Sermon Tone Analysis

Series Review

Our Christmas sermon series has been following the December Sunday School lessons the children are learning this month.

The Big Give.

On the very first Christmas morning, which we celebrate tonight (and hopefully tomorrow) the mysterious miracle of God taking on human flesh and being born of the virgin Mary in a town called Bethlehem, to save His people from their sins!

This same Jesus eventually gave His life for our sake.

This is the basis of our generosity.

God loved us so much that he gave.

We love God so much that we give.

That’s how we demonstrate our love towards God.

Giving is a grateful response to what God has given to us.

This month our children have been focusing on a specific verse.

Read it with me:

This month our children have been focusing on a specific verse.

Read it with me:

Because God has blessed us with riches in glory, we can be rich in good deeds.

We can be generous and willing to share.

Sermon Introduction

How can we consider this a gift, and not just an event?

How can we consider Christ’s birth a gift

I want us to notice some things about this gift:

The gift is surprising.

When Christmas rolls around, you eventually find out if certain people have bought that gift you really wanted.

Maybe you already know what they bought, because they didn't hide it very well.

Or maybe you uncovered it by “accident.”

My parents were hiders and I was a finder.

I had not yet mastered the discipline of delayed gratification: I had to know.

And then came the shameless acting on Christmas morning.

People say you ruin the fun by peeking: No, not really.

Twice the thrill.

But every once in a while you get that unexpected gift.

It could be the gift you never asked for and you didn’t know you needed.

That’s when your acting skills are put to the test.

But then there is that special gift.

One of the most special and memorable gifts I’ve ever received at Christmas was not a car, not clothing, but it was a brand new set of chrome toenail clippers.

My mom gave them to me.

Several years before that, I used to joke with my mom: she would ask what I want, and I would answer, “chrome toenail clippers.”

Drove her nuts, I would tell her how badly I needed them and how happy they would make me.

Several years later I opened a gift from her, and inside the box was a shiny new set of toenail clippers.

Chrome.

Just like I wanted.

If one of you were to give me gift like that, I would have to go into acting mode.

But these had meaning behind them.

There was fond memory behind the gift.

There was an enduring relationship behind the gift.

There was personal knowledge behind the gift.

And it was unexpected.

In a way, the birth of the messiah would have been expected.

The Messiah was to come during a time of oppression, he was to be a descendant of King David, and he was to be born in Bethlehem.

In a way, the birth of the messiah would have been expected.

The Messiah was supposed to come during a time of oppression, which Jesus was.

He supposed to be a descendant of King David: he was.

He was even supposed to be born in Bethlehem, which he was.

But then there was the unexpected:

A Virgin birth.

How can this be?

God, taking on human flesh and born in abject poverty, born in obscurity.

How can this be?

A Virgin birth: he was born of a poor reputation, born out of wedlock.

Born in poverty.

Born in obscurity.

He wouldn’t have been the first hero to have humble origins, but Jesus never left behind his poverty.

Jesus was a gift that came in the humblest of wrappings.

God does not give us the gifts that we expect: God gives us what we need.

God is a God of missed expectations.

God uses the small, and makes them big.

God uses the poor, to shame the rich.

God became poor so that we can become rich in God.

Luke

Opening gifts can become routine for adults, getting stuff you want, don’t want, getting something you expected.

Every once in a while you get the gift that you didn’t expect, but it is a delight to your soul.

The next time you get that gift, remember the unexpected gift that you have in Jesus Christ who was born in a poor city, born to uneducated parents, and born with no power or prestige.

Born in poverty, but God did not raise him up to the highest of heights; He was weak, although there were flashes of power, Jesus did not seek it, or hold on to it;

He was poor.

He was powerless.

He was vulnerable.

He washed people’s feet.

Opening gifts can become routine for adults, stuff you want, don’t want, expected.

Every once in a while you get the gift that you didn’t expect, but it was a delight to your soul.

The gift is undeserved.

The gift is undeserved.

Sometimes when the church talks about sin, it does so in a shameful way.

I remember being in the Pentecostal Church where the pastor preached a scathing sermon condemning marital infidelity.

I also remember the couple sitting next to me, who was trying to repair their marriage.

They said afterward that this was the last time they would attend a church.

That’s law without grace.

The gift is undeserved.

When I say you and I don’t deserve this gift, whenever I talk about sin, I’m not saying we are as bad as we can possibly be.

Sinful people accomplish amazing things.

Art.

Music.

Working to alleviate suffering.

(hurricane an act of God - the people showing up was an act of God)

But we can swing to the other side of that pendulum, and ignore the reality of sin altogether.

1

But I think we must acknowledge sin

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Sin means missing the mark.

Falling short of God’s glory, God’s plan, God’s purpose for our lives.

We all fall under that umbrella.

- poverty; weak; non-military

Ex.

Every listen to someone complain about what they didn’t get for Christmas?