Because He Is A Gift Giving God

We're continuing our series here, getting ready for Christmas at Cross Connection Church, talking about why we celebrate Christmas. Today, we're discussing our God being the gift-giving God.

Well, good morning and welcome to Cross Connection Church! If you would take out your Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We're going to begin this morning in the book of Acts in the New Testament, right after the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

As you open to Acts chapter 20, would you mind standing with me? We're just going to read one verse together before we begin this morning. It's found in Acts chapter 20, verse 35. This comes from a conversation that the Apostle Paul was having with a group of Christian leaders in the city of Ephesus.

In Acts chapter 20, verse 35, Paul says, "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, how that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Father, as we stand here this morning with our Bibles open, we come hopefully with hearts readied and open to hear from You. We ask that You would speak to us, giving us wisdom and insight. Lord, may our lives, in some measurable way, be adjusted, changed, and set on course. So, Lord, speak to us as we prepare over the next couple of weeks for Christmas, amidst all the different things going on in our lives: family gatherings, work parties, traffic, shopping, and all the craziness. I pray that You would help us to have the right focus, mindset, and heart. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

You can be seated.

It is more blessed to give than to receive. How many of you believe that to be true this morning? Most of you would agree with the words of Jesus: it is more blessed to give than to receive. This is one of those sayings that even a lot of people who have never read the Bible or gone to church know; they have heard it before.

It is more blessed to give than to receive, but very few people, even though they know the saying, probably don't know it's in the Bible. They likely don't realize that Jesus said it. It's kind of an interesting point because if you look through the Gospels, the accounts of Jesus's life, teaching, and ministry, you won't find Jesus saying that. However, the Apostle Paul had heard the Lord Jesus say it, or he had heard others tell him that the Lord Jesus had said it is more blessed to give than to receive.

I think there is a sense in which we need to be regularly reminded of this truth, even if you are a person who studies the Bible, a student of the Bible, or someone who goes to church. There is no better time of the year to be reminded of this truth than right now, as we prepare in the last couple of weeks before Christmas. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Now, I'm willing to bet that if we interviewed a hundred kids, if we went over to the children's ministry and asked all the kids there what their favorite part about Christmas is, they would probably all say gifts—presents. They would say Christmas gifts; that's what it's all about. Christmas is all about gifts. If you've read the book or seen the movie "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," that was their focus: Christmas was all about presents. It was all about getting something for yourself during that time.

I know that when I was a kid, that was certainly my focus. My focus on Christmas was on getting the gifts, and that mission to get what I wanted for Christmas began probably a couple of months before the holiday. I can remember specifically when it started because it always began right about the time that the J.C. Penney Christmas catalog showed up in the mail. You remember that? Or maybe the Sears Wish Book catalog? You remember that big old thick thing? It was like four to six hundred pages of consumeristic delight. It was like the Bible of Christmas joy, filled with everything you could ever want.

At the end of that catalog, there was a huge section of very glossy pictures of every toy a kid could ever want. I remember when that catalog would come when I was six, seven, eight, or nine years old. I would grab a Bic ballpoint pen and sit down, circling all the different things that I wanted. I was hoping that either Mom, Dad, or maybe Santa Claus would get the drift that this was my wishlist of what I wanted from that book. I was kind of priming the pump, if you will, for the things that I really wanted for Christmas.

That thing was filled with all kinds of things that I could want. Now, you might go on Amazon and set up a wish list and publish it for other people to see what you want when you're getting ready for Christmas, whatever it may be. But in my house growing up, Christmas was a big deal. If you've ever been around my parents' house at Christmastime, you know that my mom gets into the Christmas cheer when it comes to decorating. She would begin that decorating process immediately after Thanksgiving. I mean, the Friday after Thanksgiving, the house would be decorated by the end of the day. Sometimes, she would even get started on Thursday night of Thanksgiving, getting those decorations ready.

