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December 13, 2023 · 26 min · Paul Jeyechandran
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:00 Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. I pray that this season of joy will indeed be a season of joy in your life and in your family. I'm glad that you0:12 have joined us on this Christmas celebration. Whether you know Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, or whether you're exploring Christianity, or maybe your friend invited you to come into the service.0:24 I want to welcome you in the name of Jesus. And my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will speak to you through the Word of God. Today being a Christmas service, we're going to study this Word of0:36 God, a passage of Scripture that is so familiar to us that speaks about the Christmas story, especially the angels of the Lord appearing to shepherds and giving0:48 them a good news of great joy. And I want us to study that together. So if you have your Bibles, go with me to Luke chapter 2, verses 8 to verse 14. And1:00 I'm going to title today's sermon, 3 Precious Gifts of Christmas. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch1:12 over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear. And the1:23 angel said to the shepherds, fear not for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is1:35 born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you for you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling1:47 cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with an angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the1:58 highest and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased. Hallelujah. Today, I want to talk to you about 3 precious gifts that we2:10 receive because of Christmas. 3 precious gifts of Christmas. The Lord Jesus came to give us gifts and this is the most precious gift you can receive. So I'm going to give2:22 you 3, take this down and then we'll unpack it together. 1, it's the gift of redemption. In other words, the greatest gift that mankind can receive is forgiveness of sins.2:35 It's the gift of redemption. Secondly, it is the gift of reconciliation. It is to have peace with God and peace on earth. Thirdly, it is2:47 the gift of regeneration. The Lord promised us eternal life, so not just the physical life that we live in currently which we will die 1 day, but2:58 spending eternity with Him, eternal life, Hallelujah. So these 3 precious gifts we're going to explore. Let's look at the first 1, the gift of redemption, the forgiveness of sins. In Luke3:10 two:eight-fourteen, which we just read, verse 10 specifically says, for you this day is born a saviour. So Luke chapter 23:22 and verse 10 says, a saviour is born for you. What does a saviour mean? A saviour means is someone who saves us. Saves us from what?3:34 Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21, if you look up on your screen, Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21, it says, She will bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus3:46 for He will save His people from their sins. Circle those 3 words. Jesus saves us from our sins. Hallelujah. We need to be saved from3:58 our sins and that is why God sent His only Son Jesus and that is why He was named Jesus because it means that He will save His4:09 people from their sins. Now, this is where we get into a dilemma. Most of the world today do not consider themselves as sinners. They4:21 always think I'm okay. I'm morally, I live a morally good life. I look after my family well. I don't do any harm for anybody intentionally and4:33 I'm actually quite good. I'm an okay person. And I believe that if you're okay and if you do good to others, God will be okay with you. Can I humbly say this?4:46 God doesn't grade on the curve. Sin is a real issue that you and I, we need to deal with. Many times when we look at human beings, we look at the problem and we say human4:58 beings have so many problems. They have relational problem, they have financial problem, they have emotional problem, they have physical well-being problem, health problem. But can I humbly say5:09 this, there is a greatest problem that mankind faces for which we do not sometimes we neglect it, we don't pay attention? It is the problem of the human heart. See, you and I, we need to understand5:21 the heart of the human problem is the problem is the problem of the human heart because our heart is corrupted and tainted by5:33 sin. So what is sin? Sin is this, that we rebelled against God, We disobeyed God, we disengaged from God, we walked away from God and that is a rebellion5:44 and that rebellion needs to be addressed. And that is something you and I, we need to pay attention to. But many times we always say, oh no, I'm okay, looking at a person's life5:56 externally, sometimes we say he's a good person, but can I humbly say this, sin is not an external issue, it's an internal heart issue? All of us have something deep within us,6:08 the way we behave when no 1 watches, that's a sin condition. The Bible says we are born with a sinful nature, where we don't commit sin and therefore we become a6:19 sinner, but we are born in this world with sin because we inherited it. And this sin, this sin condition that we are born with causes us to be sinners.6:31 You know, you can explain