David [00:00:00]:
Good morning, everyone. We are here today, and the title of this message is Grateful for Giving and receiving during the Season of Giving. And we are so grateful today. I’m so grateful for this week.
David [00:00:27]:
We’re getting ready to celebrate Christmas and do all we do this week. You know, the last five weeks, we’ve been talking about the season of giving. And as we discovered last week, this is not only a season of giving, it’s also a season of receiving. There cannot be a giving of gifts if there is not a receiving of gifts. And that is the law of giving and receiving. That is the flow of blessing that God has established. To be a great giver, you must be a great receiver. Now you might be thinking, if receiving is so important, why does Scripture say it’s more blessed to give than to receive? Well, giving is the step of faith that begins the process.
David [00:01:22]:
And without a giving, there can be no receiving, and the flow of God’s blessing is stopped. You know, research has shown that there’s more positive health benefits for those who give than for those who receive. And they’ve studied this, measured this, tested it, and what they find is this is a receiver, rejoices and is happy, and good things come out of that. But the giver, there are things that happen in their body chemically when they give that actually brings them more health benefits than if they were receiving. So when God says it’s more blessed to give than to receive, what he’s saying is, you’re going to get more out of giving than you get out of receiving. It’s not that receiving isn’t great, and we praise God and rejoice for it and thank God for it. But when we give, there’s that foundational, heartfelt emotion of knowing that we just did what the Father wanted us to do. We just brought blessing.
David [00:02:49]:
Hallelujah. The. The whole cycle of blessing starts with a seed planted, something sowed, a giving. We see this throughout Scripture. If there is no planting of seed, there is no harvest. If there is no sowing, there is no reaping. What we find as we study this principle is that all of life, all of life is founded on this law, spiritually and physically, in the supernatural and the natural giving and receiving, seedtime and harvest. Genesis 8:22 says this.
David [00:03:37]:
While the earth remains seed, time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer and day and night shall not cease. Everything mentioned in this scripture here from Genesis represents a flow of life. It represents a giving and receiving. When the Word who is Jesus created this world, he created it around this principle, the law of giving and receiving. When God created mankind, he wired us to give, to be generous, receive and be grateful. Giving is generosity. Receiving creates gratefulness, brings forth gratitude. When God spoke over Adam and Eve, telling them to be fruitful and multiply, he was instructing them to implement the law of seedtime and harvest and every area of their life.
David [00:04:50]:
This spoke to their relationship with God, their relationship with one another. It spoke to them having children, filling the earth, their relationship with others. It spoke to them tending the garden, subduing the earth and having dominion. The law of seed, time and harvest, or giving and receiving was active in all they did. And it’s still active today in all we do. As we said last week, giving is not just an arbitrary action or just a nice thing to do. Giving is a process governed by a law that brings a flow of God’s blessings. We see this in the giving of God’s greatest gift to mankind through the birth of his son Jesus Christ.
David [00:05:48]:
And in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus. He begins by going all the way back to Abraham and sharing the genealogy of Jesus. And for 16 verses Matthew details who was the father and the mother of the children born for 42 generations. The giving and receiving which began with Abraham and Sarah and all those who followed brought the gift of life to all mankind through Mary, the mother of Jesus. Therein Joseph and Mary received the gift of parenting, the gift of God to all mankind, the beginning of the promise fulfilled. What I’ve learned is this with the giving and receiving of every gift, a new giving begins. As a part of this once in life event. Luke’s account details how others were a part of celebrating the blessing of Jesus birthday.
David [00:07:05]:
Also number one, the shepherds, Luke 2, 4, 18 says this, I’m going to read all this. It says Joseph also went up from Galilee. So picture this. Here goes Joseph up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth and to Judea to the city of David, which is called Beth Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the air. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by Night, and behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them. And the glory of the Lord shone round about them.
David [00:08:11]:
And they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men. And so it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass which the Lord has made known to us.
