The Gift

Notes: The Gift

Matthew 2

SPEAKER:

Greg Laurie

WORSHIP TEAM:

Harvest Worship Band

Welcome to Harvest Sunday Morning!

Sunday, December 13, 2015 — 10:00 a.m.

Christmas time is among us. What's the worst gift you ever received for Christmas?

Today we are talking about the The Gift of Christmas.

1. The Gift that God Gives to Us

The gift of salvation

Romans 6:23 NKJV

[23] For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This gift will only grow in value. With the passing of time and age you see the value of it.

Justification:

Romans 5:1-2 NKJV

[1] Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, [2] through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

We get justification now.

Justify carries a two fold meaning. First it speaks to the forgiveness of our sin.

We should not choose to remember what God has chosen to forget. We don't know where God puts it...but it is gone.

The other side is the righteousness of God is put into one's account.

Acts 13:38-39 NKJV

[38] Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; [39] and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

If you are a true believer then you are a saint.

We are adopted into the family of Christ.

Galatians 4:4-5 NKJV

[4] But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

By adoption, God is not just saying come stand in awe of me. He is saying come close to me.

2 Corinthians 9:15 NKJV

[15] Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

The afterlife will be better than this life.

2. The Gift that we Give to God

We can say thank you. We should say thank you to any gift of any size.

Matthew 2:9-12 NKJV

[9] When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. [10] When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. [11] And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. [12] Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

They opened their treasures to God. In an act of worship, they brought their treasures, not their leftovers.

Conversions of the mind, the heart and then the wallet. The wallet is usually the last to be converted.

There is a fundamental connection between our spiritual life and our handling of money.

1 Corinthians 6:20 NKJV

[20] For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

God promises to bless the person who gives.

Malachi 3:8-10 NKJV

[8] "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. [9] You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. [10] Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Tithing is not where we end...it is where we start.

You will be a happier person if you are a giving person.

Proverbs 23:5 NKJV

[5] Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

Our wealth just goes away. Wealth leaves us...either while we live or when we die.

If you are giving while your living, then you are knowing where it's going.

What is the value of a soul? What is Heaven worth?

When we invest in ministry we are investing in souls.

We can't buy souls, but we can invest in souls.

3. The Gift We Give to Others

We can re-gift this one.

Christmas is a time of year that a lot of people experience depression.

10 Step Solution for Depression

1. Do something for someone else that has a greater need than you.

2 to 10. Repeat step 1

The "Givers High" is a term for people.

Proverbs 11:25 NKJV

[25] The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Psalm 126:6 NKJV

[6] He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him.

The happiest Christians seem to be the evangelistic kind and the most unhappy ones seem to be knit-picky ones.

Jesus left heaven to bring you a gift. Have you received the gift of Jesus Christ?