As soon as those decorations were set up, I could pretty much bet that there would begin to be a steady flow of wrapped gifts underneath the Christmas tree. I have quite a few siblings—four siblings, to be exact: a sister and three brothers. As those gifts would show up, the annual reconnaissance mission would begin. We would go and look under the tree to try and figure out which gifts were for me and what those gifts might be. Of course, my mom didn't really like this whole recon mission that we would go on to try and figure out what was there. But you know, when mom wasn't around, we would start picking through the gifts, making sure to remember how they looked so we could try and get them in the right place. We would look for the ones with our names on them, checking the relative size, shape, and weight, and trying to shake them to figure out what they might be. I always kept a tally of how many gifts I had versus my sister and my brothers because it was a competition. You know mom's favorite is going to have the most gifts, and it's true.

My mom, like I said, didn't like that we were doing this little recon mission to figure out what the gifts were, so she'd try to trick us. One year, she decided not to put name tags on any of the gifts and wrapped them with different wrapping paper for each kid. It was like mom's cryptography, trying to create a coded language. Another year, I remember that she kind of swapped names. So if a gift said "Miles," it wasn't really for me; it might be for my brother Allen. If it said "Allen," that might be for Paul. The problem was that mom would almost always confuse herself with the codes. By Christmas morning, she would be going, "Oh, I don't remember. Open that? Nope, that's not for you. Let's give that over here." It's true, isn't it? Yes, it's so true.

So, Christmas—I just remember it always being about gifts.

Presence was what I was excited about as a kid, and quite frankly, the Christmas gifts still excite me as an adult. I love Christmas for the gifts, but it's not necessarily about receiving them. Now, as a parent, there's a greater joy in giving that gift and watching the kids open the things they really wanted. The joy they experience in receiving what they were looking forward to is truly special. As Jesus said, there is a blessing in giving gifts; it is more blessed to give than to receive. As an adult, I can say that this really is true.

This brings us to point number one on our outline in the sermon guide in your bulletin: Christmas is all about giving and receiving. It is a true blessing to give a gift, especially when you find that perfect gift for that special someone in your life. There is anticipation, joy, and excitement when you identify that perfect gift. You can't wait to see the joy they will experience when they receive it.

We had our staff Christmas party just a couple of nights ago, and we had a white elephant gift exchange. When Jason arrived, he said, "Listen, the gift I've got tonight is great," and sure enough, I went home with that gift. I probably should have brought it with me tonight; it's a full onesie with Santa Claus cats all over it. I can guarantee you I'm never going to wear it, but I do have it. It might show up at the gift exchange again in the future.

When you find that perfect gift, there is great anticipation. You can't wait until the person opens it. If you've heard of the book "The Five Love Languages," one of those languages is giving gifts. My wife is one of those people; giving gifts is one of her major love languages. She loves to give gifts. In fact, if I would allow her a budget that never ended, she would buy gifts every day of the year for someone, and maybe multiple gifts in a day. She is really good at giving gifts and gets excited about it. Like so many people who are gift givers, if that's your love language, she has this issue: when she finds the perfect gift, she can hardly contain her excitement.

She can't wait to give the gift. Christmas and birthdays are difficult because there's an appointed day for that gift to be given. When she has the perfect gift, wrapped and ready to go, she immediately finds herself moving into this area of starting to give hints. Are there any other hint givers out here? Come on, raise your hand! You have some McKenith givers, don't you?

She often asks, "Don't you want to know what your gift is?" I've heard it over the last eleven, almost twelve years now. I kind of play it off like it's no big deal, and I torture my poor wife—God bless her. She'll say, "Don't you want to know? Don't you want a hint about what's in this gift?" The amazing thing is that while she wants to give hints and wants me to guess what the gift is, she doesn't like it when I spoil the surprise. It bothers her when I figure it out.

This last month was my birthday, and I was going through the credit card statement online. I noticed on a credit card we don't use that there were three charges, one of which was pretty significant. I thought someone had stolen the card. I went downstairs to Andrew and said, "You're not going to believe this! I think someone stole our credit card." She looked at me like, "What? What are you talking about?" I explained that there was this big charge at the Sunglass Hut at the mall, and I didn't make that charge.

