so great that to try and describe it breaks the back of words. There's no way to fully express in words what He has done. In fact, the grace of this gift will take all of eternity for God to show the manifold riches of His grace, as stated in Ephesians chapter two, verse seven. For all of eternity, we will be comprehending what it is that we have received from God in this gift of His Son.

So, what can I do to express my praise and gratitude to God for this gift that is some form of sacrificial loss? What can I give? I have been thinking about this question for a while, and three things have come to my mind. The three things that we can give are our energy, our assets, and our time. Like you, I use the energy that I have and the time that I have to produce assets that I live on, and you live on. That's what we have.

However, when we really begin to look at what the Scriptures have to say, from Genesis to Revelation, we come to realize that all of that—my energy, my assets, my time—comes from God. It's a gift He has given to me. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him, as the book of James says. He is the source of all these things.

If I am going to give as He gave, which is my only right response, as stated in Romans chapter twelve, verse one, to the gift He has given to me, then I need to sacrificially give as worship to Him of my energy, assets, and time. Another way of saying it is that my response to His sacrifice is to give of my time, talents, and treasure. God has given these things to me and to you. The time that you have is a gift from Him. He knows your days; He knows my days. He knows exactly how many days He has provided us in His sovereign care.

The talents that I have, the abilities, the gifts, and the talents that I possess are also part of this divine provision.

All gifts are from Him. He gave them to me. The assets that I have, whatever treasure I possess, are from Him. In response to what He has done for me, these things are to be used for His glory and given back to Him in praise.

Now, here's the important key: we don't give these things to God to get something from Him. We have already received a gift by grace through faith, trusting in what He did on our behalf. This is a response to what He has done. The gift is so great, but in response, as an act of worship, we give of our energy, our assets, our time, talents, and treasure. However you want to say it, these three things are essentially important.

The Apostle Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 4, says, "As each one of you has received a gift, so minister it, serve it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." As we begin to dig down into these things, we realize that God has given these gifts to us, and we are to manage and steward these resources as gifts given from Him to us. Peter emphasizes that every one of us has received a gift from God.

We could go down the list, each of us individually, and spend some time meditating on the gifts we have received from God. I guarantee you that if you spend enough time on this, you could produce pages and pages of things that God has given to you as gifts. Some of these are spiritual gifts, while others are talents and abilities. Some gifts simply come from the fact that you were born in this country. That, too, is a gift from God. The place, station of life, and job that you have—everything we possess is a gift from God.

Therefore, how do we steward these things as good stewards of the manifold grace of God? Peter continues in verse 11 of 1 Peter 4, saying, "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do so as the ability that God has given to him." The purpose of this is that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

In another passage dealing with the gifts that God has given to us, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the Apostle Paul states that every single one of us receives spiritual gifts from God. He adds in 1 Corinthians 12:7, "But the manifestation of the Spirit, the gift that is revealed in your life from the Spirit of God, is given to each one for the profit of all." These gifts are to be used in our service.

To the Lord and to His people, we are called to give of our energy, our time, and our assets. Another passage, again from Romans chapter 12, Paul says in verse 6, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us." We have received gifts from God's grace, and we are encouraged to use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. If ministry, let us use it in our ministering. If teaching, let us teach; if exhortation, let us exhort. He who gives, let him do so with liberality; he who leads, let him do so with diligence; and he who shows mercy, let him do so with cheerfulness.

God has given each of us gifts, talents, and abilities, and these are to be used for His glory. They are not to be hoarded in a miserly way. When we talk about hoarding, especially around Christmas time, a name often comes to mind. We sometimes call people who are miserly "Scrooge." This takes us back to one of the most well-known books by Charles Dickens and one of his most famous characters, Ebenezer Scrooge. There is also the Disney version, Scrooge McDuck. Ebenezer Scrooge was a man with vast resources, yet he was a miser. He was visited by three ghosts right before Christmas.

