Sermon Tone Analysis

Gifts of Christmas

Horrible Gifts:

It is that time of year again!

We hang the Christmas decorations, make tasty Christmas treats,send out Christmas cards, etc.

It is also the time of year when many people search high and low for that perfect gift.

But let’s face it, we don’t always land that perfect gift, do we?

Husbands tend to be notoriously lousy gift-givers.

So men, unless your wife asks explicitly for these items, please don’t give them!

I want to provide a little bit of preventive medicine so you and your wife will be spared having to sit in my office for counseling.

So take notice now and avoid the agony.

Here are some gifts you should never give unless asked VERY SPECIFICALLY!

A vacuum or a crock pot, blender, or any other household item or kitchen appliance that seems to remind your spouse of his or her domestic responsibilities.

Gym membership or a subscription to the Nutri-system weight loss program.

unless your spouse specifically, very specifically, asks for a gym membership or piece of exercise equipment, don't tread in these waters.

Anything exercise-related can have dire consequences, for obvious reasons.…this

kind of gift is just loaded with implications

Scale — even if it is a marvelous piece of technological wizardry that can measure fat-to-muscle ratio unless you want to measure the speed of knuckles-to-nose ratio.

The implications that come with that gift are far weightier (pun intended)

Hair Removal Kit — Nobody needs to be reminded if they have a little extra hair on their upper lip or on their chin.

Just so the ladies don’t feel left out, a gift certificate for hair replacement products is also a major no-no.

Wrinkle cream…Nobody will appreciate anything with the words "skin-firming," "toning," or "anti-aging."…

regardless of how good it smells, cross this off your list.

Reason for Gifts

The reason for giving gifts at Christmas time varies from household to household and the traditions.

Our practice on Christmas day is that once everyone is up, we have some sort of breakfast, usually homemade cinnamon rolls accompanied with minor friendly skirmishes over who gets the middle ones.

Time is allowed for the adults to have at least one cup of coffee because no one wants to start the process with a grumpy guss…in case someone happens to give a gift from the previously mentioned bad gift list.

Then before we open any presents, we gather around as a family and read the Christmas story from the Bible, pray, and focus on the greatest gift of all…Jesus

We strive to remind our children and the adults that we give gifts to each other to show our love for one another because of the ultimate gift of love from God in Jesus Christ.

Giving and receiving gifts can be a time filled with joy and laughter with one another if we take the time to do it right.

Doing it right means we think about what that gift will communicate to the recipient.

Exchanging gifts ought to communicate your love for the individual with a desire to bless them with something special.

No matter what gifts you give or receive, they all have something in common…none of them will last forever.

The Indescribable Gift

This Christmas season, we want to focus on the one gift that provides multiple gifts…and communicates God’s everlasting love for us.

You never have to worry about God giving you a horrible or worthless gift.

James 1 17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Of course, we are talking about the gift of Jesus Christ

2 Cor 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Why is this gift indescribable?

There aren’t enough words in our language (or any language) to accurately and adequately describe the total richness and depth of this marvelous gift of grace.

We will use this 4 part series between now and Christmas to focus on just a tiny portion of what a relationship with Jesus Christ brings to those who receive Him…these are all part of God’s loving gift of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus came, he brought gifts with him... every day with Jesus is Christmas because he never stopped bringing us gifts.

Jesus gives us the gift of Hope!

We want to begin with hope because we are at a time in our lives when many people are losing hope or searching for hope in temporal things.

The political landscape is filled with individuals that seem to have no moral compass, or if they do have one, it doesn’t seem to affect their decisions much; there appears to be no willingness even to sit down and talk about the issues at hand…that contributes to hopelessness on both sides of the aisle.

Suicide rates increase this time of year because while some people have families and friends to enjoy sharing life with, others face times of loneliness and despair thinking no one cares for them, all is lost…they are without hope.

The list seems to be endless when it comes to identifying people losing hope.

As dark and bleak and hopeless as things appear to be here now, this world and culture we see now are not our future.

That, in part, is the message of Christmas!

Romans 15:12-13 “Again Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Our hope will never be found in changing the political landscape, nor getting everyone to think the same thing regarding those hot button issues.

Our hope will never be found in eliminating terrorism, or sex trafficking, or drug addictions /alcoholism, etc. (not saying we should not try).

Remember what we see presently is a result of living in a fallen world!

True and lasting hope is only found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Eph.

2:12 “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

Anyone living today without Christ has no hope for the future.

Those who have accepted the wonderful gift of Jesus are headed for heaven, and we have an eternal hope that guarantees our future is one of glory and delight!

Defining Hope

Hope is the confidence in God that He will fulfill His promise to give His children a blessed and eternal future that motivates us to pursue Christlikeness with maximum effort.

In the time remaining, let’s examine the theology and practice of hope that ought to motivate our pursuit of Christlikeness.

The Theology of Hope

We start with theology because our theology impacts our practice.

It is secure – Hebrews 6:19-20

Hebrews 6:19–20 (NASB95)

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

It is an anchor…unmovable or unshakeable...it is not a wish…it is confidence.

We are confident that when Jesus Christ Himself entered the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, He entered on our behalf…He serves as our great High Priest, always interceding for us.

Peter reiterates this for us...1 Peter 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,”

It is an essential part of the gospel – Col. 1:3-5

Col 1:3-5 “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel”

The joy of our salvation is that one day we will enter the presence of God because of the promise of eternal life in heaven…we view that as a guaranteed fact.

It is not a wish…I wish I could go to heaven…it is a fact that those who trust in Christ are guaranteed heaven

Our salvation has three aspects: past, present, future!

Hope exists in all three parts.

Past – saved from the penalty of sin.

We will not be condemned because we have the imputed righteousness of Christ given to us the moment we believed.

Present – we are being saved from the power of sin because the indwelling Holy Spirit and the truth of the Scriptures give us victory over sin.

Future – we will be saved from the presence of sin when we get to heaven.

Our sin cursed bodies will be finally perfected.

It comes from God – Psalm 33:17-22

Turn to Psalm 33

v.17 — Our hope is not in the military (as much as we love our military personnel, our hope is not in them for victory), the horse was a symbol of military strength...regardless of how strong our military is, it is God who delivers us.

v.18-19 — God is the one who delivers us from death, from suffering…we are to look to Him

v 20 - 21— God is our help and shield.

Hope says we can wait on Him being assured of His deliverance, our heart rejoices because we trust Him.

v 22 — If you are struggling to find hope, it is not because hope does not exist.

Perhaps you are searching for hope in someone or something other than God!

No matter what the earthly conditions may be, there is no reason for fear or despair because our source of hope is God.

It is a gift of grace – 2 Thess 2:16-17

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (NASB95)

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

We don’t deserve hope…but God graciously gifts it to us.

It is defined by Scripture – Romans 15:4

When you find yourself in need of comfort and encouragement, turn to the Word.

What is interesting here is that when Paul wrote that Scripture was not complete at the time.

The Old Testament was the only completed portion of Scripture available to them.

So Paul is telling them you can find comfort in reading the Old Testament