David [00:09:09]:
And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. Wow. Praise God. You talk about a Christmas program, an angel of the Lord telling the story of the birth of Jesus the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. The lighting was phenomenal. Also the glory of the Lord shone round about them, illuminating the sky and the pasture.
David [00:09:54]:
Then not just any choir showed up, but a multitude of heavenly hosts declaring glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men. Praise God. What a gift. They received inside information about the coming of Jesus from the host of heaven. And as I just read it goes on to say, and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger, just as the angel of the Lord had said. The angel of the Lord gave them the word. They received the word of the Lord and acted on it with haste. They didn’t wait till the next day.
David [00:10:42]:
They didn’t worry about who was going to watch over the sheep in their absence. They went, they saw it was so, just as the angel of the Lord had said to them. But that’s not all. They received another gift also. Luke’s account goes on to say. Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. The shepherds were blessed to be the first to share the good news of the birth of the Savior to all those around Bethlehem Praise God.
David [00:11:37]:
Every year as we celebrate Christmas, we have the same opportunity to follow the example of the shepherds. We can share the good news and great joy of Jesus Christ, God’s gift to our world. This is one of the reasons we celebrate Christmas. We we get to give to our communities through the Christmas programs and celebrations and parties and Christmas cards and decorations and everything we we bring together. And in all of this, we all are giving and receiving. Weeks ago, we began by talking about the first way to express giving during the season of giving is by giving thanks. And we were talking about thanksgiving and the whole process of gratefulness. The second way was knowing, recognizing and acknowledging the greatest gift given to man, Jesus Christ.
David [00:12:45]:
For God so loved the world that he gave. All we’ve talked about up to now brings us to the third way we express giving during this season of giving. The act of giving gifts to one another and receiving gifts from one another. We see this demonstrated in Matthew’s account of the story. And so there were the shepherds, and now the wise men. Matthew 2:10 and 11. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great joy, exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him.
David [00:13:36]:
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. So some time had passed and the wise men came rejoicing. They came with exceeding great joy. I want to challenge you to come into this celebration of Christmas this year. Rejoicing. Find something to rejoice about every day. Come with exceeding great joy every day. Don’t let the craziness of the world and the way the world wants to celebrate Christmas rob you of the joy of giving and receiving.
David [00:14:22]:
As children of God. This is our time to rejoice in the gift God gave us in Jesus, our Lord and Savior. As we have heard before, he is the reason for the season. So as the wise men came celebrating by giving, they gave in two ways, something we can still do today. The first way was worship. This is a great season for true and honest authentic worship, it says. And when they came into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. Worship is an act of giving.
David [00:15:12]:
It’s giving ourselves to the Lord, our heart to the Lord. This word in the Greek defines this act in several different ways. Number one, it means to kiss the hand of one in token of reverence. It’s a bowing before the king and kissing his Hand. We’ve seen this displayed in movies and plays. You come before the king and you bow and they extend their hand and you kiss their hand or the ring, the king’s ring. But it also means to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence by kneeling or prostration to do homage to one in order to express respect. These are all things that we can do as we worship, to express our love, our appreciation, our joy for the Lord.
David [00:16:18]:
The wise men came rejoicing and worshiped Jesus as a king. Their prophecies about his coming told them he was and is a powerful king. They didn’t see a baby. They saw a powerful leader and ruler. They gave him profound reverence and showed him immense respect. They recognized who he was and knew his kingship would have a significant impact all over the world. Let me encourage you to take time during your Christmas celebration and simply worship our Lord and Savior. Worship is one of the greatest gifts we can give Our Lord.
David [00:17:19]:
John 4, 23 and 24. John chapter 4, verse 23 and 24. And this is from the Passion. Translation says, from now on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place, but with a right heart. For God is a spirit. And he who longs to have sincere worshipers who adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth. Wow. God longs for us to come with him and fellowship with him and worship him, to show our love and appreciation and gratitude for Him.