Well, someone did steal the card, and I found out what my birthday gift was. She wasn't too happy that I discovered what the gift was. But she's a gift giver; she loves giving gifts. She wants to give hints about the gifts. Maybe some of you are like that, too. However, she doesn't like the gift to be spoiled. She doesn't want me to figure out what it is.

Of course, we try to conceal things in mystery. We try to wrap them and hide them, whatever it may be. Sometimes my wife has done this—I hope I'm not throwing her under the bus here—but she'll try to put a small gift in a big box to trick me. If it's a box that I might figure out, she won't even put the gift in the box; she'll put a note in the box about what it is and hide the gift because she wants to trick me. I'm good with it; it's okay.

Point number two on your outline: it's hard to conceal the perfect Christmas gift. Oftentimes, that's the case because we want so much for that gift to be revealed, to be opened.

I may be wondering why I am talking about this. I am convinced that our God is a gift giver, just like my wife. Our God loves to give gifts. How do I know that? Because Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. These are the words of our God, and He loves to give gifts.

In fact, the reason you love to give gifts, if you do, is because you were created in the image and likeness of God. He has that desire to give the perfect gift, and that's where it came from in you as well. When God has that perfect gift, He has a hard time not revealing it immediately. He has a hard time not giving hints about what that perfect gift is.

What we're going to see today, as we go through some of the scriptures, is that our God is the gift-giving God. He has the perfect gift for a broken and fallen world. That perfect gift was wrapped in a mystery, concealed thousands of years ago. Because He is such a gift giver, He gave hints all along the way until the day that gift was revealed. Those hints that our God gave are what we call Bible prophecies. Through the prophets in the Old Testament, the first two-thirds of the Bible, we have all of these hints—hundreds of hints—where God is saying, "Here's what this gift is like that I'm going to give to you," because God loves to give the perfect gift.

Of course, the setup for the perfect gift is where we were in our passage of Scripture last week. If you were here, we were in Genesis chapters one and two. You can turn there if you'd like, because we're going to be there this morning as well. Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, opens with the creation story, the creation account, showing that our God is a creator God and a life-giving God.

The Bible begins with the creation story, where the life-giving God creates everything that we see here, even the things that we don't see. He spoke these things into existence. Genesis chapter one tells us about the origins of everything that is. At the end of that creation story, God looked at all that He had made and said, "Behold, it is very good." In Genesis chapter one, verse thirty-one, God looked at His creation and said, "It is all very good." That was the account of how everything came to be.

In Genesis chapter 1, we see how everything came to be, and it was very good. Then, in Genesis chapter 2, the story unfolds a little more with a retelling. God creates not just the heavens and the earth, not just the moon and all the stars, and not just the sea and everything in it, but He also creates a perfect, beautiful garden. This garden contains many beautiful trees that are pleasing to the eyes and bear fruit that is good for food.

God creates man and places him in the midst of this garden, essentially saying, "This is a gift for you." This garden is a gift because God is a gift-giving God. Adam, the first man, is told that everything in the garden is for him, but there is one tree that is off-limits: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warns Adam that in the day he eats of it, he shall surely die. If you were here last week, you know that when I say "you shall surely die," you are supposed to respond.

Adam is given this command, and God also provides him with a helper who is compatible to be with him in this endeavor. Thus, there was Adam and Eve, the first woman. God oversaw their joining together as one flesh; they became husband and wife. The Scriptures say in Genesis chapter 2, in the last verse, that they were naked and not ashamed.

Then we move into Genesis chapter 3, where we read about the serpent, who was more cunning than all the beasts of the field. The serpent came and spoke to the woman, asking, "Has God indeed said you shall not eat of all the trees in the garden?" She replied that they could eat of everything except for the tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She said they shall not eat of it nor touch it, or else they would die.

The adversary, the serpent, cunningly responded, "You won't die! You'll be okay. God knows that in the moment you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

The Scriptures say their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked; they were ashamed. Previously, they were naked and unashamed, but now there was a separation where there had been none before. They were one flesh, with nothing separating them, and now there was a separation between humanity.

