Unwrapped 3

Christmas is around the corner. We are now officially in the first week of the Advent season (it starts today). As we get closer and closer to Christmas day, what is the thing that most people, not necessarily you, look forward to the most?

Answer: Presents/Gifts

What kind of person are you:

the kind of person who provides a very precise and exact list of gifts you would like to receive for Christmas.

The kind who has family that sticks to the basics for Christmas (gift cards, socks, sweaters, etc.)

the kind of person who loves to be surprised by their presents. Maybe you don’t give anyone anything specific for your list and hope for the best.

If you’re the kind of person who loves to be surprised, you have to keep in mind that surprises are not guaranteed to make you happy. For example, I love this video from Jimmy Kimmel Live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4a9CKgLprQ

What is the most surprising gift you’ve ever received? Good or bad?

Share a story about a surprising gift that you recieved.

Advent Wreath

I’m assuming that most of you have seen an advent wreath. But if not, then here you go (show picture of wreath). It’s a tradition that many Christians observe at this time of year, which is lighting an advent wreath. Each candle in the wreath represents a different week of the Advent season.

One of those Sundays, represents what is called Gaudete Sunday. The word Gaudete comes from Latin origin and means “rejoice”

When you hear the word rejoice, what comes to mind?

When might you see someone rejoicing?

We are going to unpack that a bit today.

Scripture

Read

In scripture, there’s something important that you need to understand if you are ever going to understand the Gospel correctly. The story of Jesus didn’t spread because of important or influential people. The story of Jesus was spread each and every day by ordinary, normal, run-of-the-mill people that shared about Him.

One person who did that, was John the Baptist. JTB shared the gift of Jesus with others as much as he possibly could. John came onto the scene before Jesus began His ministry and teaching. God used John to prepare people’s hearts to hear the message of Jesus.

JTB wasn’t necessarily ordinary in the sense that:

He lived in the desert

Wore clothes made of camel skin

Ate bugs

While the person of John the Baptist wasn’t the most ordinary…neither was his message.

Read

John’s message was extraordinary because:

First, John was claiming the thing Israel had spent hundreds of years waiting for was finally here. They had been waiting for peace, and for a Savior who would change everything. According to John, the Savior was here! This was huge news. Imagine today that someone said that to you. How would you react?

Second, this news was surprising because of who God’s people were expecting. They knew a Savior was coming, but they were expecting a powerful king or important political leader - not someone who would be announced from a guy in the desert who ate bugs.

Third, John was telling people to change the way they lived. He told them to prepare their hearts, start acting differently, and let the coming Messiah (who was about to be revealed as Jesus) change their lives.

See, the religious leaders of the day (Pharisees and Sadduccees) didn’t like this. They believed that in order to get God to accept you, you had to very strictly follow the rules that were laid out for people (both God’s rules and the rules that they had created themselves). and that they had everything figured out when it came to God.

Those same leaders didn’t believe John’s message, so they created a stir that got John thrown into jail. But even while he was there, John got some good news.

Scripture

While in prison, John heard about the things that Jesus was doing, and how Jesus’ ministry truly was a fulfillment of the prophesy he had been telling people. The message that God had asked John to deliver, was coming true.

I don’t know what was going through John’s head while he was in prison. Maybe because of his imprisonment, torture, and impending death, he needed some reassurance. Maybe he was still a little surprised that the Savior of the world was his own cousin. And that he got to baptize the one who would save the whole wold!

Read

No matter how certain John probably felt about the message he had been preaching for so long, I’m sure the news that he hadn’t been mistaken was still a little bit surprising. The news was so good - almost too good to be true.

Jesus tells john’s disciples that John was right all along. And now that He (the Savior) was there, it was time to rejoice!

God’s Gift Can Be Surprising

The coming of Jesus was a surprising gift from God that caused people to rejoice. But God’s surprising gifts didn’t end there. Along with His presence, the hope of Jesus is the promise that...

the blind will see

the lame will walk

the sick will be healed

the dead will be raised

the poor will receive good news.

The surprising news of Jesus was that God isn’t impressed by our ability to follow the rules or be good people. Look, I know a few of you right now might not be good people (there are times that I’m not a good person). But Jesus came despite that. Jesus came to change everything. He defied customs, expectations, tradition, rules, and even the laws of the universe to miraculously change everything.

The Ginch

The gift of Jesus was brand new at the time of Jesus, but the arrival of Jesus isn’t the only thing that makes us rejoice today - we also celebrate His work in us and in the world today.

Jesus promised to bring healing, salvation, and love into the world. Those promises were fulfilled in His arrival on earth, but they continue to be fulfilled today. Even now Jesus continues to heal, save, and love us in so many ways. And He even uses each of us to do that.

Maybe this is a weird connection but the work that Jesus does in us today reminds me of what happened to the grinch.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but in the off chance that you’re not:

The Grinch was a bitter, angry, lonely outcast who lived just outside of a town called Whoville, where everyone loved Christmas.

But because the Grinch was angry, he tried to ruin Christmas for the people of Whoville by stealing all the things he thought mattered to them - presents, food, and holiday fun.

On Christmas morning, the Grinch expected to hear cries of grief and anger, but instead he heard this...

INSERT VIDEO CLIP FROM THE GRINCH

The people of Whoville knew that Christmas was about more than presents or stuff - it was about something more. When the Grinch saw how their lives had been transformed by love, his life changed too.

There’s no mention of Jesus in this movie, of course, but this is the kind of life-change that Jesus continues to perform in us and through us each day. God’s people were waiting for an earthly king or political leader to save them, but the Savior they got was so much better than who they were expecting. Jesus didn’t come to make political changes in the world - He came to make changes in our lives.

He can heal us of our bitterness, anger, and selfishness.

He shows us that we are loved.

He helps us find peace,

He changes our lives from the inside out

that’s the reason to rejoice.

This advent season, I hope that you can help people in your lives rejoice because God is good.

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