Good Sermon today at Cornwall Church. See it on video here if you wish (November 29th sermon).
In 1 John 4:9 & 10, it says; “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (NIV) In this, we see that WE are the reason for the season, and HE is the one who sacrificed himself for us. We are loved by Him so much that He chose to limit himself, the All Powerful, Almighty God, chose to become human and live perfectly, only to have us, who He did all this for, kill Him on a cross one day. He did this for US, all of us. He is a Good Good Father, and everything good is from Him. Christmas (His coming to earth) was for US and is His gift to us, along with His daily Mercy. Titus 3:4-5 says; “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (NIV). We can experience God’s mercy every day. In fact, we DO. He gives us his mercy each and every day, allowing us to breathe and know that we have His love. His unchanging, everlasting love. He provides us what we need, which is knowledge that He loves us and died for us that we may have life through believing in Him. He gives us other things too, but once we know Him, our earthly needs like food, water, shelter, clothing, etc. really become not needs, but a means to an end. They become a way for us to remain here on earth to follow His will and live Christmas for others. He provided for us through his mercy, and now we can show our love, hope, light and peace to our world that only comes from Him. This is how we can Live Christmas. This is why we are still here, otherwise, if we turn to Him and accept his gift, we have no needs left on this earth for ourselves because it would be better for us at that point if He decided to take us home to be with Him. But, it isn’t up to us; it’s up to Him to decide when we get to go home. It IS up to us to Live Christmas for those around us and to use the many physical things He gives us each day to bless those around us and point them to Him. Will you accept his mercy each day when you wake up and continue to Live Christmas all the days of the year, thinking of others and how we can show them Jesus Christ? I know I will try . . . I’m not perfect, and will fail on a regular basis, but I want to live for Him.