David [00:18:05]:
He longs to have sincere worshipers who adore Him. Man, you know, I talk about this a lot lately, but during Christmas, I love watching our grandkids. I love watching them open their presents. Oh, how excited they are. And that is so much fun. But what really touches me is when they come and they crawl up and my lap and hug me, say, papa, thank you. I love you. Thank you.
David [00:18:46]:
Wow. That moment of true intimate fellowship with them is more powerful than anything else. Think about this. What a gift we can give Jesus and our Father God by coming in to a time of intimate worship with them to satisfy their longing desire with sincere, heartfelt worship. We don’t have to wait till Christmas to give this gift. We have the opportunity every day to worship and adore the Lord again. All of our life in Christ is about giving and receiving. He gives and we receive.
David [00:19:37]:
We give and he receives. And blessings flow like a river. But again, there must be a receiving or the flow stops. Then it goes on to say that the wise men presented him gifts. And when they had opened their treasures. They presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. This word treasures here in the Greek means the place on which good and precious things are collected. Good and precious things.
David [00:20:20]:
Their gifts were good and precious things. Earlier in this series we showed how all that God gives flows from his heart of love. Sincere giving flows from the heart. Jesus confirmed this in Luke 6:45 when he said, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. So the question is, are you filling your heart with good and precious things? As the writer of Proverbs 4 said Proverbs 4 20:23 My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes.
David [00:21:21]:
Keep them in the midst of your for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Filling your heart with the gift of God’s word. Jesus Christ will give life and health to all your flesh. Life springs from the treasure of your heart. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. God is giving to us every day.
David [00:22:01]:
In some way are we receiving, filling the treasury of our heart with good and precious things. For then from the good treasure of our heart we can give to him and to others. The law of giving and receiving never stops. Then this brings us to the closing thought for today. This comes from the account of Matthew 1 Matthew 1:22, 23. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying, behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. Which is translated, God with us. God is with us in all of our festivities during the season of giving and receiving.
David [00:23:18]:
Remember, God is with us. The gift of life in Jesus Christ isn’t a one and done gift. It is ongoing, never ending, everlasting forever. An infinite eternal gift, as the writer of Hebrews said. Hebrews 13, verse 5 and 6. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
David [00:23:56]:
So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can do to me. In this season of giving gifts to one another, Remember, he never leaves us or forsakes us. He is always with us. Giving to us as we receive from him and give ourselves to him and worship he receives from us. Jesus is our gift from the Father and we are his gift to the Father and the world. James 1:17, 18. Again, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
David [00:24:48]:
Of his own will, he brought us forth by by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Think about that. Of his own will, his choice. He brought us forth by the word of truth. Jesus Christ. God chose you. Paul said he chose us before the foundation of of the world. This week I chose one of my Christmas gifts.
David [00:25:25]:
Then my wife ordered it. I’m so excited because I know my gift is on its way. It has been shipped. In my heart, I’ve already received it. That’s the way God feels about you. He desires the gift of relationship with you. And before you were even here in the earth, it says in Ephesians, before the foundation of the earth, he chose you. He loves you so much.
David [00:25:58]:
He gave the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ for you so you could come into his presence and be with him throughout all eternity. What a gift we we have in Christ Jesus. If you haven’t received the gift of life in Jesus Christ, I invite you to repeat this prayer after me. Let’s bow our heads. Father God, I believe you love me and have given me the gift of life eternal and your son, Christ Jesus. I believe Jesus died for my sins and was resurrected to be my Lord and Savior. I ask you, Lord, forgive me of my sins. I receive you today as my Lord and Savior.
David [00:27:06]:
Thank you for receiving me into the family of God. Amen. Merry Christmas. God bless you. Welcome to the family. Praise God. If you just prayed that prayer, send us an email. Let us know that you are part of the family now.
David [00:27:32]:
Praise God. Merry Christmas. Have a great Christmas season. We love you. Pastor Kanye’s coming right now with a closing thought and prayer. Have a blessed week.
