Welcome to Windber PA's First Assembly of God's The Sermon The Gift by David McGee Page

This is a machine transcript of the sermon. It won't be completely accurate of what's said in the sermon.

And in him you ask everyone to speak is not having a say. So I let him do the split of the methods of keeping, but it's nice briefly. I like to think about the gift and the gifts we know is the gift of Christ to us, and I'm going to read the Scriptures in the chapter to one that from the King James version sounds so familiar and so easy to remember who chapter to beginning of verse one and it came to pass in those days, but there went out a decree from Caesar justice that all the world should be taxed, and this taxing was first made when saving us was governor of Syria, and all went to be taxed, every one into his own city and Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea into the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and the lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the end, and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And while the angel of the Lord came upon them the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said under them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, brought to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign of you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men. They came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into the heavens, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart and the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had seen, as it was told unto them, when we think of gifts. I'm sure that's remember as a child we used to get the Sears catalog and it was the wish book and call it the wish book and you go through there. I need circle everything in our president have even go the store and find every toy. There was in the book you found all the toys of the book and you wouldn't don't look for them. You know, and but today is a little different. You have every toilets in the book in every choices on the Internet than ever joy that the other kid has and everybody knows about it and they take pictures of it and send it on their text and Facebook. Send everything else to find out what toys are important and not for you which ones don't work. And if you're on the Internet and you look for some something to buy. We generally go to is what are other people rating this year. Look at that if one of us. Why are people writing this, as it's a very good buyer, or don't they like it, and how many of you found this helpful enough so as we look at these things and go over them the gifts that we have purchased. If you haven't gotten your gift bought as for tomorrow morning. It's too late procedures( four hours, but that is if you think you may need a gift card, but the there are so many things that we think of as gifts and how we give them and and the you the title that I before I came up with the idea of just the gift and that's a song. Also, but what you give to someone. What does someone give who has everything. What do someone give who has everything and as Damon was alluding to how that in El Salvador. They live on. Maybe a dollar a day, and when they think of you and I they think of us as having everything. I mean to them. We are the wealthiest people honor and they will risk their lives walking from El Salvador through the other up through Mexico and trying to find their way into the United States and many of the people who take off on this journey are never heard from and is a very dangerous journey, which very few really complete, but they will risk their lives to try and find the good life that you and I have, to find a place where they can come and make more than a dollar a day and have some type of value in their life. So what would it be that we who have everything would give while with the in-laws say they one of the programs that is told me about that is that it went when check when churches come down with mission teams. Her doctors have time to aid their nails give services to the people that one of the doctors from Mars at the Leavitt 's Phoenix area would didn't believe in light you know what's. As idea of communicating with people being a friend with someone are the one-on-one giving yourself to someone and they said they were there is a doctor to extract so many teeth. Then they were there is a doctor to look. It's look at so many patients had to have all them and the cap reinforcing that we want you to do that. We want to also to connect with the people to connect with the people you at your wit and the doctor about three or four years of coming down to El Salvador said, I finally understand what you mean that not only is it my taking out a distracting teeth and keeping on keeping people well. One of the primary reasons that some of the senior adults die and those in their fifties are the senior Dalton wrote community. One of the primary reasons that they dies from rotting teeth that get infected and infection ghost of their brain fills the so being able to have someone come in and extract the is a lifesaving mission. But more important than the lifesaving mission. It's a matter of connecting with someone so what does someone who has everything, give socially. Think about that. Then the press together creates quite a dilemma because we certainly don't think of ourselves as having everything we have not made the be-all TV show the lifestyles of the Rich and famous. We haven't made it out of the best dressed, and no wealthiest individual and in the world. We haven't made that place yet so we would think that they would be somewhere. That's far beyond us, and it's more than we are not the most wealthiest people in the world, but yet in some respects we are, but there is one who is able, who is gray dear, and those greater one is God. And what is it the God who has everything. What did God possibly do what gift could God give that would influence and the capable of touching every life on this planet. What would he be able to do now here is God who can speak the world into existence. Maybe we could do the is the ferry tell type things in which God 's login. Everybody are granted three wishes, and the livestock and a lifetime no I was adult drunk, but I won't that that that that I would offend someone. I'm sure because this was young guys, girls, girls guide your guide men, women are not the one act is to a new throw things at me take back my presence, but tone. What gifts we give that means so much in our life. What gifts we have that similarly are so important. And the gifts that we possess are some of the things of the most intangible the gift that you possesses the gift of yourself the gift of God possesses that he is not going to give us three wishes and out, I grant you three wishes in your three wishes in your lifetime. What would they be so if God were this on the tenth all-powerful being, and he would come into our life, and anyone outlined in this book here why you should get us why we deserve to have three wishes they would time and we would thought we would look at our life and we would analyze our life from her perspective of what can I wish for that will invent better my life and better the life of my family while probably would we use up all her three wishes. By the time we were five because we know that the most important time of our life as a kid because nothing is more important than today nothing is more important then. But then, what's happening