The Heart of Christmas is Love

Intro:

Good morning, church. Merry Christmas!

This is the final week before we come back to celebrate Christ’s birth together on Christmas Eve.

We have been in a sermon series where we have discovered the heart of Christmas.

Often, we get lost in all the gifts, decorations, and parties and miss the central focus of the Christmas season.

Jesus was born to bring the gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love, which is the real reason for Christmas.

1) In the first week we learned that we are offered hope in the middle of our circumstances because of God’s faithfulness.

2) In the second week we looked at the wonderful gift of peace that Jesus’s sacrifice makes available to us. We are made right with God, ourselves, and others because of Christ.

3) Last week we learned that joy is ours no matter the circumstances because God dwells with us.

4) For this final week of our series, we will take a look at a theme within the scriptures that truly holds all of it together.

At the heart of Christmas is the great love of God for each and every one of us.

Story:

Let’s be honest. As we prepare to celebrate on Christmas day with friends and family, there will most assuredly be a gift that you have to figure out how to respond to without hurting someone’s feelings or feeling foolish. I want to offer you eight ways to respond to a gift that may be less than desirable. You may want to take some notes and arm yourself with Christmas gift gratitude.

7. No, really, I didn’t know that there was a Chia Pet tie! Oh, wow! It’s a clip-on too!

5. You know what? I’m going to find a special place to put this.

4. Boy, you don’t see craftsmanship like that every day!

3. And it’s such an interesting color too!

2. You say that was the last one? Am I glad that you snapped that baby up!

If you want to avoid folks needing to get creative in their responses here are several of the top gifts available this year … according to Good Housekeeping magazine:

Rechargeable handwarmer -$24

100% Pure Mulberry Silk Pillowcase - $60

Original Reversible Octopus Plushie: $7

Mini Pocket Projector - $220

UI Plus Self Heating Mug - $89

Classic Ultra Mini Ugg - $140

So, there you go. I hope this prepares you for any and all scenarios.

Today, I want to speak about a gift you don’t have to rehearse a response for.

It is the greatest gift that has ever been given to us, and Christmas is the time in which it was presented.

When God sent his son to be born, it was an expression of his unfailing and relentless love.

- His love is a gift that is thoughtful because it meets our greatest need— our sinful state.

- It is a gift that is priceless because it could never be purchased apart from Christ’s blood.

- It is a gift that is timeless because the grace of God is never-ending.

Above all else, at the heart of Christmas is love.

POINT #1 – GOD’S GIFT WAS RIGHT ON TIME

Have you ever received a present from someone and you could not believe how perfect the timing was?

Maybe because of something you were going through or because of a need that was met, it was as if the giver knew just what your heart wanted.

Mom/Mark … the bell ringing on Christmas Eve

The book of Galatians talks about the timing of Christmas as Paul wrote to the church in Galatia.

Read Galatians 4:4-5

Galatians 4:4–5 (ESV)

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

From the moment creation was broken by sin, God began to unfurl a plan to restore and rescue all that he had made.

The Bible is an account of his divine efforts and faithfulness to reverse the effects of the Fall.

Motivated by love, God partners with those who love and trust him to enact the greatest rescue plan in history.

Paul wrote that when Jesus came and was born to Mary, the fullness of time had come … It was the right moment in history to send his son to make a way for the world to be restored.

Because of love, God was not content to sit back and watch his creation suffer forever. He went to great lengths to be with us and make us a part of his family once again.

I saw this illustration the other day … and then I actually went and found the Facebook post … it included the sandwich you see on the screen

Story: Tracy Howell of Leonard, Texas, found a unique way of showing her husband both her love and fellowship in his daily life. On December 1, 2020, she shared the following in a Facebook post, which has since racked up hundreds of thousands of shares.

