Skip to content God's Great Christmas Gift to You Dec 3 · 32 min ...more
December 3, 2024 · 32 min · Rick Warren
...more Show the full description Show less Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
101K followers
Pastor Rick Warren shares the hope and encouragement you need to hear everyday. Listen in as he shares biblical truths to help you live the purpose driven life
101K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
0:03 Welcome, thanks for joining Pastor Rick Warren. To hear Pastor Rick's free daily Bible teaching program, download free sermon notes or sign up for his free daily devotional. Visit pastorrick0:16 dot com. Now, let's join pastor Rick.The Greatest Christmas Gift 0:20 Merry Christmas, everybody. By now, you've probably opened all your Christmas gifts. But this Christmas morning, I wanna talk to you about the greatest Christmas gift you'll ever receive. And you may not0:32 have opened that particular gift. Now the greatest Christmas gift is God's gift to you. It's the whole reason we celebrate Christmas, and it's talked about in the greatest verse0:44 in the Bible. It's the most famous verse in the Bible, the book of John chapter 3 verse 16. Now throughout history, literally billions of people have memorized this0:55 verse, John chapter 3 verse 16. Why is John 3 16 so important? Well, it explains the reason for Christmas. It summarizes the Bible in a1:07 single sentence. If you get this verse, you got it. It shows you how to settle your eternal destiny, how to build a friendship with God, how to get in his family. John chapter 3 verse1:18 16 says this. There on your outline. If you haven't pulled out your message notes, pull them out, and let's go through this together this Christmas morning. John 3 16 says, for god1:30 so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish,1:43 but have everlasting life. Now I want you to notice, circle these, words in that verse. Circle the word god, Circle the word1:55 only. Circle the word son. Circle the word, perish. And then circle everlasting or eternal and life. Circle the word life.2:07 G o s p e l. That spells gospel. This is the gospel in a single sense. It is the good news in a single sense. It's why every church in the world exists2:19 because of John chapter 3 16. Now what is god's great gift at Christmas to you entail? Well, it entails 4 things. First, you might write this down. It involves2:30 the greatest passion. The greatest passion. Notice the first phrase says, god so loved the world. So there in the Greek, in the original Greek where the2:42 Bible is written in in the New Testament, is an adverb of intensity. When a guy tells a girl, I love you, that's 1 thing. But when a guy says, I so love you, now2:54 he really means it. He's saying it with passion. I so love you. You don't walk up to people and say, oh, I so love you. But God so loved the world. He loves you intensely.3:06 He loves you passionately. That is god's passion. God's love for you is extravagant. It is lavish. It is beyond comprehension. No3:18 1 will ever love you with the intensity that god does. No man will ever love you. No woman will ever love you the way god who created you loves you. Now this is3:30 the first part of the greatest Christmas gift. God so loved you. Let's look at a few verses about god's love. There's a book in the Bible called Ephesians. And in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4, it3:41 says this. Long before he, that's god, long before he laid down the earth's foundation, god had us in mind. And he settled on us as the3:53 focus of his love. Before god created anything else, god thought of you. Did you know that? God created the universe because he wanted a family to love. Now, what does this mean? It means that4:05 God has always loved you. Before God created the the world, though, to sustain human life, he planned your life. Now architects know that long before you lay,4:18 any foundation, you have to decide the purpose of a building. All the plans have to be drawn up first. God built the universe because he wanted to love you. The Bible tells us that God4:29 shows his love for you every single minute of the day. Psalm 1 45 verses 9 and 10 says this, the Lord is good to everyone, that includes you. He4:41 showers compassion on all his creation. God has never made a person he doesn't love. Everything in life is a gift of god's love. Air is a gift of god's love. Water is a4:53 gift of god's love. Sun, food, these are all gifts of god's love. God gave his love to you whether you loved him or not. The third thing we learn in the Bible is that god's love for you5:05 is unconditional. There's no situation in which God will ever stop loving you. Think about that. There's no situation in which God will ever stop loving you. You know, human5:17 love wears out. That's why we have divorce. But God's love never wears out. Human love doesn't always work out. God's love never ends. You can't5:28 make God stop loving you. You can try, but you'll fail. The Bible says in Romans 8 39, nothing in all creation is able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ5:40 Jesus. He loves you on your good days and your bad days, when you feel it, when you don't. God will never love you any more than he does right now. He will never love you any less than5:52 he does right now. In fact, God wanted you here on Christmas morning to hear this message whenever