WEBVTT 00:00:02.460 --> 00:00:05.650 I know as a church family, we've been studying the book of Nehemiah. 00:00:06.140 --> 00:00:10.950 Take a short detour from the book of Nehemiah, and by short I mean long. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:17.540 we're down to the last few chapters of the book, and we're going to use the remainder of the book. 00:00:17.540 --> 00:00:24.830 We'll get to it a little bit later, but for the rest of this year, we're going to focus on the advent, which is a clever word for saying the coming of Christ. 00:00:26.540 --> 00:00:34.300 And as we go through this series together this morning, we're going to begin just to focus on the 00:00:34.300 --> 00:00:34.900 smallness. 00:00:35.980 --> 00:00:41.140 And I may have invented a new word with smallness, but pretend it's a real word. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:48.920 Today, the lesson from the manger is we're going to study together this morning is that God has a way of making big 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.340 gifts and small packages when we talk about small gifts. 00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:54.930 So this morning, we're not going to think about shopping at Jared's. 00:00:55.120 --> 00:00:56.720 Or every kiss begins with Kay. 00:00:56.720 --> 00:01:00.680 We're just going to talk about, gift of Jesus. 00:01:02.140 --> 00:01:04.849 Christmas as a child to me meant a lot about presents. 00:01:05.080 --> 00:01:09.760 I can think at night, just swim in my in my head over all the presents of Saul under the tree. 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:11.000 I was actually a bad kid. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:18.200 The anticipation of gifts when I got a little bit older became so bad that I would steal a razor blade from the garage 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:25.460 and go under the Christmas tree and carefully slice open my Christmas tape and 00:01:25.460 --> 00:01:29.820 remove my gift from the present, and then put that back down and tape it. 00:01:29.820 --> 00:01:30.900 And my mother wouldn't even know. 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:33.980 And then I would wear my Christmas gift for days and she wouldn't even notice. 00:01:34.460 --> 00:01:35.680 I was a horrible child. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:41.580 The anticipation of those gifts were too much for me to bear, and my mom probably should have punished me. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:42.280 She never did. 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:42.480 I don't. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:43.860 The spirit of Christmas overcame her. 00:01:44.300 --> 00:01:45.260 I thank God for that. 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:45.380 Right? 00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:53.660 But when we think about the gift of Christmas, what it meant to the nation of Israel, it was a much anticipated gift 00:01:53.660 --> 00:01:58.620 and to their surprise, maybe even a shocking gift when they received it. 00:01:59.660 --> 00:02:06.760 To see such a small present laying in a manger that would lead the Jewish 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:06.900 people. 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:15.620 We go through a lot of pain sometimes to wrap gifts beautifully nowadays. 00:02:16.300 --> 00:02:22.900 I mean, some gifts that you might wrap this Christmas could probably cost more to wrap it than the gift itself did, especially to you who are registers. 00:02:24.200 --> 00:02:28.320 But it's interesting when we see God's gifts to us when he came to this world. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.120 His gift didn't come with any adornment really whatsoever. 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:38.220 Lying in a manger, wrapped in cloth next to animals. 00:02:39.880 --> 00:02:46.680 When I look at the story of Christmas, and I think about the small gift of Jesus God as a baby in this world. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:54.020 God went through great lengths to prove to us how he can work through things so small. 00:02:54.760 --> 00:02:57.660 God gives big gifts to us in small packages. 00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:06.300 And this morning, what I want to do is just examine the gift of Christmas as that small package, looking at it in different angles and all the attempts 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:13.420 that God had made to us to prove to us as people that God can do such big things through 00:03:14.480 --> 00:03:15.200 such small things. 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:22.980 When we look in Isaiah chapter nine and verse six, we see in the passage of Scripture that God gives Israel a promise. 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:28.600 And this promise is what their anticipation led to upon Christmas morning. 00:03:29.380 --> 00:03:31.360 Israel was waiting on a messiah. 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:40.660 It says in chapter nine and verse six, for a child will be born unto us, a son will be given to us, and 00:03:40.660 --> 00:03:47.840 the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:48.580 the Prince of Peace. 