In the next part of the story, we read that God came into the garden, as described in Genesis chapter 3.

Verse 8 states, "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. When God entered the situation, they were frightened. The knowledge that came from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought shame and fear, causing them to hide themselves, ashamed of what they had done and feeling guilty.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him in verse 9, "Adam, where are you?" God is a missionary God; He seeks out that which is lost. He comes in and asks, "Adam, where are you?" Adam replied, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself." God then asked him, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?"

The man responded, "The woman whom you gave me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." The Lord then said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman replied, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life."

Now, look at verse 15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." I recognize that in these words, there is some poetic language that is not immediately easy to understand. However, within this poetic language lies the mystery of the Christmas gift that God has for a broken world.

God has wrapped this perfect gift in poetic mystery. This is also what we see when we look at the prophetic hints in the Old Testament about God's perfect gift for a broken world. They are often wrapped in mystery, but God slowly unfolds these hints over thousands of years. God is so excited about the perfect gift for a broken world that He keeps dropping these hints along the way.

Way back in Genesis, we find a profound promise. In Genesis 3:15, immediately after the fall and the introduction of brokenness into the world through sin, God reveals a gift that He is going to bring. It is the right gift, the perfect gift for a broken world. This gift will come from a woman and will be a man, an individual who will accomplish a great task. He will bring a deathblow to the serpent, the one who brought this brokenness into the world.

In the process of delivering this deathblow, He will Himself be wounded. The verse states, "You shall bruise His heel, but He will bruise your head, serpent." The word "bruise" here can literally be translated as "crush." He is going to crush your head when He comes, this one, the seed of a woman.

This passage in Genesis 3:15 gives us the first hint about God's perfect gift for a broken world. It brings to mind an important truth that we need to understand: the redemptive plan of God, the coming of Jesus into this world, was not a backup contingency plan. God did not huddle up and say, "Okay, we need to figure out how to fix this." This was God's plan from the beginning.

Genesis 3:15 tells us that there will come one, a man born of a woman, who will crush the one who brought brokenness to this world. Bible scholars and teachers refer to this verse as the proto-Evangelion, the first mention of the Gospel story—the good news that God is going to bring. One commentator noted that this is the first glimmer of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15, where God says, "Listen, I've got a great gift for you. It's not ready to be opened yet; it's not the right time. It's not Christmas morning, but I have a hint. Don't you want to know what my gift is? It will be an individual born of the seed of a woman, and He will come to destroy the curse that the serpent has brought upon this world."

Now, if we fast forward just a bit from Genesis 3 to Genesis 12, we find the next hint about this gift that the gift-giving God has for humanity in a broken and fallen world.

In Genesis 12:1, we are introduced to a new character. The Lord said to Abram, who we might know as Abraham, "Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless him who blesses you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you, or through you, Abraham, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

It is more blessed to give than to receive, as Jesus said. God has this conversation with Abraham, saying, "Listen, I want you to come follow me. As you follow me to this land that I'm going to show you, I am going to bring a gift through you, to you, and for all people. There is going to be this blessing that is going to come forth from you."

Genesis 3 told us that it would be a man coming from the offspring of a woman who would break the bondage of sin and destroy the serpent and his curse. This individual, we are told in Genesis 12, is going to come from a specific family. Of all the families on the face of the earth, he will come from the family of Abraham.

As you follow the story into Genesis 17, you see that this Promised One is going to come through Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham didn't only have one son, but the son through whom the promised blessing is going to come is Isaac. Then, if you fast-forward to Genesis 25:23, you find that not only is he going to come through Abraham's son Isaac, but also through Isaac's son Jacob. Jacob had two sons, Jacob and Esau, but God says this one is going to come through the younger son, Jacob.

As you follow the story to the very last chapters of Genesis, specifically Genesis 49, you find that Jacob had twelve sons. In Genesis 49, his twelve sons are being blessed by their father. In verse 8, he says to one of his sons, Judah, "You are he whom your brothers shall praise. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey."

Son, you have gone up. He bows down; he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him? Verse 10 of Genesis 49 says this: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him shall be the obedience of the people."