you're hearing it so he could say this to you.6:04 I love you. I love you. I love you. Now god's love, this kind of love that is6:16 constant, continual, everlasting, unconditional, that love is the first part of god's great gifts to you. It's his passion for you. And God's love6:28 can handle every need you have. Ephesians in the Bible chapter 3 verse 18 and 19 says this. This is my prayer for you at Christmas. May you be6:40 able to feel and to understand. I don't want you just to understand it. I want you to feel and understand how long, how wide, how deep, and how high6:52 God's love really is, and experience this love for yourself. Now I want you to look at that verse. If you're taking notes, I want you to circle. First, circle the word7:03 long. How long god's love is? How how long is god's love? Well, it's long enough to last forever. Then circle the word wide. How how wide is god's love for you? Well, it's7:15 wide enough to be everywhere you are. There's no place you could be where god isn't. There's times you may feel alone, but listen, friend. You will never really be totally alone7:27 because god's love is high and wide. It's everywhere, and then it's god's love is deep. Circle that. How deep is god's love? Deep enough to handle anything you go through, No matter7:38 how deep your problem is, no matter how deep your pain is, god's love is deeper. It's wide. It's high. It's deep. And then circle high.7:51 I want you to know the height of God's love. How high is God's love? It's high enough to overcome any barrier in your life. There is no problem too high, no problem too big for God.8:03 You just have to give it. You're you're you're give God your problem. You may have had a job loss. You may have had a foreclosure. You may have a an illness, cancer. You may have had a death of a loved8:14 1. You may have had depression. But God's love is wide and high and deep and long. And that's the first part of God's greatest gift, Christmas gift to you,8:26 is his passion. Now the second part of this verse, second phrase, talks about not just the greatest passion, but the greatest present. Notice, god so loved the world. What's the next8:38 phrase? That he gave, circle the word gave. It's a gift. It's a it's a gift to you. He gave his only begotten son. You've heard the phrase that if you want8:50 something done right, do it yourself. Well, god said, you know, I want it done right. I'll go myself. God came to earth in human form as Jesus Christ.9:01 God became a man. He didn't come as an avatar. He didn't come as an angel. He didn't come as a prophet. He didn't come as a good teacher. God came his self. Like the old Hallmark phrase,9:13 when you care enough to send the very best, you go yourself. That little baby that was there in a manger that we celebrate on Christmas day, who was that baby?9:26 Really, who was that baby? Who was Jesus Christ? Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 says this, Christ is the visible image of the invisible9:38 God. In other words, if you wanna know what God is like, take a long look at Jesus. Why did God become a man? Because he wanted to communicate to men. He became a human because he wanted to communicate9:50 to humans. You see, if God had wanted to communicate to cows, he would have become a cow. If he wanted to communicate to ants, he would have become an ant, but he wanted to communicate to you and me. So he became a human10:01 being. In John chapter 14 verse 9, Jesus says this, anyone who has seen me has seen the father. You know, you're you're looking at god. Jesus was god in10:13 human form. God didn't meet us halfway. He came all the way. Now by the way, why did Jesus come as a baby? Well, I'll tell you why, because10:25 nobody's afraid of a baby. You know, there are a lot of ways God could have come to Earth that would have been scary, would have scared us to death, But God didn't come to scare us, he came to save us. The problem10:37 is many people wanna keep Jesus as a baby. He didn't stay as a baby. I remember that movie Talladega Nights that Will Ferrell may we kept Ricky Bobby keeps talking about little baby10:49 Jesus, little baby Jesus, as if Jesus had stayed a baby. If Jesus had stayed a baby, there would be no reason to celebrate Christmas. But Jesus came for a number of reasons. And11:01 and the first 1 is he came to show us what God is like. But primarily, listen, Jesus came to die. Now on Christmas Eve this week, I did another11:13 message called, it's not it's gonna be different next time. And I compared Jesus' first coming to his second coming. But his second coming is gonna be very different than the way11:25 he came at Christmas. Christmas, he came humbly. He came as a baby. And the Bible says in Romans chapter 5 verse 8, God put his love on the line for us11:37 by offering his son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Jesus didn't come simply to live. He came to die. He came to11:49 die for our sins. Why did Jesus have to die? Well, I'll tell you. God is a God of love, but he is also a God of justice. And when he sees something wrong, he goes, that's not right.12:01 And justice demands that wrongs be righted, that offenses be punished, that people don't do evil and get away scot free. You know, and you want justice. You want crimes12:13 to be paid for. You want people who've hurt you to to be corrected for that, those hurts. God is a God of