00:03:51.200 --> 00:03:55.120 The promise of the coming of the Messiah wasn't just, in our view a coming. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:55.960 It was also a departing. 00:03:57.880 --> 00:04:04.260 It's about what God gave up to come into this world, to give to us the freedom that we desire, that could only come through him. 00:04:05.720 --> 00:04:12.860 And this big God as he comes with us, it literally says in Isaiah chapter seven and verse 14 that his name would be Immanuel, meaning God 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:19.360 with us tells us in this passage of Scripture that the government will rest upon his shoulders. 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:25.920 You think about the wise men and the shepherds as they gathered around the manger. 00:04:27.260 --> 00:04:34.470 To think that this small baby would give such large weight for not only the people of Israel, but as the promise was given to Abraham, 00:04:34.700 --> 00:04:37.540 the blessings to all nations would come through this Messiah. 00:04:39.140 --> 00:04:43.500 So much so that he's given names to identify the beauty for which he would carry into this world. 00:04:43.500 --> 00:04:48.320 Being a wonderful counselor, if you ever have a need in your life, Jesus is the great counselor to go to. 00:04:48.320 --> 00:04:50.100 He's a mighty God capable of meeting our need. 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:50.860 Interesting. 00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:54.080 Christ is quoted in the Old Testament as Eternal Father. 00:04:54.860 --> 00:05:01.100 Jesus referred to as the father three times in the Old Testament, the word father is used, and twice it refers to Jesus. 00:05:03.080 --> 00:05:06.420 He is the Prince of Peace and what he brought to this world. 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:10.480 As we think about the coming of this Messiah. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:17.120 God went through great lengths to make this Christmas gift to us seem small, but capable of so much. 00:05:19.580 --> 00:05:21.180 We look at the life of Jesus. 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:26.400 His entry into this world wouldn't be one that we would expect of a king, or a governor, or a ruler of this world. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:35.240 If you were to read from Matthew chapter one and Matthew chapter two, or the first two chapters of Luke, what you'd find within those four chapters of the Bible is the Christmas 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:35.760 story. 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:43.140 Both Matthew and Luke share different parts of this Christmas story in the coming of the Messiah, depending on who they were talking to. 00:05:44.900 --> 00:05:51.560 But as each man writes in the books of the Bible according to their perspective of the Christmas story. 00:05:51.700 --> 00:05:58.700 Both of these men use important parts of this Christmas story to create, in our minds an image of a humble beginning for 00:05:58.700 --> 00:05:59.000 Jesus. 00:06:01.440 --> 00:06:08.600 It says in the Luke chapter two and verse four that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, says Joseph 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:15.860 also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because 00:06:15.860 --> 00:06:17.640 he was the house and family of David. 00:06:18.760 --> 00:06:22.940 In order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was with child. 00:06:25.080 --> 00:06:29.700 The birthplace of Jesus was an interesting pick for God, because it was the place of kings. 00:06:29.780 --> 00:06:30.770 It was the place of King David. 00:06:31.520 --> 00:06:33.600 But the city itself was nothing to brag about. 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:41.700 It was a small suburb southwest of the place of Jerusalem, five miles southwest of where Jerusalem was 00:06:41.700 --> 00:06:42.340 located. 00:06:42.340 --> 00:06:44.920 You'd find Bethlehem, just a small town. 00:06:48.490 --> 00:06:53.840 As Jesus was born into this world, there was a small crowd that gathered to worship him. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:07:00.960 You would think the coming of the Messiah, the coming of a king, the coming of someone much anticipated in the eyes of the Jewish people alone, would be enough to draw 00:07:00.960 --> 00:07:03.480 large crowds as they would gather to worship. 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:09.500 But it tells us, as we read in Luke chapter two and verse 15 and 16, that it was just a small crowd of people who gathered to worship him. 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:18.300 It says when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem and see 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:20.500 the thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. 00:07:21.660 --> 00:07:25.740 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger. 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:30.860 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told by them by the shepherds. 00:07:32.780 --> 00:07:39.880 In verse 18 you see that the shepherds, when they found baby Jesus, went back to the groups of people around the area and began to share 00:07:39.880 --> 00:07:41.000 with them that the Messiah had come. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.030 But it never says that the people went to worship Jesus. 00:07:43.340 --> 00:07:45.420 They just stood in wonder and amazement at it. 00:07:46.280 --> 00:07:47.880 But the shepherds were the ones who gathered. 00:07:48.080 --> 00:07:55.140 Their shepherds weren't people of much authority within any city during the time, especially Bethlehem. 00:07:56.820 --> 00:08:02.480 But it was the shepherds in which Jesus drew to his manger. 00:08:03.760 --> 00:08:06.300 The lives of the shepherds were very important to the city of Jerusalem. 00:08:08.280 --> 00:08:12.500 I find it quite unique that God selected the shepherds in order to declare to them that the Messiah had come. 00:08:14.080 --> 00:08:16.570 You think about Bethlehem being outside of the city of Jerusalem. 00:08:16.780 --> 00:08:23.880 One of the major events that was celebrated within the city of Jerusalem was the Passover, first began in Egypt, as the nation of 00:08:23.880 --> 00:08:27.540 Israel was set free to journey into Israel to establish themselves as a nation. 00:08:28.840 --> 00:08:35.940 And God told the people of Israel when the Passover had come, that they needed to sacrifice a lamb, each family to sacrifice a lamb and apply 00:08:35.940 --> 00:08:41.220 the blood of the lamb to the doorposts, and whoever applied the blood of the lamb to their lives was saved from the death angel. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:50.320 And it would have been the role of these shepherds who gathered around the manger of Jesus to raise these sheep that would go to Jerusalem during 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:53.560 the time of the Passover, to make the sacrifice of the lamb. 00:08:55.800 --> 00:09:04.040 And Jesus calls these shepherds, who have partaken in many Passover celebrations, to come and see the Messiah, the 00:09:04.040 --> 00:09:08.860 lamb that was chosen for the nation of Israel to be the sacrifice of all sins for all mankind, for all time. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:18.340 And there, in the humble beginnings in the small town of Bethlehem, as a small gift, lowly shepherds came to worship. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:22.140 I know you're thinking, what about the wise men? 00:09:22.160 --> 00:09:29.280 But the wise men, as you read the story of Jesus, you'll come to find that weren't didn't arrive to the manger until 40 days after Jesus 00:09:29.280 --> 00:09:35.100 had been born, but directly at the birth of Jesus. 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:36.660 It was just the shepherds who gathered there. 00:09:38.400 --> 00:09:45.440 Not only do we see born in Bethlehem, not only do we see a little crowd gathered, but we also find that Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of lords, is 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:52.480 laid in a manger, a manger in a lot of our minds, we just picture a small shack that's built with hay 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.100 established around the sides of it. 00:09:54.100 --> 00:10:01.260 But in biblical times, a manger would refer to something similar to a cave would have been the place that people who raised animals 00:10:01.260 --> 00:10:05.360 would have gathered their livestock for the winter in order to place them in, to keep them warm. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:09.880 And Jesus was literally in a cave being used as a barn. 00:10:11.280 --> 00:10:18.440 It says in Luke chapter seven and verse two, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger, because 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:19.720 there was no room for them in the inn. 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:29.100 You realize when Jesus came to this world that when this world, all that they gifted the King of Kings with was a manger to lay his head. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:33.400 A cross to bear sins on, and a borrowed grave in which to place his body. 00:10:35.520 --> 00:10:42.620 And here, in his humble beginnings, we see Mary the mother, desiring with her first born child, I'm sure, as all mothers should, to give this child 00:10:42.620 --> 00:10:44.240 the best that they could possibly offer. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:48.760 And she's left resorting to laying her child in a manger with animals. 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:53.580 It says in verse 12, this will be a sign for you. 00:10:54.420 --> 00:11:01.620 You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger, in which it shares with the shepherds in Luke chapter 12 or excuse me, chapter 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:04.880 two, Jesus was laid in a manger. 00:11:04.920 --> 00:11:06.040 He was worshiped by a little crowd. 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:13.240 He was born in Bethlehem in Luke chapter two and verse 16, could you imagine the perspective of either the wise men 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:15.300 or the shepherds when they arrived upon the scene? 00:11:16.460 --> 00:11:21.120 I mean, they saw the prophecy of everything that Messiah would do, and they anticipated much, anticipated his coming. 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:29.160 Many people missed the coming of the Messiah, because what they desired for the Messiah to do in the nation of Israel was to make it a world power to politically rule and dominate 00:11:29.160 --> 00:11:30.300 all other nations. 