Advent: Love for CHRISTMAS

Note: Giving. Darkness at end.

Today, i’m going to share a little from God’s word and then we will hear the reading of the full Christmas story. Then we will

What are some things you love about Christmas?

By far my favorite is Christmas mornings.

The joy and delight and pouring love through gifts to my kids and receiving the tangible expression of their affection for me.

Love could be defined as a sacrificial, ongoing, and increasing measure of awareness, attention and affection from one to another.

the world say love is:

take all you want..but you don’t find freedom only bondage

self-love ultimates leaves you empty.

Jesus became the embodiment of God’s Love.

John 1:10-14, 16-18

John 1:10–14 (NLT)

10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. 14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John 1:16–18 (NLT)

16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

Jesus became the embodiment of God’s Love so you can see real love.

Are you aware of God’s love for you? Have you encountered the real Jesus?

Have you accepted Him or rejected Him? Accepting it and obeying are how we are born into the Family of God.

John 14:21 - 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

We make Jesus lord of our lives, but we have failed to make him lord of the moments that make up our life.

God will reveal, real love to you as you surrender your attention to Him.

Attention is the currency of our day.

Give God your attention and you’ll eventually grow in affection and loyalty to Him.

Candle lighting, worship, the scriptures…all are moments we become awakened to the love and peace and wholeness of God’s presence.

you are in a room full of people who have found life in the Love of God.

When we see God’s love for you, it does move you toward His holiness, as you don’t want life without Him.

God is after your awareness. He wants to awaken your awareness to Him and His love each and every moment. Not a duty or proving or earning - awareness of His presence and abiding in his love in that moment.

Give God the gift of your attention and increasing awareness, growing in the knowledge of His love.

Invite you to engage in bible recap this coming year.

We get to know God through His word. Read the Bible 4 or more times a week:

Feeling lonely drops 30%

Anger issues drop 32%

Bitterness in relationships drops 40%

Alcoholism drops 57%

Sex outside of marriage drops 68%

Feeling spiritually stagnant drops 60%

Viewing pornography drops 61%

Sharing your faith jumps 200%

Discipling others jumps 230%

Give another family the gift of your attention, by praying for them this next year.

ornament with family name on it, take it from the tree.

Jesus loves you and invites you to experience his real love.

John 17:3 (CSB) 3 This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.

John 15:9 (NLT) - “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.

He is love come down, let’s surrender, ongoingly, by giving Him our awareness and attention.

——————

CHRISTMAS STORY

In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. The earth was formless and empty, and a darkness covered the deep dark waters. And the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us, and the government will rest upon His shoulders, and His Name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The zeal and passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!“

MUSIC CHANGE

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendent of King David

MUSIC CHANGE

Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings favored one, the Lord is with you." Confused and disturbed Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. "Don't be frightened, Mary," the angel told her, "God has chosen to bless you. You will become pregnant and have a son and you're to name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High!"

But Mary asked the angel, "How can I have a baby? I am a virgin." The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the baby born to you will be holy and he will be called the Son of God."

MUSIC CHANGE

While Mary was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and Joseph, her fiance, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly so as not to disgrace her publicly. As he considered this he fell asleep and the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

"Joseph, son of David," the angel said. "Don't be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary, for the child in her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son and you are to name him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

All of this happened to fulfill the Lord's message through His prophet: "Behold, the virgin will conceive a Child. She will give birth to a son. He will be called Emmanuel, meaning God With Us." This prophecy from Isaiah was given 700 years before Jesus was born.

MUSIC CHANGE

When Joseph woke up he did what the Angel of the Lord had commanded him. He brought Mary home to be his wife but she remained a virgin until her son was born; and at that time the Roman Emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. All returned to their own towns to register for the census and because Joseph was a descendent of King David he had to go to

Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled from the village of Nazareth in Galilee and took with him Mary, his wife who was great with child, and while they were there the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.

MUSIC CHANGE

That night there were shepherds in the fields outside the village guarding their flocks of sheep.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's Glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened but the angel reassured them, "Don't be afraid," he said, "I bring you good news of great joy, for everyone. A Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born tonight in Bethlehem the city of David. And this is how you will recognize Him: you will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes." And suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host from heaven, the armies of heaven, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace, goodwill toward men."

MUSIC CHANGE

The angels left and the shepherds said to each other, "Come, let us go to Bethlehem and see this wonderful thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about." So they ran to the village and they found Mary and Joseph, and there was the baby lying in the manger. The shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

All who heard their story were astonished. The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God. But Mary kept these things in her heart.

MUSIC CHANGE

So, during the reign of King Herod, Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem. And at the same time came Wise Men from the East to Jerusalem asking, "Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We've seen His star that arose and have come to worship Him." Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, as was all of Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. "Where do the prophets say the Messiah will be born?" he asked. "In Bethlehem," they said, "for this is what the prophet Micah wrote: 'Oh Bethlehem of Judea, you're not just a lowly village of Judah, for a Ruler will come to you who will be the Shepherd for my people, Israel!

So Herod sent a message to the Wise Men, he told them, "Go to Bethlehem. Search diligently for the Child. And when you find Him, come and tell me, that I may go and worship Him, too."

After this meeting the Wise Men went on their way, and once again the star appeared to them to guide them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star they were filled with joy. They entered the house where the Child and His mother were and they fell down and they worshiped Him. And they opened their treasure chests and they gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

But when it was time to leave they went another way because God had warned them in a dream not to return to King Herod.

(7:35) MUSIC CHANGE

After the Wise Men were gone, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in another dream, "Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and His mother." The angel said, "Stay there until I tell you to return because Herod will try and kill the child."

That very night Joseph left for Egypt with the Child and Mary, His wife, and they stayed there until Herod's death.

MUSIC CHANGE (8:10)

When Herod learned the Wise Men had outwitted him, he sent soldiers to kill all the baby boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under because the Wise Men had told him that the star had first appeared to them about two years before.

Then later, when Herod died, God's angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, "Get up, take the Child and His mother and return to Israel. All those who wish to murder the child are dead."

So Joseph obeyed. He arose and he took the Child and His mother and he re-entered Israel. On arriving he settled in the village of Nazareth fulfilling the words of the prophets:

He shall be called a Nazarene...

MUSIC CHANGE (0:46)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, revealing the love of God. He is the light of the world and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

And this is the story of Christmas!