it like this, you know, have you looked at an apple? Sometimes when you're eating an apple, there's a worm on the inside. How did this worm get in? Have you ever wondered? The worm did not6:43 wriggle in, the worm was actually born inside the core of the apple. How did that happen? Maybe the insect dropped an egg in the core of the flower, you know, the apple blossomed6:55 and then when the flower turned into an apple, the egg remained in the core of the apple, and then when the egg hatches7:07 and the worm starts to worm its way out, and then you eat it and it's yucky. It's the same thing. Sin doesn't enter from outside, sin is already within us. That's7:19 what you and I, we need to pay attention to. You and I are not good, the Bible declares us to be sinful, our heart is deceitful and wicked and that is why we need a7:31 savior, we need a savior. See, imagine this, if man's problem, mankind's problem was information, God would have sent them an educator, If mankind's problem7:43 was money, God would have sent them an economist. If mankind's problem was pleasure, God would have sent them the entertainer, but mankind's problem was sin, the forgiveness of sin.7:54 And that is why God sent them a saviour. You and I, we need to recognise that we are sinners. The Bible does say this in Romans 68:06 23, For the wages of sin is death. In other words, you and I have been condemned to die because of sin. And the Bible says in8:17 Hebrews 9 27, it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment. Whether you like it or not, 1 day you will close your eyes on earth8:29 and after that you would have to face judgment and you have to give an account for the sins in your life. The only way to escape this is you cannot escape it8:41 by your own works, you need a saviour. Imagine this, you are a person who has a bank account and your bank account is overdraft, in other words there's nothing for you to withdraw anymore,8:53 you're all in a huge debt and you turn to your family, you turn to your neighbours, you turn to every person on this world and every 1 of them is in overdraft and they cannot help you. You're looking for9:05 someone who has credit in their account. All of mankind is in debt, debt to God because of their sin. Only God can come and rescue you. Only9:17 He has credit to come and help you. That is why Jesus came. The Bible says in Romans five:eight, While we were still sinners,9:28 Christ died for us. Not because we deserved it, for undeserving people like us who are in debt and can never repay, can never come out of it. The Bible9:40 says Jesus came to save us. He died for us. Hallelujah. That's why the greatest gift that you can receive in this Christmas season is the gift of forgiveness of9:52 sins. It's the gift of redemption. And it's found in Jesus Christ. He's our Saviour. Hallelujah. The Bible says in Acts chapter 10 and verse 43, read it together with10:04 me. Indeed, all the prophets in the Old Testament bear witness about Jesus. What did they say? Everyone who believes in Jesus10:15 receives forgiveness of sins through His Name. Hallelujah. How do you receive this gift? All you have to do is believe in Jesus, believe that through10:27 Him forgiveness of sins is available for you. In His Name, you can receive forgiveness of sins and that is the gift of redemption. Hallelujah. You and10:39 I are redeemed. Praise God. The second gift that Christmas brings to us, the second precious gift of Christmas is the gift of reconciliation. Peace with10:50 God and peace on earth. Look at that in verse 14 of chapter 2, we looked at it earlier. It says, Glory to God in the highest on earth, peace among those with whom He is pleased.11:03 Peace on earth is something that the Lord gives to us as a gift in this Christmas season. The Bible says in Romans chapter 5 and verse 1, it says, therefore11:14 since we have been justified by faith, in other words, since our sins are forgiven, since we have now been cleansed by Jesus, we have a justification before11:26 God, the Bible says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Hallelujah! Your condition and my condition before we met Jesus is that we are separated from God. Look at this verse,11:38 Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 12 all the way to 14. Remember that you were at the time separated from Christ. There was once upon a time we are separated from God. We11:50 have no hope and without God in the world, the Bible says. Verse 13, But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of12:02 Christ. We were once having no hope, no God have now been drawn closer to God, have been brought near by the precious blood of Christ. And this is what12:13 happens, for He Himself is our peace. Hallelujah. Jesus Christ becomes our peace. And because He came to us to give peace and12:25 because we believe in Him and we forgive, our sins are forgiven, we are justified before God by the blood of Christ. Therefore, as a result, we now can have peace with12:37 God. And when we have peace with God, we can have peace of God. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 7, the Bible says, And the peace of God which passeth all12:49 understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus, you not only have peace with God, but you also receive the peace of God and how13:01 we need that peace of God in this challenging circumstances that we live in, whether it is bioterrorism or whether it is a trouble that we are in the world, all the trauma that13:13 people are facing, we need the peace of God and the Bible says the peace of God will become a garrison for your heart and your mind. In other words, it's like a soldier guarding your heart and your mind from13:25 all the trouble. Now this is important for us and the peace with God brings peace of God. But once you have peace of God, He also calls you to be13:36 peacemakers for God. Look at this in 2 Corinthians 5 18, the Bible says, All this is from God who through Christ13:47 reconciled us to Himself. What was God doing in Christ Jesus? When Jesus came into the world, we should not just look at the cradle, we should look at the cross. From cradle, He went all the way to the cross. He died13:59 on the cross for our sin, your sin and my sin. And when He died, the Bible says that God was reconciling us to Himself. And not only He has reconciled and14:11 given us forgiveness of sin and redemption, He has now given us the ministry of reconciliation. What does the ministry of reconciliation means? We are here to call others to be reconciled14:23 to God. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 9 says, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God. Hallelujah. You know, it brings God great joy when you14:35 are a person who brings peace in a conflict. You are a person who walks into a situation to bring peace, to make peace, so be a peacemaker.14:47 Now this is important for us to understand, why? Because we have peace and this peace that passeth all understanding is yours and mine. You know14:58 why? Because it is the peace of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in John chapter 14 and verse 27, the Bible declares this,15:10 peace I leave with you, Jesus says, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither15:22 let them be afraid. Listen carefully, the peace that you and I can enjoy is not as the world gives, it is not based on your circumstances, It is not15:34 based on all your happenings are happening the way you want it to happen. The peace that Jesus gives you is His own peace. So let me define peace like15:46 this. The world defines peace as absence of conflict on the outside. Whereas Jesus defines peace. It's the presence of Christ on the15:58 inside. It's not the absence of conflict on the outside, but it's the presence of Christ on the inside. When you and I have been reconciled with God, we have peace with God,16:10 we have peace of God, and we are called to be peacemakers for God. And this is because we know how much we are loved, how much we are accepted.16:22 You know, my Lord loves me. He loves me. I was once an enemy of God, but now He has accepted me and He has forgiven me. So I'm a16:34 person who has been forgiven by God. I am a person who is now a friend of God. And because I'm forgiven and I'm a friend of God, I can have peace of God. And that is the key for you and me.16:46 Our peace is established in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. That is the second gift that I want you to consider in this Christmas. The third precious gift of Christmas is this,16:59 it's the gift of regeneration. The Bible says in, it's about the gift of eternal life. The Bible says in John chapter 3 and verse 16, you and I, we know this familiar17:11 text, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. I want you to listen17:23 to me carefully. Jesus came to give us eternal life. The Bible declares in the chapter, the verse that we read before in Luke chapter 2 and verse 10, Fear not17:35 for I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. What is that? What is that good news of great joy? See, listen to me carefully. Jesus came17:46 for people who are perishing. He came to save them. People who are struggling in their sin, Jesus came to forgive them. Jesus came to rescue them and to deliver them and to give them a hope and the17:58 hope of facing future with Him. Listen, there was once upon a time you didn't exist, but God gave you grace and cost you to be18:10 formed in your mother's womb. So you moved from non existence to existence. That was your first transformation that God did in your life. The second transformation God did18:22 in your life is this from a mere existence. God gave you a meaningful existence. In other words, the moment you come and reconcile back to God, you receive the gift of redemption,18:34 you give the gift of reconciliation, you experience life at a whole new level. So from a meaningful, from a mere existence, you have a meaningful existence living for the glory of God and for18:46 the good of His Kingdom. Thirdly, God gives you another transformation from physical existence to eternal existence. See during this COVID season, a lot of people18:57 have died. All around the world people are facing eternity, they're facing what would happen after I die. Listen to19:09 me carefully, we should not be just thinking about how do I survive this Covid season? How do we survive this pandemic? We should be thinking about eternity19:21 because the Bible already says, we already read this, It is appointed for us to die once and after that face judgment. It is already declared that the wages of sin,19:33 Romans 6 23, for the wages of sin is death. So surely we will die on this world. But