00:11:31.520 --> 00:11:37.880 And so when they saw Jesus and His manger form coming into this world, they refused to accept him as the Messiah they read about in the Old Testament. 00:11:39.860 --> 00:11:47.000 It says in chapter two and verse 16, so they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as he lay in 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:47.340 the manger. 00:11:49.680 --> 00:11:55.260 Goes on to tell us in chapter two and verse 19, along with the wise men that these men gathered and they worshiped. 00:11:57.540 --> 00:12:04.660 Could you imagine what it would have been like at the scene of the manger to worship a baby, to having been a wise 00:12:04.660 --> 00:12:11.840 man, and journeyed from the east, and come all the way to Israel, and to stand before this child who lies in the manger, and think, I've traveled all 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:15.200 this way to see this Messiah, this promised King, who's coming for Israel. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:18.860 And here I am, having come this far to worship a baby. 00:12:22.300 --> 00:12:26.960 God brings big gifts to us in small packages. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:29.340 Amen. 00:12:29.340 --> 00:12:36.540 The illustration that Jesus gives to us in his own life is a reminder to us of what God can even do through 00:12:36.540 --> 00:12:38.020 our own lives. 00:12:40.060 --> 00:12:47.080 It tells us not only did the Messiah have a humble beginning, but that later in Matthew chapter two, that he had to flee for 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:47.980 his own life. 00:12:49.880 --> 00:12:50.880 It says now when they had gone. 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:52.320 It's talking about the wise men. 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:59.480 Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until 00:12:59.480 --> 00:12:59.980 I tell you. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:03.100 For Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him. 00:13:04.020 --> 00:13:08.340 So Joseph got up and took the child and his mother while it was still night, and he left for Egypt. 00:13:10.880 --> 00:13:17.660 The King of kings and Lord of Lords, in this moment has a small gift, can even raise a finger to protect themselves from opposition. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:26.480 It tells us in this passage that not only is Jesus's life in danger, but we know later in Scripture that Herod came into the town of Bethlehem and 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.960 he killed all the small children around the age of Jesus. 00:13:32.180 --> 00:13:35.160 Lives were lost and the humble beginning of Jesus. 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:42.650 God brings small gifts into this world to teach us big lessons about themselves. 00:13:43.880 --> 00:13:48.200 God's small gift to us in this passage brings large points to our lives. 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:53.440 That said, God is capable of more than I can imagine when we reflect on what Jesus has done. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:58.600 In this passage of Scripture, there's something about Christmas that's just special, isn't it? 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:00.920 God is more capable than anything that we can imagine. 00:14:00.920 --> 00:14:07.980 I know when we started this sub for Santa's ministry at the church, one of the things that Tom kept saying over and over, it seems too difficult 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.620 to take on a ministry like this. 00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:16.220 I think Aubrey says she has like seven, 67 families that were trying to find homes for to provide for Christmas. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:25.250 When you come to find, as I've followed the Lord in my own life, is that when things seem too large and too difficult and 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:31.190 for me to achieve, it's the perfect place for God to step in to show us what he's capable of. 00:14:32.660 --> 00:14:41.180 And Tom would continue to say as they talked about taking on a ministry like this for Christmas, that this just seems too big, too, unachievable 00:14:41.180 --> 00:14:41.940 for us as people. 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:48.520 God takes small packages and does big things. 00:14:50.800 --> 00:14:57.920 I think when we started the church in Lehigh, how in the world is the church going to start here or 00:14:57.940 --> 00:14:58.480 is it going to come? 00:14:59.700 --> 00:15:01.660 We talked about moving to a facility like this. 00:15:01.660 --> 00:15:03.400 How in the world are we going to be able to do this? 00:15:04.220 --> 00:15:08.340 Talking about buying a bar down the road now, how in the world are we going to be able to do that? 00:15:10.590 --> 00:15:15.340 I can take small packages and create big things. 00:15:16.620 --> 00:15:21.790 Not only do we learn what God is able to do through his small gift, but we learn that God can make the best out of any situation. 