justice. Now, God came to correct all12:25 the arm all the wrongs in the world, and he's gonna do that at second coming. But at the first coming, he came to die for our sins so you don't have to die for your sins. He came to pay for your12:37 sins so you don't have to pay for your sins. He came to give grace. Let me explain it this way. Heaven is a perfect place. There's no sin, no sorrow, no12:49 suffering, no sadness, no sickness in heaven. Heaven is perfect and we're not. I stopped being perfect like 5 breaths after I was born. How does God get imperfect13:01 people into heaven? God has to have a plan and it's called grace. But because heaven is perfect and we're not, then, we need a savior. You know,13:13 I remember reading about a little kid who wrote to Santa Claus and he he wrote, dear Santa, there are 3 boys who live at our house. There's Jeffrey. He is 2. There is David. He is13:25 4. And there's Norman. He's 7. Jeffrey is good some of the time, Santa. And David is good some of the time. Norman is good all of the13:37 time. I am Norman. Now the problem is none of us are Normans. Okay? None of us are good all the time. So13:48 somebody's gotta pay for my sins. Somebody's gotta pay for your sins. Either you have to pay for them or somebody else. Well, the good news of Christmas is this. Everything you've ever done14:00 wrong has already been paid for. Every sin you've ever committed has already been paid for. That's why Jesus came to earth. That's part of God's great present to you at Christmas.14:12 First John 2 2 says this, when Jesus served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good. In other words, now I can go to heaven even though I'm14:24 imperfect. Not only our sins, but for the whole world. When Jesus died on the cross for you and for me, that was love in the first degree.14:36 Do don't you think that if there'd been any other way for you to get into heaven, God would not have sacrificed himself? He would not have come to earth as the son of God? There14:47 is no other way. There's no way you're getting into heaven without a savior. It's perfect and you're not. I'm I'm not perfect. And so what actually happens when I trust Jesus14:59 Christ, when I receive God's Christmas gift? Well, here's what the Bible says. Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. God took the sinless Christ,15:11 Jesus never sinned because he was God, and poured into him our sin. In other words, he took it on himself. Then in exchange, he poured god's goodness15:24 into us. What a deal. What a deal. I call this the great gift exchange. Only I have no gift. My gift to God is my sin. God's gift to me is forgiveness.15:36 What a deal. Jesus who is perfect takes all my imperfections, all my weaknesses, all my faults, all my sins. That is the greatest gift you're ever gonna receive. You just have to15:48 accept it. The greatest passion, God so loved you. The greatest present that he gave his only son. Now, we look at the third phrase in this sentence, and it's16:00 the greatest proposal. God has an incredible offer for you. You know, at Christmas time you get deluged with tons of offers for weeks and weeks and weeks.16:12 You know, a few years back I decided to save every Christmas catalog that I got. Starting way back, I started getting them like a Halloween. And when Christmas was over, I16:24 had a hundred and 14 catalogs. I waited. It was 40 pounds worth of catalogs. And I was amazed at the target marketing. It didn't take big brother to figure out the the16:36 first 1 to send to me. I figured out that I could save thousands of dollars, but I'd have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. So I couldn't afford the savings that they were offering me. But God16:48 has an offer. God has a proposal that you can't afford to miss. And here it is, that whoever believes in him, Jesus Christ,16:59 shall not perish. Now, that's a promise, but with every promise, there's a premise. There there's a condition. And there there's a there's God makes this17:11 proposal to you, and there's a promise with it. But notice who this offer is for. Whoever whoever believes in him. Whosoever. But that means17:23 everybody and you. Titus is a book in the Bible, and in chapter 2 verse 11, it says this, the free gift of eternal life is offered17:35 to everyone. Now listen, regardless of your religious background, you may be Jewish, you may be Buddhist, you may be Baptist, you may be Hindu,17:47 you may be Catholic or Protestant, or pagan or no religion at all. Jesus still died for you. It says to everyone17:59 doesn't say if you're such and such religion. It says Jesus died for you. Acts chapter 10 in the bible verse 35 says this, it makes no difference who you are or where18:11 you're from. If you want God and you're ready to do as he says, the door is open. Regardless of your ethnic background, regardless of your18:23 economic background, regardless of your educational background, this offer is to you. In our church, we speak a hundred and 68 languages.18:35 A hundred and 68 language. That that that's more than the United Nations speaks. You know? It's amazing grace for every race. Why? Because Jesus is18:47 an equal opportunity savior. This proposal is for everyone. No matter your religion, your background, your ethnic, you're welcome in god's family if you receive his son by18:58 faith. Now notice how you accept god's proposal, how you accept