Dear Father in Heaven. What a great day. Thanks for family and friends, and thanks for a great night with them. Please, dear Lord, heal our daughter Leann, and please be with our son Matthew. Be with Kruse and heal him, Lord, and also Kelsey. And please, Lord, heal Dolores. Dear Father, please be with all those who travel and watch over them. Keep our planes in the air, our vehicles on their tires and our trains on the rails, dear Lord. And Lord, thank You for this season when we are reminded of the birth of our Lord Jesus. Thanking You for all things good, Father, and now asking You to help me with the message and then to dispatch it. Then, Lord, help me line up my message for the Christmas Eve service. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, Dolores and I had a wonderful Monday evening with a lot of our family. Please pray for her. Now it is home and trying to get this message out for Christmas Eve and get ready for our Candlelight Communion Service at The Bridges. So let me get right back to that message, Gifts. Dolores is practicing the piano, however, she is sick as in can hardly breathe.
Christmas Eve, December 24, 2013, Gifts (A Bribe), Day Two.
Yesterday I talked to you, my dear brothers and sisters, about if these gifts might be bribes. I showed you in scripture that some are. We do have gifts that are other than bribes. Some gifts are appreciation gifts. Some gifts are given out of Love. Some gifts have more than one meaning. So where does our Lord Jesus fit in? What about this GIFT of Jesus our Lord and Savior? Let's look some more!!
Matthew 2:11 - On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. (NIV)
In this scripture we see the Magi, or kings as we call them, are bringing gifts to our Lord Jesus, and the gifts are named. So you know, the kings arrived at the house, the house, as you can see, and also notice that the Child is named ahead of His Mother. But what about these gift? Were they brought in love? I think so. But we are going to work on the three kings after Christmas and really dig into that group. But so you know, they were not at the stable.
(Right here I stopped and went to bed. It is 12:30 AM and I cannot keep my eyes open. Okay, 4:00 AM and back at it.)
Acts 1:4 - On occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (NIV)
All through the Bible we see our Lord Jesus giving commands. In our first testament we find commands being given, in the new testament we have commands. So here is another. This is His disciples who are with Him all the time, and He, before He was put on the cross. He is telling them to wait on this gift and that gift was the Holy Spirit. John baptized with water, but the gift of our Father is to be baptized by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
Here is to me two gifts and it is your choice. Wages of sin is death. But we have this really great gift, the gift from God and it is eternal life. Let me ask you here. The promise of the gift of life, is that a bribe, or might it be appreciation or love? I, brothers and sisters, think it is all three.
First it is a bribe for to receive this gift of life we must come to Jesus. We must follow Romans 10:9/10 which states this ....
Romans 10:9 - That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (NIV)
However it is a gift of appreciation if we accept Christ as our Savior, and we all know it is a gift of real love for He laid down His life for this our personal freedom.
1 Corinthians 7:7 - I wish that all men were as I am, but each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. (NIV)
I love this, and brothers and sisters, the word men means women also. Each of us has our own gift. I have been told that I have the "gift of gab." There are listed gifts in the Bible, and I like to think of our talents, or as Rush says it, "talent on loan from GOD." He is a super broadcaster, while your gift might be to teach or preach, or be a salesperson. Maybe you have been given a trade for a gift. Maybe you fix cars, maybe you repair plumbing in houses. Maybe you have a gift of giving, and yes, it is a gift to be one who gives, be it from their earnings or from their other talents.
James 1:16 - Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, come down from the Father of Heavenly Lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (NIV)
One last thing as I wrap it up for Christmas Eve. Every good and perfect gift is from God. It is very plain that the Good stuff comes from God. And brothers and sisters, THE GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT WE RECEIVED AND WHOSE BIRTHDAY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS THIS CHILD, JESUS, WHO grew up, walked the earth, set examples for us to live and then at about the age of 33 He died for all of us on the cross. He was born to die so we might live. Someone shout AMEN. PRAISE THE LORD!
Now go forth and share your blessings. I love ya, and please pass that love on. Pastor Dan.
From our house to yours,
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
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