What Can I Give?

As we come up to the Holiday season which is often a season of giving gifts - have you ever had someone in your life that you just cannot buy something for because they already have everything???

This struggle caused me to think about my parents and how hard it is to buy things for them…they have all they need and more.

God has EVERY THING!!!

Many times people can find themselves chasing after all the things and having a life that has no want at all.

But the Bible asks 2 powerful questions about the pursuit to have it all:

Matthew 16:26 NKJV

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

What is valuable enough in this world that you would give up your soul for eternity to have it?

Is there anything THAT valuable?

What can a person give in exchange for his soul?

Is there anything that I can possibly give that is as valuable as my soul?

I believe that there is something that we can give that is of extreme value to God!

In 2020, a Dinwiddie, VA family got a heartwarming surprise that brought them to tears more than a year after their 16-year-old son Dakota Reid died in a tragic multi-vehicle crash. The teen’s donated organs saved five lives, including one Massachusetts man who was in need of a heart.

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If you knew who the person was that received your child’s heart & saved their life - how would you want them to live?

Would you want them to maximize every possible moment and make the best possible decisions?

(For Life choices like: Health, relationships, activities, wisdom, etc)

God gave the life of His own son to us so that we could live.

John 3:16–17 NKJV

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

God has EVERY THING!…or does HE?!

I believe that greatest gift that we can give to God is something that He doesn’t already have:

A radically, genuinely, authentically changed life that honors His Son is the greatest gift that we can give to God!

This is what we can give in exchange for Jesus saving our soul.

Romans 12:1–2 NKJV

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The gift of salvation is not something that we can earn. It is a gift - We just have to receive it.

(Like a life-saving organ transplant)

But

From the moment we receive salvation onward, we have the honor of living a life that brings joy to God in thankfulness of what we have been given.

Philippians 2:12b–13 (NKJV)

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

The first step is to receive the life of Jesus in exchange for our own

The next step is to do our absolute best to live the rest of our life in the way that God would want His own son to live!

Just One Thing:

Receive the tremendous gift of eternal life from Jesus giving His life for you, then live it to the fullest extent of honoring His gift to you.

Discussion Questions:

What is in your favorite sub sandwich?

What impacted you from this sermon & what was so impactful for you?

Please read Romans 12:1-2 and Philippians 2:12-13 and share what these verses mean to you & how you want to apply them to your life.

What meaningful changes do you want to make in your life in response to this sermon?