now. But realize we get older. Then things change know where we happen her twenties and fifties and sixties. Then we get older we start recognizing that things really change. So what three wishes, would we have at this age. Versus ten years ago or twenty years ago. So God couldn't be this magic person who gives to each of us. Three wishes, and an MER, you know, we got we got all of you didn't do that. So, one other thing for this all powerful, all knowing, all omnipotent, all-powerful God do they would have an impact upon every part every aspect of his creation. We know that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. We know that God made us for and with the purpose. We know that God has a plan for our life, and he and he was there at the very inception. He was there at the very inception of life at the beginning of time before the beginning began God was always love that first John one one and the interpreted that the one of the paraphrase versions hasn't before the beginning began God was because creation was the beginning of time and at the beginning of time when God formed us from the dust of the earth and breathed into us the breath of life. We became a living soul. We had a value, that he, God loves more completely than anything else in the universe anything out than ever been created. The love that the beloved that one that he formed and breathed into, but somehow we lost track of what was important, and we rebelled and when our own way of God, but in the beginning God breathed and lost the breath of life, and that breath of life has never left us and also the Scripture says that the word. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. When Jesus was born in a manger that wasn't his beginning is beginning had done. He began his life as a human being because he decided to become like us that we could somehow become like him. And in this process of celebrating Christmas in the process of understanding what Christmas is about. We're understanding of a prospective of a gift that God decided that the greatest thing that he could give to us was the ability to make a choice. The ability to choose right and wrong. The ability to choose life-and-death. The ability to choose to love or withhold so the greatest gift that you have is your ability to love the greatest gift that you have is your ability to receive love is a great gift and the extent a great example of that of course is Jesus Christ because he has come to love us whenever we didn't even know that we were lost and came to love us because he loves us because his breath of life is in us, his breath of life is there, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, God became flesh to become like us so that we could become like him, and how that we become like him. How then do we. How then do we take this gift that God has given of himself that he has bestowed upon us that this we unwrap every day we arrived, the gift of life every day they were still breathing and his life is still than us, and this life is therefore us to hold or to curse the choice is there for us to embrace OR to let go of and interest gift that God has placed in the hands of each one of us and were all responsible for how we fondle holds embrace the gift of life. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and then we have in the Scriptures, how that God tells us his word, and it's a funny thing about the word how that what we create with our words it's it's it's crazy what we create with our words can you look back over today, indecent and and decipher what you created or will they just responding to events where we just responding to the circumstances of the day. The lights in the dislikes of everybody around us that we were just responding to those events with our words or more, we really creating them with our word, and so we have a challenge now to take that which is on the word of God, and to allow that fullness of God 's love and life inside of us and that his spirit and breath of life that is breathed into us. Is there uniting with us solve in our minds and our thoughts and our concepts are once our desires, our dreams and the word of God comes to wireless and that word is Christ. He says never leave you nor for thank you so you can go anywhere that I will be there with you. All things have a way to work out to find good whenever you start having faith and keep having faith in me my presence will be with you my presence will be with you no matter where you go, the Psalmist said, if I take the wings of the morning and go to the uttermost parts of your through their phi can travel at the speed of light from one mountain peak to the next, God is there, so the presence that we open this Christmas. The gift is a gift of God 's word the gift of God 's love because God who has everything, can speak all things into existence, the God who can create whatever it is, whatever desire whenever he desires. He could just do it in his greatest desire is that we be united with him as a friend with a friend. That's his greatest desire and end our greatest desire. He gave Aussie ability to choose the say yes or no. That is the greatest gift the ability to choose life to choose to love pictures to forgive to choose to have the light of God 's life burning inside of us, a life that will live forever and never be extinguished to death that is the whole of Christmas, the hope that the Messiah would come foretold hundreds of years before of virgin will conceive born in the town of Bethlehem. I mean it's it's all written his life was written before it happens. So Jesus just doesn't show up one day and a bunch of sages get together write a wonderful story about a young shoppers in a campfire dreaming up stories came up with this. This is foretold in centuries prior and then it comes the past and it is there lived out in the life of Christ. And here we are. Centuries later, telling about the gifts became announced by Shepherdson, spoken of by prophets and teachers around the world and people living it out in foreign countries in which we take the gift and share it with someone else, so this Christmas when you're opening your gifts when you're opening your gifts. Remember the gift that was given to you the gift of life of love, friendship, the gift that God gives to us is from his heart to our heart. That's the gift of life. Amen. Father, we thank you for this very special gift begets of your presence, the gift of life. Oh God, that you have breathed into us, we pray that you will help us now as we continue to celebrate your birth and larger great gift of yourself to us. We asked Lord as we bring this evening to a close with a few songs and lighting of our candles. We pray Lord, we pray Lord that your breath of life that you breathe into mankind at the beginning God, we still my take a deep breath and realize God. It is life that you've given us. And it is a very special gift that we can share with others in RondoAnd in him you ask everyone to speak is not having a say. So I let him do the split of the methods of keeping, but it's nice briefly. I like to think about the gift and the gifts we know is the gift of Christ to us, and I'm going to read the Scriptures in the chapter to one that from the King James version sounds so familiar and so easy to remember who chapter to beginning of verse one and it came to pass in those days, but there went out a decree from Caesar justice that all the world should be taxed, and this taxing was first made when saving