god's offer. Romans chapter 10 verse 9, there on your outline says this, if you19:10 confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, that's what Easter is all about. You will be19:22 saved. Okay. I want you to be sure of your salvation this Christmas. I want you to receive the gift gift of God's salvation this Christmas. I don't care how many times you've been to church or never been to church, you19:34 can receive God's gift of salvation for you this Christmas. It's the greatest gift. Now how do you do it? First, it says confess Jesus is Lord. Now that's a word we don't use19:46 much today because we're not in a feudal system where we say lords and ladies and knights and counts and vassals and kings and queens. We we live in a democracy today, so we don't have lords19:58 today. The better word for that means manager, boss. God wants to be the manager of your life. Jesus wants to be the CEO of your life. He wants to be the lord. It means20:09 he's in control. When you accept god's grace, you put on a sign that says I'm under new management. I'm not managing my own life anymore. I'm trusting God to lead me, to guide me, to direct20:21 me. So first, I confess that Jesus is gonna be the manager of my life. Second, believe. Now believing is more than knowing. I mean, I believe in20:33 Tom Cruise, but I don't know Tom Cruise. I I believe in Shakira, and Lady Gaga, but I don't know them. But I believe in Jesus. I know him personally. The word there in the Bible is a Greek word20:45 called means believe, means it's the word translated believe. It means to trust in, to commit to, to rely on, to have a relationship20:56 with. You know, for instance, I believe that Hitler existed, but I don't think he was a good man. He was an evil man. But I believe in Jesus Christ, and I have trusted in,21:08 and I've given myself to it. I I I let him lead me. A lot of people say, well, I believe in Jesus. Well, so does the devil, but you're not gonna find the devil in heaven. Why?21:20 Because it means I've committed to. I know, some famous people, but I don't really know them. I I just know them in my head. I don't know them in my heart. Some people will miss21:32 heaven by 18 inches because they know about god. So, oh, yeah. I believe Jesus existed. I believe he's the son of god, but they don't know him in their heart. They don't have a friendship. They don't have a relationship.21:43 They've never committed their life to him. What did Jesus come to do? Well, he came to die for you, but John 12 47 says this, I did not come to judge the world,21:55 Jesus said, but I came to save it. If you didn't need a savior, believe me, Jesus wouldn't come. The only way you're getting into heaven is by22:07 accepting the savior that God sent, and it's a free gift. That's the greatest Christmas gift regardless of what you've done. See, it's not what you've been that matters. It's not the22:19 where you've been. It's the direction your feet are headed right now. So we've looked at the 3 parts of this great gift for you. The greatest passion, god so loved you. The greatest present that22:31 he gave his son. The greatest proposal that whoever believes in him will not perish. And then the fourth part of the greatest present is the greatest promise. Will not perish, but look22:43 notice, have everlasting life. Now what is everlasting life? Well, it's far more than just heaven.22:55 It's far more than just living forever. Yes. Heaven in this included, but the life that God wants to give you is a three-dimensional life that includes past, present, and23:07 future, past forgiven, purpose for living, home in heaven. First Peter in the Bible chapter 1 verses 3 and 4 says this, because Jesus was raised from the dead. After he23:18 died, he came back alive alive on Easter with to show who he really was, split history into AD and BC. Every time you write a date, you're using Jesus' resurrection23:30 as the as the as the point focal point. It's BC or AD. Jesus was raised from the dead. We've been given a brand new life. That means starting over.23:42 Not a new leaf, a new life. And we have everything to live for. That's purpose. Including a future in heaven, and the future starts now. See the 3 dimensions?23:54 Past forgiven, purpose for living, home in heaven. How many of those dimensions are you really living? Has your past been forgiven? Do you have a purpose for24:06 living? Are you certain of your home in heaven? That's the kind of life, three-dimensional life, God offers to you as his Christmas gift to you. When do you start?24:18 Now. Why would you put it off? Why would you wait 1 more day to have your past forgiven, to get a purpose for living, and to get a home in heaven? Plus, not only that, you become a part of24:29 god's family. God's family is the church that he's gonna take to heaven when he comes back the second time. When he comes back the second time, he's not coming back as a baby.24:41 He's coming back in all of his glory to take his family with him to heaven. I want you to be a part of that family. