Territorial Mission Resources Department Australia Southern Territory 20161

Written by Christopher Trodden B.A (Bib.Stud)

Christmas 2016: Light of the World: Message 4

Sermon Outline: God the Giver of Life

Topic: / God is a giver
Main Point: / God gives good gifts
Intended Response: / Receive God’s gift of Christ
Key Verse: / Jn 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Mission Intention / Making Disciples, Transforming Lives.

Introduction

This sermon is about God being a good giver, and that the greatest gift anyone can receive is Christ.

Jesus came to reveal God

Jesus showed us that we can relateto God as a tender Father

Jesus showed us that God is involved in our lives

And Jesus showed us that God is a giver

Point One:God is a giver

What type of giver is God

Scripture reveals the character and nature of God

God gives gifts with no strings attached

God is a lavish giver

Point Two:God is a generous giver

What are the quality of His gifts

God is a giver of good gifts

God’s gift of life is free

God is a giver of the highest quality

Point Three:The gift that is Christ is the highest quality gift ever given

Teaching Illustrations:
To enhance this sermon you may want to dress the platform with empty boxes wrapped in Christmas paper. Have one box close by so you can pick it up and refer to it throughout the sermon.
For more resources for this sermon, including PowerPoint slides

Christmas 2016: Light of the World: Message 4

Sermon Transcript: God the Giver of Life

Introduction: / Good morning everyone,
With Christmas Day just around the corner, there is a lot of focus on buying and giving gifts. In 2014, Australian’s spent an estimated $17.4 Billion dollars on Christmas, Christmas holidays and Christmas presents.
It’s easy to see from these figures that for most Australians the main focus of Christmas is giving and receiving presents. Now, there’s nothing wrong with giving presents, we just need to ensure that Christ stays the focus of our generosity and celebrations.
I think Christmas is a wonderful time of celebration and giving. I enjoy giving presents, and I enjoy receiving them. But there is more to it than that.
Transition / Today, we are going to look at what Christ tells us about God and how that should shape the way we engage with Christmas.
1. God is a Giver / In John 1:18, we read:
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known (Jn 1:18).
The main emphasis driving this Scripture is to communicate that Jesus came to give a clear description of what God is really like.
By looking at Jesus, we understand God better. By listening to what Jesus said about God the Father, we learn more about God.
Jesus showed us that we can relate to God as a tender Father:
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father (Rom 8:15),
Jesus showed us that God is involved in our lives:
Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (Jn 5:17),
And Jesus showed us that God is best understood as a giver:
For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16).
I don’t know what you think of God, but it is entirely appropriate for us all to consider God as our Father, as a parent who is involved in our lives, and as someone who gives to us.
Point 1: / God is a Giver
Transition / But what type of giver is God?
2. What type of giver is God? / Story (insert a personal story): Have you been given a dodgy gift? One that doesn’t work or you didn’t need or want? Or have you ever been given a gift that you know was a re-gift? Have you ever re-gifted a gift ..don’t answer that. Or a stingy gift? When I ask my daughter to share her chocolate with me she is stingy, I get given the tiniest square.
What about gifts with invisible strings attached to them.Have you ever been given a gift only for it to be held over your head like you now owe something? It’s not the type of gift you want to receive is it?
God isn’t that type of giver. Scripture often reveals the character and nature of God. In Proverbs it says:
Do not eat the bread of a selfish man,Or desire his delicacies;For as he thinks within himself, so he is.He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you.You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten, and waste your compliments (Prov 23:6-8).
When God gives us a gift, He doesn’t lord it over us. He doesn’t use His gifts to make us feel guilty. He gives to us because He loves us.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 Jn 3:1).
God is a lavish giver – which means, God is a generous giver.
Point 2: / God is a generous giver
Transition / But what are the quality of His gifts?
3. What are the quality of God’s gifts? / Have you ever been given a good gift but only for it to break because it wasn’t manufactured well?
Story (insert a personal story): I was given this awesome little Bluetooth speaker the other day – great sound and volume, and I was wrapt. But it broke within the first few days I had it – the casing came apart and the wires snapped. It was a good gift but the quality was a dud.
Well, when we consider the gift of Christ, we see that God gave not only a good gift, but the best gift all wrapped up in the this little baby in a manger:

He is the spotless lamb (1 Pet 1:19)
He is God’s first Son (Col 1:15)
He holds all things together (Col 1:17)
He is the King of kings (1 Tim 6:15)

Jesus also told us that God is a giver of good gifts:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Lk 7:7-11).
God is a generous giver, a good giver, a giver who gives out of a heart of love.
Great gifts attract huge crowds. Think back to when the Apple phone was first released, people were queuing up for days. But they had to pay a huge amount of money for the phone, then even more to use to make calls, then even more money for apps.
We are used to paying high prices for good gifts, but the gift of Christ is free. When God gave us His Son:

People brought gifts from afar – expensive gifts, gifts good enough for a King,

Angels sang from the heaven,
God put a star in the sky for two years so the whole world could see,
Shepherds came to gaze on him,
Prophetic declarations and songs were spoken,

Why? Because this was the best gift the world has ever received! And it is free!
And Jesus comes with added extras:

The ability for us to speak to God again – free
The gifts of the Holy Spirit – free
The promise of eternal life – free
And it comes with a warranty that will last this lifetime and the next!
And wait, there’s more. God’s good gift of Jesus includes: gifts of healing, love, life, hope, promises, peace, trust, faith, miracles, tongues, prophecy, service, leadership, craft, service, giving and so much more!

Talk about a high quality gift – and it was all wrapped up in this little baby, who came to reveal just how great God truly is!
Point 3: / The gift that is Christ is the highest quality gift ever given
Transition / Jesus was born to reveal God.
Conclusion / You know, the point of putting presents under the Christmas tree is not just for show – they are not meant to stay there – they are meant to be given.
The Christmas tree is just the holding spot for them. The presents are placed there so people now where to go so they can receive their gift.
It’s the same with Jesus. The manger was only a holding place for baby Jesus. But Jesus grew up and died for our sins, for my sins, for your sins. We are meant to come to the Christmas scene and remember that there is a gift available for every one of us – the gift of life found only in Jesus.
No one places a gift under a Christmas tree and thinks that’s all there is to it. They expect to give that gift to someone and for that person to receive it. It’s the same with God. God didn’t place Jesus in the world 2,000 years ago to be done with it.
God gave Jesus because He is a giver of the gift of life. Jesus was born into the world so He could come into our world – our lives.
Call to Action / (unsaved)

If you are just visiting today, or this is the first time you’ve heard about God’s great gift of life, can I encourage you to receive Christ. God wants to give you the best gift anyone can ever receive – His Son.
God wants all people to receive the gift of His Son Jesus.
God does not discriminate: His son is for everyone, from any background, race, religion, ethnicity, age, or gender – all people may receive God’s gift of life.
If you would like to received God’s precious gift, please come up the front and someone will pray for you.

(saved)
For those of us who have received this precious gift, Christmas is a great time to share that gift with others.You know, you can tell a lot about a parent by the way their children behave.
As God’s children we are to be givers and reflect God’s heart.There is a number of ways we can do this year but one I hope we all do is invite people to church this year:
We have invite cards to our services this year. Let’s invite people along so they can meet with God and receive the true gift of Christmas.
Closing Prayer / God we are in awe of how wonderful you are. We thank you that you gave us Jesus so we could receive your gift or eternal life.
We thank you that this is not a gift that fades away, that breaks, that runs out of batteries – but is an everlasting gift of life. We pray and ask that you would give us the courage to invite people to church this year.
We pray that you would bring to mind the names of people you want us to talk to this year. We thank you for your generosity in sending Christ into the world, so He can become the centre of our world – Amen.

Christmas 2016: Light of the World: Message 4

Sermon Scriptures: God the Giver of Life

1 John 3:1 (NIV)

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Eph 1:8 (NLT)

He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

Lk 2:11 (NIV)

Behold, in the town of Bethlehem a saviour has been born.

Prov 23:6-8 (NLT)

Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, or desire his delicacies; For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten, and waste your compliments.

Luke 11:9-13 (NIV)

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? “Orifhe is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more willyourheavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

Col 1:15-20 (ESV)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Acts 2:38-9 (NIV)

Petersaidto them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Christmas Series: The Light of the World. Written by Christopher Trodden B.A (Bib.Stud)