“Clifford and I have been married almost 41 years, and I have made his lunch every working day since day one. On occasion, I would join him on the job site and have lunch with him. He made the comment once that lunch tasted better when you share it with someone you love. Soon after that, while fixing his sandwich one night, I took a bite out of it before putting it away. When he got home (long before cell phones) he commented that someone took a bite out of his sandwich. I told him that since I couldn’t join him for lunch, I took a bite so he knew I was joining him. I continue to do this frequently (unless it’s tuna or pimento cheese) and he still says, 'Saw you joined me for lunch today and it sure was good.’”

Tracy wanted her husband to know she wasn’t just thinking about him, she was actually “joining” him in his daily experiences. She was still “with” him. She’s “taking a bite” out of whatever struggles or hardships he encounters.

What is perhaps most amazing is that when Jesus came, he came to meet us exactly where we are.

He was born under the law of God in order to redeem humankind, which is under the expectations of God’s law.

In doing so, his perfect life met the requirements that the law demanded.

Where we fail, Jesus is successful.

POINT #2 – WE ARE LOVED INTO THE FAMILY

According to Galatians 4, the full expression of God’s love is demonstrated in our spiritual adoption.

We become children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are given all the privileges of sons and daughters with God as our Father.

The late pastor J.I. Packer wrote about this incredible expression of love that came to us at Christmas.

“Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification.

To be right with God, the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God, the Father is greater.” - JI Packer

Many of us live our lives every day missing the fact that God loves us.

When we miss the fact that we have been adopted into his family, we have af hard time loving ourselves.

In turn, we have a hard time loving others who are also valued and treasured by God.

The reason this aspect of Christmas should not be missed or avoided is that it is central to us living the full lives that God wants for us.

Paul tells us about all of the benefits of being in God’s family and being recipients of his love in the book of Ephesians.

Read Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3–14 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

As a part of God’s family, we are made blameless in God’s sight (vs. 4). Our sins are washed away by his love.

God’s will and way are made known to us as a father might share with a child (vs. 9).

We are chosen to receive hope and salvation (vs. 13).

We are marked with a seal to ensure that we are filled by the Spirit of God and will inherit eternal life as one of God’s precious possessions (vs. 14).

All of this is only made possible by the arrival of Jesus at just the right time to one day sacrificially give his life on the cross to validate God’s amazing love for us.

POINT #3 – LOVE FREELY RECEIVED IS LOVE FREELY GIVEN

Don’t miss love being at the heart of Christmas.

What is perhaps most tragic about this oversight is that we often give the kind of love that we have experienced.

If we have not experienced the grace of God, it is difficult to offer the grace of God.

If we do not know the compassion of God, it is difficult to express the compassion of God.

But when we recognize the kind of love that God has for us, it becomes the way in which we treat others around us.

The most famous of all passages in the Bible about love helps us understand God’s feelings toward us and the way we should feel about our spouse, children, friends, and neighbors. It comes from 1 Corinthians 13.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 Corinthians 13:1–13 (ESV)

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

We can get caught up in all kinds of things, even good things, and miss the whole point if love is not our motivating factor.

Love - like we have been given by God should cause us to be patient and kind to one another.

It should cause us to avoid being envious of one another or proud.

Love drives us to honor others and to keep a cool head.

Love is present when we avoid evil and rejoice with good.

- Does this sound like the love you have received from God?

- Does it sound like the love you display in your life and give to those around you?

The way this passage might sound during Christmas would be like this:

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny ornaments but do not have love, I’m just another decorator.

If I work hard in the kitchen baking Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime but do not have love, I’m just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing all the carols loudly in church but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.

Love is kind even when harried and tired. Love does not envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who cannot.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails.

“Toys will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust; but giving the gift of

love will endure.”

So, this Christmas see the arrival of Jesus as the ultimate gift from God.

The kind of gift where the only proper response is to receive.

May that love you receive in your hearts cause you to live it out every day of the year.

PRAY

Closing Questions:

1. What kind of effect should God’s love have on us?

2. What is one practical way to share God’s love with someone else this week?