In Genesis chapter 3, God says, "Listen, there is going to come a blessing. The perfect gift for a broken world is going to be a man from the offspring of a woman. He will come to crush the serpent and the brokenness that the serpent has brought into this world." Not only will he come as a man through the seed of a woman, but he will also come from the family of Abraham, through Isaac, through Jacob, and through Judah.

God's hints continue hundreds of years later when the people of Abraham, the nation of Israel, are secure in their borders in the Land of Israel. When they are established there, they have a king ruling over them. Their second king, his name was David, was a man after God's own heart. Even though he was a sinful person, just like all of us, he was a man after God's own heart.

In 2 Samuel chapter 7, he has this conversation with God. God speaks to David and says this to him in verse 16: "To your house and your kingdom it shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."

We see that this man, the offspring of a woman, will come to destroy the brokenness that the serpent has brought into this world. He will be from the family of Abraham, through Isaac, through Jacob, and through Judah. He will be of the royal line of King David, a son of David.

Fast forward a little bit more, about 300 years after King David, there was a prophet in the Land of Israel by the name of Isaiah. He gave this prophecy, which is found in Isaiah chapter 7. I would like you to turn there. If you could turn to about the middle of your Bible, you'll be in the Psalms; just turn to the right a little bit, and you'll find the big book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah chapter 7, this verse appears many times on Christmas cards every single year, so it's very likely that you've seen it somewhere along the way. God is speaking to the people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah, and he says this to him in verse 14.

Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call His name Immanuel. Immanuel, which the New Testament tells us is translated as "God with us." You see, the gift-giving God loves to give gifts so much that He has the perfect gift for a broken and fallen world. Because He loves to give gifts so much, He can hardly contain or conceal what this great gift is. He gives us hints all along the way. He says this gift is going to be an individual, a man who is born of a woman, who will come to deliver a deathblow to the serpent who brought the brokenness into the world.

He is going to come through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, through King David, and He is going to be born by miraculous means to a virgin who has never been with a man. She shall conceive and bear a child, a son, and you will call His name Immanuel. He is not just a man; He is God with us, stepping into our world to deal with the brokenness.

Listen, point number three on your outline: Christmas exists because God is the gift-giving God. Christmas exists because God is the gift-giving God. He loves to give gifts. That's why we have this holiday where we exchange gifts, because we remember our God who is the gift-giving God, who absolutely loves to give the perfect gift. He had the perfect gift for a broken and fallen world, and these hints are given to us throughout the Scriptures.

There are hundreds of hints about the first coming of Jesus, His Advent 2,000 years ago, that we celebrate as Christmas. I'm just hitting on a few of them here: that He was of the family of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, from the line of King David, and that He would be born of a virgin by miraculous means.

We're also told not just about His lineage or His miraculous birth, but we're told specifically where He would be born. If you've ever read through the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, you know that there were wise men who came from the East to give gifts to the King because they had seen His star. They came to the king of Israel at that time, a man by the name of Herod, and they said to him, "Where is He who is born King of the Jews? Where will He be born?" King Herod went to the priests and the scribes, and they said to him, "Listen, the prophet Micah, in Micah chapter 5, verse 2, told us He would be born in Bethlehem." So God gave the hint: He will be born in Bethlehem.

Be a man born of a woman, come to deliver a deathblow to Satan. He will be of the family of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, through King David. Born in Bethlehem to a girl who has never been with a man, he shall come by miraculous means. God can't contain this great gift that He desired so much to give to humanity.

I want to finish this look at some of these hints with one of the great statements about Him. It's found in Isaiah chapter 9. If you're still in Isaiah chapter 7, just two chapters over, Isaiah chapter 9 gives us some more hints about the coming of this great gift.

Isaiah 9, verse 1 says, "Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first He lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, and Galilee of the Gentiles." The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them light has shined.

You see, this gift would come to the peoples of this world, but He would come from Bethlehem. He would come to the place called Galilee. He would be the one who brings light to those who are in darkness, those who are under the shadow of death.