then there is an eternity, our souls are meant to live forever and that eternity,19:45 if we have the forgiveness of sins, if we have been reconciled with God and we have peace with God, then we can have eternal life, a new life, an eternal life and that eternal19:57 life is that we will spend with God. The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Listen to me carefully, Jesus came to give20:09 us life, eternal life. Hallelujah. You and I, we need to pay attention to this. The world is entering into a season of uncertainty all around20:21 the world, but the Bible gives us hope. The Bible says that God who created this world, the Lord who created you, He loves you20:33 so much, But even though mankind rebelled against God, God sent His own son to chase after us, to die for our sins so that we can be reconciled back20:45 to God and experience life with God. So today, if you make that decision to follow Christ, I want you to acknowledge that Christ is savior,20:56 Christ is my savior, and Christ died for my sin. And if you acknowledge that, I want you to tell the person who brought you to the church or brought you to the service. I want you to tell that person to21:08 say, I'm making that decision to follow Christ. I want to acknowledge that Christ is my savior. I believe that He died for my sin. I believe in Him and I want you to do that because then they can21:20 help you lead you in a prayer and help you understand the greatest decision that you can make in your life, which is to give your life to Christ. Hallelujah. I want you to listen to me carefully.21:32 Why is this so important? Because I don't want you to miss the point of Christmas. The whole point of Christmas is to receive forgiveness, to release all your21:44 fears. The shepherds were afraid and the angels said fear not, release all your fears, fears about the future, fears about what's going on in the world today, but21:56 thirdly renew your faith. Maybe you're a person who has placed your faith in Christ, then you are going through a season of doubt and anxiety. I want you to come back and22:07 renew your faith and place your faith in Him. And fourthly, I want you to rebuild your life. How do you rebuild your life? Join a good Bible teaching church.22:20 If you are not part of any other church, I invite you to join Life Church. I invite you to join us every Sunday as we worship the Lord together. I invite you to join the family22:32 that invited you, join together with them and rebuild your life in the family of God and together let's continue to enjoy the gift that God has given us in this22:44 gift of Christmas. Hallelujah. So if you are that person, when no 1 is watching, eyes closed and every head bowed, I want you to lift up your right hand towards heaven. And I want you to acknowledge22:55 before God, Lord today, I want to pray that prayer to give my life to Christ, to acknowledge that Christ died for my sin, that Christ Jesus is my Lord. I want you to acknowledge that.23:08 I want you to lift up your hand and I want you to repeat the prayer that I'm going to say. And later on, I'll pray for the people who are listening to my sermon. Let's pray for the first 1.23:21 If you are a person who is giving your life to Christ, acknowledging that you need to be saved from your sins, I want you to repeat this prayer after me. Heavenly Father, I23:32 acknowledge I'm a sinner. I thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins. Today, I receive Jesus as23:44 my Lord and my savior. I acknowledge that He died for me and I ask that You forgive me of my sins and23:56 cleanse me. Continue to help me to walk in a manner that pleases You. In Jesus' name, Amen. If you had prayed that prayer,24:08 we believe that you have been saved. I want to talk to you. I to give you some literature that would help you to understand the decision that you just made and24:20 maybe if you're the person who invited you can help you in that or if you're in the room in event cinema, just look for the volunteers who are walking around just waving their24:32 hands right now. They can pass you the information that you need. Praise God. But let me pray with the people, those who have already placed their faith in Christ. I want you24:44 to today release your fears because Christmas is all about renewing our faith to recognize that we are like Mary who treasured the good news, who pondered over it and say, Lord, I want to give my24:56 life again to Christ. Shall we do that church? Father, we thank you so much for the privilege of being part of your family. Thank you for dying on the cross for our sins, Lord Jesus. And through you, we have received the25:07 gift of redemption, the gift of reconciliation and the gift of regeneration. We thank you. We acknowledge that Christ Jesus is our Saviour, Christ Jesus is our Lord and we25:19 give you all the glory, praise and honour, help us to live for your glory in Jesus name and the people of God said, Amen and Amen. We love you church,25:31 We believe that God is working in our midst. Receive this gift of Christmas. May the Lord bless you. Shall we receive the benediction? The Lord bless you and keep25:43 you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance and give you peace. In Jesus name, Amen. Merry Christmas25:55 and God bless you.
Paul Jeyachandran
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