If you have become a hoarding miser of the things that God has given you, perhaps you need to be visited by the Holy Ghost to challenge you. Do we realize the awesomeness of the gift that God has given us? If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ today and received salvation from Him, are you withholding the things you have because you think they are yours?

You may remember the movie "Finding Nemo," where the little seagulls repeatedly say, "Mine, mine, mine." Sometimes, that is how we act—claiming everything as ours. This behavior is reminiscent of two-year-olds and is a sign of immaturity. It reflects a lack of understanding of the weight of the gift we have received if we are unwilling to give of the things that have been entrusted to us, specifically our time, talents, and treasure.

In our day and in our place, it may be more costly to give of our time and energy than it is to give of our material possessions. But Jesus makes it very clear that we are called to give generously.

In the Gospel, there will come one day an accounting of how we have stewarded the things that God has given to us. This story is referred to as the parable of the talents, which is found in the Gospels. Jesus talks about a master who had three servants. To one servant, he gave five talents, which was a measure of money. To another servant, he gave two talents, and to the third servant, he gave one talent.

The master went away for a period of time, but when he returned, he squared accounts with his servants. The one who was given five had used those talents well; he managed them effectively and had a return of five more, totaling ten. He returned those to his master, who said, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a few things; I will make you ruler over many. Enter into the rest of your Lord." The servant who had two talents also managed them well and returned with two more, totaling four. His master said the exact same thing to him: "Well done, you good and faithful servant. You have managed these few things well. Enter into the rest of your Lord."

However, the one who had one talent hoarded it away and did not manage it well. He was judged for his lack of good stewardship. This illustrates that there is an accounting of how we use the gifts we have been given.

In saying all that, I want to commend you as a church, Cross-Connection Church, because you are a very giving church. We see the expression of that just yesterday, as a crew of people went down to Mano de Ro, Mexico, with over 300 boxes that you put together to bring Christmas to many kids in Mexico whose parents couldn't provide the same for them. This is an awesome display of your willingness to use your time, talents, and treasures, as well as the financial gifts you give every single week here at the church.

We see God's expression in you, not just in those areas, but also in your service. Whether it's coming and serving at the Ronald McDonald House, cleaning the street out here on Seven Oaks, or serving in one of the ministries here at the church, you are making a difference. I want to encourage you to continue to press on in response to the gift that the Lord has given us, because that gift is so great.

When we steward these things well, what is the outcome? First Peter 4 says, "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards."

Of the manifold grace of God, then what will be the outcome? That in all things, verse 11 says, God may be glorified; that He will be honored and lifted up when people see you using your time, your talents, and your treasure in service to the Lord as stewards of those things, not owners, but stewards and managers. That is a big sign. That is a big witness to people who don't yet know that.

The fact is, in our natural state, we are all misers. We're all just a bunch of Ebenezers or Scrooges. Every one of us, in our natural state, is inclined to hoard. But how we use these things is an indication of where our heart is. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

My response to His sacrifice is to give of these things. Lord, by Your Holy Spirit, maybe You need to speak to me and minister to me to help me to be less miserly, less Scroogey. Amen?

Let's stand together. We'll close in prayer and ask the Lord to minister this to us this week.

Father God, I confess that in myself, in my natural, sinful state, I am a miser. Without Your grace, that's all I would ever be. But I thank You, Lord, that You have given to me and given to us the grace of salvation. As we comprehend and grasp the greatness of that gift, I pray, God, that it would affect us in a way that we live.

Your love demonstrated would move us to demonstrate Your love to others. We shouldn't be misers hoarding; instead, we should be those with an open hand, giving because You give to those who have an open hand through which You can give to others.

Lord, make us conduits of Your grace and goodness to others, especially as we celebrate Your coming into the world this Christmas. Help us to give as You gave.

For all these, we have to have the Lord. Lord, for all these, you have to dare to love. We'll be walking, playing, and keeping the Lord. The amazing love can benefit your dream. Oh, please appreciate us.

And then we acknowledge our effort here. Beverly, in phase, first mommy times queen.