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5 says this, god's unchanging24:53 plan has always been, it's always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. See, everybody's25:05 created by God. Everybody is loved by God. God has a purpose for every person's life, but not everybody is a part of God's family. You've gotta be adopted into25:16 it. You've gotta ask God to accept you in this family. You've got to trust his son. You've got to accept his savior. You've got to put your faith in him. You're not in his family. You're loved by25:28 him. You're created by him, but you're not as in family until you accept his Christmas gift to you. Now what keeps people from accepting the gift of God, the Christmas gift to God?25:40 Well, 1 of them is, 1 reason is doubt. And they go, well, I I have my doubts. Let me tell you a little secret. You don't have to have all your doubts resolved to25:52 accept the Lord into your life. You know, I I wish I had learned this a long time ago. I would accepted the Lord much sooner. I used to think I had to have all my doubts figured out. There are26:04 many things I don't I I don't understand, and I I doubt why did God do that? Why did God do that? You know, you enjoy a lot of things you don't understand. I don't26:15 understand the chemistry of digestion. It doesn't keep me from eating a good steak. I don't understand internal combustion. It doesn't keep me from driving a car. I don't understand how26:27 radio and TV waves can go through the air, and I can turn on a button and see a picture. I don't understand that, but it doesn't stop me from watching TV or listening to the radio or using the Internet.26:40 There's a lot of things I don't understand. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just in simple faith say, God, I give as much of myself as I understand to as much of you as I understand. 1 time there was a guy26:52 who came to Jesus, and he he wanted Jesus to, to heal his his daughter. And the lord said, well, do you believe? And I love the guy's honesty.27:04 He said, lord, I wanna believe. Help me with my unbelief. Jesus said, that's good enough, and bam, he healed his daughter. You can come to god and say, god, I wanna believe.27:16 Help me with my doubts. Help me with my unbelief. Doubt can cause you to to to delay. Don't make that mistake. The other thing is hurt. You know, everybody27:27 experiences hurts in life, and when we get hurt, we often build barriers. We can bear build them even against god, because I I'm mad at god for, something that happened in my life.27:40 I don't know how you've been hurt. Maybe you've been hurt by a job. Maybe you've been hurt by your parents or your family or by a marriage or by an ex.27:52 Maybe you've been hurt by religion, maybe even hurt by a church, maybe even this church. Don't let that keep you from receiving God's Christmas gift.28:04 Really, you only need 1 reason to believe. You only need 1 reason to accept God's Christmas gift to you, and it's this. God loves you.28:17 He so loves you. I wanna say John 3 16, and in your mind, I want you to put your name in there. So let let me say it like this. For god so loved,28:29 put your name in there. For God so loved Bill, or Mary, or Sherry, or Tom, for God so loved that he gave his only begotten son, that28:40 if, put your name in there, your name, believes in him, he will not perish, but put your name in there, you will receive eternal life.28:54 Are you ready to accept God's Christmas gift to you? There's not a better time than right now. Second Corinthians is a book in the Bible. Chapter 6 verse 2 says this. Right now, God is29:06 ready to welcome you. Right now, God is ready to welcome. Today, he's ready to save you. Not tomorrow, today. So I'm gonna pray a prayer, and here's what I'm gonna do. First, I'm29:17 gonna pray for you, and and then I wanna lead you in a Christmas prayer, and I wanna ask you to say this in your heart. You don't have to say it aloud. God knows what you're thinking. He knows every thought you've ever29:28 had. He knows what you're thinking right now. So let me pray for you, and then I'll ask you to pray with me. Let's bow our heads. Just say something like, let me pray for you first.29:40 Father, I wanna thank you for your amazing love and for your amazing grace. And there are people listening to this right now who know about29:52 you. They know Jesus that you exist, but they've never really begun a relationship with you. They've never experienced your power, your forgiveness, your pardon. They've never experienced30:04 your purpose in life. And I pray that you'll give them the greatest Christmas gift today as you've promised. Now you pray. In your heart, say something like this. Just say,30:16 dear Jesus, just say that in your mind. Dear Jesus, I don't understand everything, but I wanna thank you, God, for loving me.30:28 And I wanna thank you for Jesus for coming to Earth for me. And I wanna thank you for giving your life for me, for dying for me so that all my30:40 sins could be forgiven, and so that I could go to heaven. I wanna be a part of your family. I I I wanna accept your free gift of forgiveness30:52 and salvation. I want you to be the the lord of my life, the manager of my life. And I wanna learn how to trust you and and love you,31:05 and and I wanna know your purpose for my life. I humbly ask you to give me your salvation, the free gift of your love. In your name I31:17 pray. Amen.31:22 We hope you've been encouraged by this message. To hear pastor Rick's free daily bible teaching program, download free sermon notes, or sign up for his free daily devotional, just visit pastorrick31:35 dot com.In this video 0:20 The Greatest Christmas Gift
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.