Christmas Eve 2024

Receive the Greatest Gift

My family has been having a lot of fun with this series of messages.

We were joking about being a good receiver the other night and talking about if you don’t have a good giver and they give you bad things and you try to receive it well.

I then made the mistake of joking about receiving a left hook to which Kylie said yeah Colten be a good receiver and hauled off and hit him. To which he responded. While Macy was there laughing

Sunday, Cameron spoke about the Ultimate Gift of Jesus coming to Earth. As we celebrate Christmas tonight and tomorrow I want to share a little more about receiving the Ultimate gift.

John 1:11–12 HCSB

11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. 12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,

4 things it takes to Receive Jesus as Lord

Belief

John 3:16 HCSB

16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

We believe that He is the Son of God who took on human form, was born of a virgin (He has always existed and been God in the beginning), lived a perfect life, and fulfilled God’s plan to rescue people form sin by dying on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice.

To receive Jesus is to believe over and over and over again that His death on the cross completely paid for our sin and that God raised Him from the dead.

To receive Jesus is to believe that the grave is empty and God Raised him from the dead

Humility

Receiving Jesus as Lord takes humility.

It is saying that our idols of

power

we can save ourselves

wealth

We don’t need anything or anyone

popularity

comfort

Luke 9:23 HCSB

23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Gratitude

Luke 17:15–19 HCSB

15 But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. 16 He fell facedown at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus said, “Were not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.”

One of them a foreigner, that is a Samaritan came back to thank Jesus.

He is praising God and throws himself at Jesus feet, a posture of worship.

He understood that Jesus is God and placed his faith in Him.

The lack of gratitude by the other nine was typical of the rejection of His ministry by the Jewish nation.

Jesus alone had the power to cleanse.

Gratitude is key in receiving Jesus

Belonging

John 1:12–13 HCSB

12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

John: An Introduction and Commentary D. Those Who Receive the Word Become Children of God (1:12–13)

it is Jesus as the Word who gives the right to become children of God. The next verse, 1:13, says ‘the power’ to do so comes from God.