Introduction
Let me begin with a discipleship question: will we trust and obey Jesus in the real decisions of everyday life? Christ forms us through truth received, repentance practiced, and obedience lived out.
Main Points
Grace and Justification
yes you know why do people give each other gifts i think oftentimes it's to show someone that we care about them appreciate them respect them or love them and in a way i think that's kind of what we hope to do with god but what gift can we give to god hey everybody we are in our series main event where we're talking about the true reasons we all have to celebrate during this season before our lesson let's pray god today we ask that you'd help us to know what worship is and how to live lives that worship you we love you and we pray this in jesus name amen thanks for praying everybody now it's time to open up those bibles today we're going to be in the book of luke and a little bit in the book of matthew in chapter 2 in each of those books so luke matthew new testament or old testament new testament that's right those are both some of our four gospels right and the gospels are about the life of jesus very good so as we look in luke and matthew we're going to continue on in what we might call the christmas story and today hear about some people who came to worship young jesus and how we can worship jesus too if we look first at matthew chapter 2 this is what it says jesus was born in bethlehem in judea during the reign of king herod about that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in jerusalem asking where is the newborn king of the jews we saw his star as it rose and we have come to worship him i love this part of the story but quick question how many wise men were there i bet a lot of you guessed three often times we hear about the three wise men but what did it say there it just said wise men we get the number three because we hear about the three gifts that they brought of gold frankincense and myrrh but it could have been two wise men who brought three gifts it could have been 200 men who brought three gifts either way the important thing is that these men traveled across the land in order to find jesus be with him and give him gifts of worship the wise men understood that jesus was the king and he was worthy of worship and that's why they brought him the gifts and that gives me an idea for a game time i'm calling this one three gifts to jesus here's how it's gonna work you are going to have one minute when the timer starts to go through your house and find three things that you could give as a gift to jesus if he were coming over to your house today so imagine mary and joseph are going to bring baby jesus to your house so that you can honor him and worship him just like the wise men did and what would you give would you give gold and frankincense and myrrh do you even know what frankincense and myrrh are no you'll probably have to find your own thing so pick one thing from let's say the kitchen one thing from your room and one thing from a room of your choice in your house but you only have one minute to get those three gifts and then get back here let's see what you come up with on your mark get set go i'm sure you guys were super creative in coming up with what sort of things you would give to jesus i hope you had fun while you were doing it but i think what jesus wants even more than the sort of things that we might give as a present is he wants our worship he wants us to give our lives to him to love him with all that we are to follow him and obey his commands before we wrap up i want to give you something from luke chapter 2 that the angelic messengers said to some shepherds who are also going to have an opportunity to worship baby jesus so this is what the angel said to the shepherds and i think we should take this to heart as well don't be afraid i bring you good news that will bring great joy to all the people the savior yes the messiah the lord has been born today in bethlehem the city of david suddenly the angel was joined by a vast host of others the armies of heaven praising god and saying glory to god in highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom god is pleased so this season together with all those around the world who worship jesus who love jesus and follow jesus along with the angelic host of heaven all the angels in heaven we want to worship jesus we want to love him with all that we are we want to give him our lives because of who he is and all that he has done that's it for this time merry christmas you all i'll see you next time god bless you
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.