00:15:22.060 --> 00:15:22.220 Why? 00:15:22.260 --> 00:15:26.300 Because it's not based on our own merit, but it's based on everything that he's capable of doing. 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:34.540 I find as we serve the Lord and we see the coming of the Messiah, that even in the humble beginnings that God can take anyone that feels incapable 00:15:34.540 --> 00:15:38.360 and make them more than capable through Christ. 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:43.810 You know, when you do ministry for Jesus, it's okay to feel incapable. 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:52.380 It's okay to look at God and realize, as God may lay something on your heart, that God, you don't feel equipped to handle that. 00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:57.100 Paul even talked about that. 00:15:57.180 --> 00:16:03.040 His grace is sufficient for me because my strength is found or his strength is found in my weakness. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:12.760 When we look at our life's journey with God and the places that God calls us to 00:16:12.760 --> 00:16:13.040 serve. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:17.760 Jesus uses his manger as an example to our lives. 00:16:17.860 --> 00:16:24.900 That God can take something small, something challenging, something difficult in our lives, and he can work it out for his 00:16:24.900 --> 00:16:25.300 good. 00:16:29.060 --> 00:16:31.880 God can take small All things make them big. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:35.500 Second, this morning I just want to point out to us. 00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:41.860 That a small gift can become a big gift. 00:16:43.740 --> 00:16:45.460 Any small gift can become a big gift. 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:46.620 Let me give you some reasons why. 00:16:46.860 --> 00:16:53.980 This morning, if you're thinking about buying presents for your spouse and you've got a limited budget, how in the world do 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:56.860 you make your small gifts big gifts, right? 00:16:56.880 --> 00:17:01.440 I mean, I, I never mind small gifts, big gifts. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:03.180 How in the world would become big gifts to us? 00:17:03.260 --> 00:17:09.200 Well, the first we see in the birth of Jesus is that small gifts can become big gifts simply because of their meaning. 00:17:11.540 --> 00:17:16.180 For us, the Christmas story means a lot as a church because we understand its meaning. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:18.460 God is with us. 00:17:19.800 --> 00:17:23.660 God cares enough about us to come to this world and give his life for us. 00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:29.760 People fail to see the big gift of what Christmas is about, because they fail to see what Jesus is about. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:34.020 But what we can define the meaning of the purpose for which Christmas is established. 00:17:34.080 --> 00:17:39.560 That meaning breathes life to its purpose, and it makes that gift come, come to life for us as people. 00:17:39.580 --> 00:17:40.960 It adds purpose to us. 00:17:42.760 --> 00:17:45.630 When a gift has meaning, it becomes special. 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:48.100 John 316. 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:49.400 The word for gift is here. 00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:49.960 In here. 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:52.330 For God so loved the world that he gave. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.160 There's the gift he gave to you, his only son. 00:17:56.040 --> 00:17:59.800 God loves you so much that the meaning of Christmas is seen in that. 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:05.260 That he's given you his son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. 00:18:09.080 --> 00:18:13.420 Small gift becomes a big gift, not only in its meaning, but in its need. 00:18:15.300 --> 00:18:22.440 Now, this is an embarrassing story, but as a child, I remember for Christmas, my mom would always use that as a time to give me gifts I 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:24.100 wanted and then gifts I needed. 00:18:25.360 --> 00:18:31.480 And so sometimes it wasn't out of the blue to see maybe a package of underwear or a package of socks lying under the Christmas tree. 00:18:33.040 --> 00:18:33.060 Right? 00:18:33.060 --> 00:18:33.760 I needed that. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:37.300 The rest of the world probably wanted me to have that right. 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:44.780 But a big gift becomes a small gift becomes a big gift because of the need. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:53.740 The Bible tells us in Romans five eight that God demonstrates his love towards us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for you. 00:18:54.040 --> 00:18:54.820 He gave you his life. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:59.520 I like the way that Jesus referred to the reason that he came in John 1010. 00:18:59.520 --> 00:19:04.120 If we ask the baby, the baby Jesus, why in the world are you coming to this world? 00:19:04.120 --> 00:19:04.260 What are you? 00:19:04.340 --> 00:19:05.900 What is it you're offering to us as the Messiah? 