It’s Christmas Time!
We are all facing challenging times. The Omicron Variant, cold weather, dark and wet days, economics, moral and ethical issues. Christmas is a challenge to us. Christmas brings joy and struggle. Our experiences, perceptions, and attitudes around the Christmas holiday challenge us spiritually, relationally, and emotionally. What do you look forward to as we approach Christmas Day? Do you look forward to the Candlelight Services, family time, playing with grandkids, being with friends, taking a walk, or having some quiet time with the Lord? Do you struggle with how commercial Christmas has become? Giving gifts are more fun than receiving gifts for me.
What would be the BEST gift we might receive on Christmas? Here are the 12 Gifts of Christmas you might enjoy:
GIFT #1 The gift of God’s LOVE John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”
Gift #2 The gift of the WORD of God 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
GIFT #3 The gift of HOPE 1 Timothy 1:1, “This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope.”
GIFT #4 The gift of LIFE John 11:25-27, “Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
GIFT #5 The gift of FORGIVENESS Psalm 32:4-5, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
GIFT #6 The gift of GRACE Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Gift #7 The gift of NEW LIFE 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.”
Gift #8 The gift of ABUNDANT LIFE John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Gift #9 The gift of ETERNAL LIFE John 3:15-16, “…so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Gift #10 The gift of the HOLY SPIRIT John 14:16-21, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth…I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
Gift #11 The gift of God’s PEACE John 14:27, “Jesus says, Peace I leave with you; my Peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Gift #12 The gift of JOY John 15:10–11, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Merry Christmas to you!
With love,
Pastor Steve