Sermon Tone Analysis

Keeping the Grinch from Stealing Christmas

Have something to Look forward to

Someone to give to....

Giving has psycological benifits:

1. Giving makes us feel happy.

A 2008 study by Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton and colleagues found that giving money to someone else lifted participants’ happiness more that spending it on themselves (despite participants’ prediction that spending on themselves would make them happier).

2. Giving is good for our health.

A wide range of research has linked different forms of generosity to better health, even among the sick and elderly.

In his book Why Good Things Happen to Good People, Stephen Post, a professor of preventative medicine at Stony Brook University, reports that giving to others has been shown to increase health benefits in people with chronic illness, including HIV and multiple sclerosis.

3. Giving promotes cooperation and social connection.

When you give, you’re more likely to get back: Several studies, including work by sociologists Brent Simpson and Robb Willer, have suggested that when you give to others, your generosity is likely to be rewarded by others down the line—sometimes by the person you gave to, sometimes by someone else.

ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE

4. Giving evokes gratitude.

Whether you’re on the giving or receiving end of a gift, that gift can elicit feelings of gratitude—it can be a way of expressing gratitude or instilling gratitude in the recipient.

And research has found that gratitude is integral to happiness, health, and social bonds.

5. Giving is contagious.

When we give, we don’t only help the immediate recipient of our gift.

We also spur a ripple effect of generosity through our community.

A study by James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, shows that when one person behaves generously, it inspires observers to behave generously later, toward different people.

In fact, the researchers found that altruism could spread by three degrees—from person to person to person to person.

“As a result,” they write, “each person in a network can influence dozens or even hundreds of people, some of whom he or she does not know and has not met.”

While Giving has benifits that make an impact in the community and in you, that’s not the reason we give.

Rick Warren teaches that Giving/ Generosity is the only real cure for greed.

Look at what happens in this story.

The Action of Giving Puts this story into action.

It revealed the character of the people in the story

It

It reenforced the testimony of The Angel to Mary and Joseph.

They were looking for something greater than themselves.

Mattew 2 1-4

The Maji were interested in giving Honor to something greater than themselves.

Herod was interested in protecting what He had.

Herod was interested in his regime.

His own self interest and the result was he was disturbed.

:”and all Israel with him.”

It was more that kist looking for what was greater than self.

I was a realization that they needed something greater than self.

They Saw that God was at work.

Matthew 2

The Maji Saw a greater thing at work.

The Maji Saw a greater thing at work.

Herod thought his great thing was under threat.

They were students of the word.

These foriegners were more versed in the content of the Scriptures than Herod.

how do I know this?

matthew 2

They knew he was the King.

When we are only looking to protect ourselves it will blind us to what matters and the innocent will be hurt in the process of our own self interest.

They Made an Effort to Bring the Gifts.

matthew 2 9-

The Maji were willing to make a sacrifice to give their gift

The Maji were willing to make a sacrifice to give their gift

Herod was willing to sacrifice anyone else to keep what he had.

The Wise Men/Maji put the work in.

The Effort to give themselves to the King.

That was greater than they.

they made a long journey.

Applied their knowledge,

Used their resources

Traveled a long distance

Herod was willing to hurt anyone who threatened what he thought he needed to keep.

No matter how innocent.

matthew 216-18

When we are only looking to protect ourselves it will blind us to what matters and the innocent will be hurt in the process of our own self interest.

When we are only looking to protect ourselves it will blind us to what matters and the innocent will be hurt in the process of our own self interest.

There is no end to what a man will do to protect what he most values.

In Herod’s case it was his own tribute.

His own messiah.

Himself.

Final Thoughts.

The grinch steals our Christmas when we are only believing that what we see on the surface matters.

Giving expands our understanding of what is important.

Like Herod when we are more interested in the kingdom we are building we will will do whatever it takes to protect it when we feel it is threatened.

When we do we risk being

small minded and unable to look beyond oursleves.

missing God’s work around us

Hurting the innocent in our way.

Because we are not making any effort outside ourselves.

Where are you at this morning?

Like that or are you....

looking For God to move among us

seeing what God is already at work doing

Making the effort to get to what God has done.

Seeing the Trees on Fire.

God’s work endures even when it’s not immediately evident.

Are you looking at the holiday’s in such a matter where you can see the Glory of God or are you worried about preserving your own.