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:09.740 It says in John 1010, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:12.100 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 00:19:15.040 --> 00:19:17.540 This verse has always struck me as shocking. 00:19:18.540 --> 00:19:20.500 You think about the audience that Jesus is talking to. 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:21.500 It doesn't even matter who it is. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:27.260 Jesus is looking at people who are alive and he's saying to people who are alive, you are not living. 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:30.300 Interesting isn't it? 00:19:31.360 --> 00:19:33.760 I came that you may have life, but you guys aren't really living. 00:19:33.780 --> 00:19:34.980 But to have it abundantly. 00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:39.640 Do you understand the need for which I present to this world by coming to you? 00:19:40.580 --> 00:19:45.440 I came as a baby to show you, even in the small beginnings, what your glorious God is capable of. 00:19:46.120 --> 00:19:48.700 And that through me you can begin to live. 00:19:50.320 --> 00:19:53.240 God comes and he demonstrates to us the meaning of Christmas. 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:55.940 He demonstrates to us the need that we have for Christmas. 00:19:58.300 --> 00:20:05.540 Most importantly, it's free and any small gift becomes a big gift 00:20:05.540 --> 00:20:06.220 when it's free. 00:20:07.120 --> 00:20:11.840 Right now, think about Christmas for just a minute and it's going to be harsh harsh example. 00:20:12.060 --> 00:20:15.420 But let me talk about people that give you gifts that you don't really want to give. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:17.020 Get gifts from because you got to give them a gift back. 00:20:17.080 --> 00:20:17.810 You ever feel that guilt? 00:20:18.540 --> 00:20:19.020 Yeah. 00:20:21.750 --> 00:20:23.520 That's different than Jesus, isn't it? 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:29.520 Because whether you accept him or not, he still gave his life for you. 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:32.180 It's free. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:39.340 It tells us in Ephesians chapter two and verse eight, for by grace you have been saved through faith. 00:20:39.580 --> 00:20:42.300 Faith meaning, trusting in what Jesus has done for you. 00:20:43.080 --> 00:20:43.910 It's not of yourselves. 00:20:44.340 --> 00:20:45.520 You don't have to buy this gift back. 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:47.320 In fact, you can't. 00:20:48.620 --> 00:20:49.940 It's the gift of God, he tells us. 00:20:51.320 --> 00:20:52.000 It's not of yourselves. 00:20:52.140 --> 00:20:55.360 It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 00:20:57.760 --> 00:21:04.880 See, in the last verse we find one of the reasons for which God desires for us not to earn the gift if it were even capable, because all boasting belongs 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:05.420 in the Lord. 00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:09.810 So everything about life is for his glory. 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:18.380 When God presents to us such a loving gift, the response of his people is to return that with an attitude of praise. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.640 A small gift becomes a big gift when it's free. 00:21:25.560 --> 00:21:29.070 As we think about Christmas as people, we should reflect on its meaning. 00:21:29.080 --> 00:21:32.240 We should reflect on the need that God met in our lives. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:36.360 We should reflect on the freedom that we've experienced in Jesus because it was free. 00:21:38.380 --> 00:21:42.140 God's small gift made big points in our lives. 00:21:43.600 --> 00:21:48.520 God made his gift, his birth, so simple for us that we wouldn't miss seeing his overall purpose. 00:21:48.520 --> 00:21:51.420 God always deals with sin and he's not okay. 00:21:51.460 --> 00:21:52.600 That sin separates us. 00:21:52.600 --> 00:21:54.680 So much so that he came to this world to die for us. 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:02.780 Don't let sin tear you apart from what's important to God, which is a relationship to him and a relationship to others, God has 00:22:02.780 --> 00:22:09.060 a plan that will bring the best for your life, and he demonstrated that to us by offering us the freedom that can only come through him. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:14.240 God can make a change in you because he can overcome any adversity in this world. 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:16.660 That's the message of Christmas. 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:23.060 God is a God who meets needs because he can meet the need of the broken. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:30.100 God is a God that can relate to the broken because he's been broken himself, having walked in the shoes of the poor and the needy. 00:22:30.360 --> 00:22:31.660 Jesus can relate to us. 00:22:34.060 --> 00:22:38.170 God is a God who is simply accept me for who I am, no strings attached. 00:22:40.460 --> 00:22:46.800 You see that as Jesus brought both the wise men and the lowly shepherds to his manger in order to worship. 