This Christmas, will you …
#2. ACCEPT GOD'S GIFT OF HOPE?
"Today your Savior was born.” Why does that statement bring hope to us today? What does it mean? It means forgiveness for your past, it means freedom from the problems that mess you up in the present, and it means fulfillment in eternity. Forgiveness, freedom and fulfillment. That's what it means. Folks that’s really called hope.
Listen to Ephesians 1:4-7 (GN) "Let us praise God for the FREE GIFT he gave us in his Son... we are set free, our sins are forgiven." I don’t have to be the same person anymore. I can change. Man is that hope or what? It’s like I have said so many tome you have to have hope to cope.
Last night we watched “It’s a Wonderful life”. It’s one of my all time favorite movies. My favorite line in that movie comes right near the beginning. Clarence, the angel second class is about to get this assignment to go out and help this guy who’s in trouble. The superior says, “You’ve got to go help this guy George Bailey.” And Clarence says, “What is it? Is he sick?” And I love the response that he gets. “No it’s worse than that. He’s discouraged.” I love that line because discouragement – the lack of hope – can be worse than physical illness.
The writers of the Bible recognized this more than 2500 years ago. King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” The message bible says“When hope is crushed the heart is crushed.”
Doctors in World War II and Korea and Vietnam said some prisoners died from the condition of what they called give-up-itis. And what they meant by that is if prisoners faced grim conditions with no prospect of freedom and some of them became demoralized and some of them became mired in despair and after a while they became apathetic and they refused food and they refused to drink and they would spend their time in their bunk just staring into space. With their hope drained away these prisoners eventually just wasted away and they died. They died of give-up-itis.
The human spirit needs hope to survive and to thrive. Folks, if you don’t remember anything else this Christmas, remember this a savior has born for you. He was born for you to give you hope. John 3:17 (LB) says "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it." He didn't come to put you down, He came to lift you up. Folks that’s hope.
This Christmas, will you …
#3. ACCEPT GOD'S GIFT OF PEACE
"Let there be peace among the people." God wants you to have good relationships with other people, not just with Him. He says, "I want you to first get your life right with Me and then you can get your life right with other people." Christmas is a time for peace – a time for reconciliation. It's a time to break down barriers, build bridges, restore relationships that have been broken and damaged. Its a time to say, "I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"
For many people, Christmas is a very tense time because it means dealing with relatives you have unresolved issues with. Christmas is a time for reconciliation. Not only get your act together with God but get your act together with other people. First you get peace with God and once you've got peace with God, then you get the peace of God in your life. Once you've got the peace of God then you can have peace with other people.
John 14:27 (LB) (Jesus) "I am leaving you with a GIFT; peace of mind and heart... so don't be troubled or afraid."
Some of you are saying, "But you don't know what they did to me. I could never forgive them." That's why you need Jesus Christ. Human forgiveness and human love run out. Why do you think the divorce rate is so high? Human love runs out. That's why you need God's love in your life. It never runs out. There's an endless supply of it. You say, "Lord, love that person through me.But, I need your power"
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