Verse 3 states, "You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy. They rejoiced before You according to the joy of the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil."

In verse 4, it says, "You have broken the yoke of his burden." This one who would bring light to those in darkness would come to bring joy to all peoples. He would come to break the burden of sin, the staff from his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every warrior's sandal from the noise of battle and garments rolled in blood will be used for burning as fuel for fire.

How is this going to come? For unto us, verse 6 says, "A child is born, unto us a son is given." Would you circle that word "given"? The government will be upon His shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order and establish it with judgment and justice from this time forward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it.

This great gift is a child that is born, but it is a son that was given, and He has come to...

Bring peace. He has come to bring freedom. He has come to bring joy. He comes to establish His kingdom, His rule, His reign that will go on forever. Of course, it becomes clear, sitting on this side of the gift being opened, just exactly what this was that we were looking for: the gift, the perfect gift of the gift-giving God for a broken world. Of course, it's Christ. It's Jesus. He has come, the Prince of Peace, to bring joy, to bring freedom, and to destroy the curse of the brokenness of sin.

Why? Well, the most famous, most translated verse of the Bible, John 3:16, states, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life." God so loved the world.

Point number four on your outline: the best gifts are always an expression of love. The best gifts are always an expression of love, and that's exactly what the greatest gift in all human history was—an expression of love. It was the love of the gift-giving, life-giving Creator God who looked at the brokenness of this world. As He looked at the brokenness, He didn't say, "Let's scrap it and start over again." He said, "No, let's deal with this problem. I have the perfect gift for a broken world."

For thousands of years, He gave hint after hint after hint. This one will be a man born of a woman, come to crush the head of the serpent who brought the brokenness. He came through the family of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, through the line of David, born in Bethlehem by miraculous means to a virgin who would conceive and bring forth Emmanuel, God with us.

So when we ask the question, "Why Christmas?" well, Christmas exists because we live in a broken world. Christmas exists because our God is the gift-giving God. Because He loved us so much, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.

This morning, as we finish up, we're going to partake of communion together. Communion is where we take a little piece of bread and a little cup of juice, and we remember Jesus's body that was broken for us, His blood that was shed for us. Jesus demonstrated God's love towards us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That is the gift, Church.

We are getting ready, in just two weeks, to celebrate by exchanging gifts. I pray that the best gift we could give is the knowledge of the truth of the greatest gift that could ever be given: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, our Savior. By His death, burial, and resurrection, He destroys the brokenness of this world.

I’m going to invite our worship team to come back up, and the ushers are going to pass out the bread and the cup. Just take a little piece of bread and a cup, and hold on to it, because we’re going to partake together in just a few minutes. But as they’re coming, let me pray.

Father, thank You for Your grace, for the gifts of grace that You have given to us. You have poured out upon us, Lord, and we are not at all deserving. But, Lord, in Your mercy and in Your love, You have poured out this gracious gift upon us. I pray that over the next two weeks, especially because of the opportunity that this holiday presents to us, we would be compelled by Your love to share the good news of Your grace with our co-workers, our neighbors, our family members, and our friends.

Those who, if we ask them the question, "Why do you celebrate Christmas?" may not have a good answer. Lord, I pray that we would know that because this world is broken and because You are the gift-giving God, we celebrate this great holiday. Thank You for laying down Your life for us, for giving Your body and shedding Your blood so that we could have life forevermore. We praise You today. It’s in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Let's sing to the Lord. Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me."

In the same manner, after they had eaten, He took the cup and said, "This is the blood of the New Covenant. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

Let’s partake together. Would we thank You for Your great grace?

Your love is demonstrated in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Lord, this holiday that is about giving and receiving reminds us to thank You for giving Your only begotten Son. We are grateful that as many as receive Him are given the right to be called the children of God.

I pray that we would not conceal this great gift, but that we would freely give what has been freely given to us. On that day when You return, when You stand as a King ruling in righteousness, and when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that You are Lord, I pray that we would see our friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors there with us, praising Your glory as we do right now.

We thank You that You are the gift-giving God. We praise You in Jesus' name. Let's stand together.