God's Amazing... (2)

SONG

COME THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS

Intro God's Amazing... Saviour

For some of us this season has been a mad dash that started the moment the last bit of turkey was scraped off our plate at our thanksgiving gathering.

This year like no other I have observed the transferal of shopping from going out to get gifts to shopping online.

For us this also meant an unfortunate gift to all the UPS and FED EX delivery persons. For each purchase click on the laptop there was the gift of trekking up our very steep driveway.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas we gather this morning to focus upon the presents that all to often get placed at the back of this season.

ESV

Although we are use to the overnight delivery of our gifts, God's Amazing gifts sometimes take a little longer.

In this case the prophecy spoken by Isaiah about the coming Messiah Jesus, was voiced in 730 BC.

But the gift of the Messiah came at the most appropriate time in the most appropriate way!

God's delivery system

NLT

So we gather here this morning to celebrate God's Amazing Savior who came so that you and I could experience a gift like no other!

The gift of salvation comes wrapped in an unexpected way that we can miss if we are not careful!

But Gods redemption seldom happens the way we expect...

SONG

NOEL

God's Amazing... Love

When the boys were growing up we had a long running tradition that Stephanie and I would wrap the gifts the night before.

I remember many nights doing my best to wrap the gifts but there was always a marked difference in what the wrapping looked like.

On Christmas mornings, no matter how hard I tried, our boys could always tell the difference. After a while I just stopped trying to be perfect and honestly that made things a lot more fun and enjoyable.

Sometimes I think we do that same thing with God's gifts!

God's heart is that we would be in relationship with Him and that out of that relationship we can be gifts to those around us!

But we tend to live apart from God's design and over time we find our wrapping looking far different than God's original purpose.

Who wrapped you?

NLT

Due to the fall of mankind in the wrapping has gotten messed up.

Kinda like the way I use to wrap my boys gifts this world tries to convince us that happiness and love looks like this for us.

So we wrap ourselves in all kinds of things in hopes that it will fill the emptiness that we grapple with apart from knowing the God who is passionately desires to reveal who we are in him.

SONG: ANGELS

ANGELS

God's Amazing... Grace

Before we sing silent night and a few other Christmas songs I want to leave you with one last God's Amazing gifts.

Because with all human gifts that you will get tomorrow it will grow old and fade in value and worth.

But God's gifts do not do that, because they are designed to wrap us for eternity not just for this age or time.

The gift of grace

In the Bible there is this guy named Paul who allows a number of things to wrap him.

But as it is with all pursuits apart from a relationship with God we tend to find ourselves in undesirable places that it becomes hard to even recognize who we are.

NLT

God's Amazing gift of grace is available to us all no matter how badly we have messed up the wrapping!

That same person who calls himself the worst of sinners also says this about God's Amazing gift of grace!

NLT

Conclusion

So as we prepare to light our candles and sing Silent Night I encourage us to let God do the wrapping because just as I will never be as good of gift wrapper as my wife we will never be able to match God's Amazing ability to wrap us so that we are His gifts to each other.

SONG: SILENT NIGHT

Give instructions about candles

SONG: OH COME ALL YE FAITHFUL

JOY TO THE WORLD

PRAYER