00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:56.210 Last, when you accept the gift, what it brings to our lives is our heartfelt response. 00:22:58.590 --> 00:23:00.360 This is what worship is all about. 00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:05.060 That's what the meaning of Christmas is all about. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:07.420 God is with us. 00:23:09.520 --> 00:23:12.200 God came to this world to be with us. 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:13.460 And what does that mean to us? 00:23:13.460 --> 00:23:14.880 Well, God, God met a need. 00:23:16.340 --> 00:23:18.290 God has defined for us the meaning. 00:23:18.380 --> 00:23:26.300 And God has offered his grace to us and freedom in him, that we may experience eternal life if we trust in him by faith, and 00:23:26.300 --> 00:23:33.440 we see the gift that God has brought into our lives, the way that God has demonstrated this small gift can do such big things not only for the Lord as he demonstrated in 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:34.910 his life, but it comes into our own lives. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.380 Because as we trust in Jesus, the Bible tells us, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. 00:23:42.060 --> 00:23:47.140 When you accept a big gift, it causes a heartfelt response. 00:23:48.620 --> 00:23:49.060 That's worship. 00:23:52.280 --> 00:23:54.290 Christmas Story is a story about worship. 00:23:56.620 --> 00:23:58.560 The wise men came and they worshiped. 00:23:58.900 --> 00:24:02.640 It tells us in Matthew two, when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 00:24:04.220 --> 00:24:09.770 After coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell to the ground and worshipped him. 00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:14.800 And opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 00:24:16.580 --> 00:24:23.620 Tells us in Luke chapter two, the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told to 00:24:23.620 --> 00:24:29.300 them, according to the Old Testament, when they saw Jesus for who he was. 00:24:30.840 --> 00:24:36.580 They saw the star over the top of the manger in Bethlehem, and they knew who the Messiah was according to the Old Testament. 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:40.970 It tells us in this passage as a scripture that they gathered and they just worshiped. 00:24:44.210 --> 00:24:51.340 That's what the Christmas season should represent to us, and the hustle and bustle of worrying about all these 00:24:51.340 --> 00:24:58.480 gifts and getting everything wrapped for the sub for Santa stuff, and even in your own personal lives as Christmas just seems to make us 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:05.480 busier and busier every year, all that Jesus wants to do is grab your attention and just get with you and him, and just 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:07.820 allow you the opportunity to worship. 00:25:11.300 --> 00:25:14.840 Jesus came to this world because he wasn't okay with the sin that separated you. 00:25:14.900 --> 00:25:21.320 He wanted you to enter into that relationship with him, to have the opportunity to freely gather at his feet and just worship. 00:25:24.260 --> 00:25:29.050 And I love the response of these two groups of people as they gather before Christ, because it's different. 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:31.660 The worship is different. 00:25:33.060 --> 00:25:37.550 You see the wise men, when they gather, they're excited at the gathering before they even get to Jesus. 00:25:37.600 --> 00:25:39.780 And then when they get there, they offer him gifts out of worship. 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:40.920 These guys were wealthy. 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:42.440 These guys had things to offer. 00:25:42.540 --> 00:25:48.540 And so knowing that Jesus was in Bethlehem, it's probably a good idea in lowly Bethlehem that they bring some gifts to help him out, isn't it? 00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:50.220 And so they worshiped. 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:58.640 The shepherds were people from the area we saw in earlier verses that when they left, they were glorifying God. 00:25:58.700 --> 00:26:00.460 But they didn't just glorify God in their own life. 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:03.880 When they left the city that they were from, they went out and told other people. 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:09.410 And it says that the people stood with amazement at what God was doing. 00:26:11.120 --> 00:26:18.440 Their worship was different, but it's still worship because they took the time to gather at the feet of Jesus and recognize what God was doing. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:28.200 God's small gift again to us plays a big part and makes a big point, as we see here in the lives 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:35.320 of the wise men and the shepherds as shepherds, if we have nothing to give, we can simply just go out and share a mouth 00:26:35.320 --> 00:26:35.860 of praise. 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:44.600 As wise men, if we have something to give, we can give to God and still go out with a mouth of praise for the Lord. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:48.840 God's small gift has made a big point. 00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:57.880 Christmas is about reminding me that when life seems hopeless, God works through my humble position for an incredible miracle. 00:27:00.180 --> 00:27:02.000 You don't have to be the best to worship. 00:27:02.800 --> 00:27:10.060 Just willing to worship God accepts anyone, from wise men to shepherd shepherds 00:27:10.060 --> 00:27:16.360 if they're just willing to worship God is not about our boasting and our merits and our achievements. 00:27:16.800 --> 00:27:20.280 He brought a small gift to show what he is capable of through him. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:28.000 God doesn't need my help in this world, but God wants my heart. 00:27:29.600 --> 00:27:36.680 Let me just remind you this morning that when we talk about God taking small packages and making big gifts 00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:41.140 because we refer to God as a baby being a small package. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:45.840 One thing I don't want us to walk away with today is thinking it's also a cheap package. 00:27:48.620 --> 00:27:51.280 Because what Jesus did for us by any means was not cheap. 00:27:53.660 --> 00:27:57.360 God gave up his throne in heaven to come and live as a lowly man. 00:27:57.380 --> 00:28:02.220 But not only that he literally laid it all down for you and for I. 00:28:04.260 --> 00:28:11.600 When we think about worshiping God and we think about following God, no matter how insignificant you may seem, or how big 00:28:11.600 --> 00:28:14.400 a ministry may seem to you that God has laid upon your heart. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:22.720 It's not about how small the package, because God can take anything small and make it big for his glory. 00:28:25.300 --> 00:28:32.600 In fact, I would say the healthiest place to be when you minister for the Lord is a place where you sit and say to God, God, I'm looking at this circumstance 00:28:32.600 --> 00:28:34.180 just like I looked at you as a baby. 00:28:35.420 --> 00:28:37.720 And as I look at this God, it just seems like it's impossible. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:41.380 So, God, I'm asking for your help. 00:28:44.300 --> 00:28:51.840 When we're in those places as we serve the Lord, it's finally at those points that God is able to begin to work within us because 00:28:51.840 --> 00:28:57.100 we've really, truly begun to surrender to what he wants to do within us as we serve him. 00:28:58.780 --> 00:29:05.820 This morning, as a church family, when we think about what God is able to do as a baby 00:29:05.820 --> 00:29:12.860 in this world, I want to think about what God is able to do as we consider ourselves, maybe babies and 00:29:12.860 --> 00:29:14.180 just serving him. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:22.320 The meaning of Christmas was an enormous message for the people of Israel and for all nations. 00:29:25.140 --> 00:29:27.840 God wasn't interested in wrapping things up beautifully. 00:29:27.880 --> 00:29:29.640 He just wanted to present himself for who he was. 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:31.220 That man could see him for who he was. 00:29:31.460 --> 00:29:38.520 In its most simplistic form, and in that simple form, proved to us as people how a mighty God can work through anything in our lives to 00:29:38.520 --> 00:29:39.680 meet the need. 00:29:41.180 --> 00:29:45.010 There's all kinds of ways to take a message like that and be involved. 00:29:47.220 --> 00:29:54.540 If God can take a baby presenting himself to the world as just a meager baby and just work such a mighty miracle in the lives of for all people, 00:29:54.660 --> 00:29:59.220 of all nations and all times, he can do some mighty things through us too. 00:29:59.220 --> 00:29:59.740 As a church family. 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:05.720 Christmas is about miracles, right? 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:08.160 You ever watch the movie It's a Wonderful Life? 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:08.960 It's on every year. 00:30:08.980 --> 00:30:09.560 It's about miracles. 00:30:11.800 --> 00:30:15.610 If the people would just simply trust in him by faith. 00:30:16.380 --> 00:30:17.370 Let's close in a word of prayer. 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:22.400 God, I just want to thank you for your coming. 00:30:24.580 --> 00:30:30.160 God, how it teaches us that you are such a mighty God, capable of so much. 00:30:31.100 --> 00:30:37.370 If we could just learn to live in you, God, if we just trust in you and experience that abundant life. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:40.400 God, how much we would be blessed. 00:30:42.520 --> 00:30:47.020 And so this morning, I just pray that we as people, when we think about Christmas are thankful people. 00:30:48.840 --> 00:30:55.320 God, that you cared so much for us to come to this world and give of yourself that we may not experience just eternal life, but God really live now. 00:30:56.540 --> 00:30:58.250 Thank you for blessing us so much. 00:30:58.360 --> 00:31:00.380 May we continue to be a blessing to those around us. 00:31:01.060 --> 00:31:02.160 It's in Jesus name we pray. 00:31:03.460 --> 00:31:03.910 Amen.