us was governor of Syria, and all went to be taxed, every one into his own city and Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea into the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and the lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the end, and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And while the angel of the Lord came upon them the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said under them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, brought to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign of you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men. They came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into the heavens, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart and the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had seen, as it was told unto them, when we think of gifts. I'm sure that's remember as a child we used to get the Sears catalog and it was the wish book and call it the wish book and you go through there. I need circle everything in our president have even go the store and find every toy. There was in the book you found all the toys of the book and you wouldn't don't look for them. You know, and but today is a little different. You have every toilets in the book in every choices on the Internet than ever joy that the other kid has and everybody knows about it and they take pictures of it and send it on their text and Facebook. Send everything else to find out what toys are important and not for you which ones don't work. And if you're on the Internet and you look for some something to buy. We generally go to is what are other people rating this year. Look at that if one of us. Why are people writing this, as it's a very good buyer, or don't they like it, and how many of you found this helpful enough so as we look at these things and go over them the gifts that we have purchased. If you haven't gotten your gift bought as for tomorrow morning. It's too late procedures( four hours, but that is if you think you may need a gift card, but the there are so many things that we think of as gifts and how we give them and and the you the title that I before I came up with the idea of just the gift and that's a song. Also, but what you give to someone. What does someone give who has everything. What do someone give who has everything and as Damon was alluding to how that in El Salvador. They live on. Maybe a dollar a day, and when they think of you and I they think of us as having everything. I mean to them. We are the wealthiest people honor and they will risk their lives walking from El Salvador through the other up through Mexico and trying to find their way into the United States and many of the people who take off on this journey are never heard from and is a very dangerous journey, which very few really complete, but they will risk their lives to try and find the good life that you and I have, to find a place where they can come and make more than a dollar a day and have some type of value in their life. So what would it be that we who have everything would give while with the in-laws say they one of the programs that is told me about that is that it went when check when churches come down with mission teams. Her doctors have time to aid their nails give services to the people that one of the doctors from Mars at the Leavitt 's Phoenix area would didn't believe in light you know what's. As idea of communicating with people being a friend with someone are the one-on-one giving yourself to someone and they said they were there is a doctor to extract so many teeth. Then they were there is a doctor to look. It's look at so many patients had to have all them and the cap reinforcing that we want you to do that. We want to also to connect with the people to connect with the people you at your wit and the doctor about three or four years of coming down to El Salvador said, I finally understand what you mean that not only is it my taking out a distracting teeth and keeping on keeping people well. One of the primary reasons that some of the senior adults die and those in their fifties are the senior Dalton wrote community. One of the primary reasons that they dies from rotting teeth that get infected and infection ghost of their brain fills the so being able to have someone come in and extract the is a lifesaving mission. But more important than the lifesaving mission. It's a matter of connecting with someone so what does someone who has everything, give socially. Think about that. Then the press together creates quite a dilemma because we certainly don't think of ourselves as having everything we have not made the be-all TV show the lifestyles of the Rich and famous. We haven't made it out of the best dressed, and no wealthiest individual and in the world. We haven't made that place yet so we would think that they would be somewhere. That's far beyond us, and it's more than we are not the most wealthiest people in the world, but yet in some respects we are, but there is one who is able, who is gray dear, and those greater one is God. And what is it the God who has everything. What did God possibly do what gift could God give that would influence and the capable of touching every life on this planet. What would he be able to do now here is God who can speak the world into existence. Maybe we could do the is the ferry tell type things in which God 's login. Everybody are granted three wishes, and the livestock and a lifetime no I was adult drunk, but I won't that that that that I would offend someone. I'm sure because this was young guys, girls, girls guide your guide men, women are not the one act is to a new throw things at me take back my presence, but tone. What gifts we give that means so much in our life. What gifts we have that similarly are so important. And the gifts that we possess are some of the things of the most intangible the gift that you possesses the gift of yourself the gift of God possesses that he is not going to give us three wishes and out, I grant you three wishes in your three wishes in your lifetime. What would they be so if God were this on the tenth all-powerful being, and he would come into our life, and anyone outlined in this book here why you should get us why we deserve to have three wishes they would time and we would thought we would look at our life and we would analyze our life from her perspective of what can I wish for that will invent better my life and better the life of my family while probably would we use up all her three wishes. By the time we were five because we know that the most important time of our life as a kid because nothing is more important than today nothing is more important then. But then, what's happening now. But realize we get older. Then things change know where we happen her twenties and fifties and sixties. Then we get older we start recognizing that things really change. So what three wishes, would we have at this age. Versus ten years ago or twenty years ago. So God couldn't be this magic person who gives to each of us. Three wishes, and an MER, you know, we got we got all of you didn't do that. So, one other thing for this all powerful, all knowing, all omnipotent, all-powerful God do they would have an impact upon every part every aspect of his creation. We know that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. We know that God made us for and with the purpose. We know that God has a plan for our life, and he and he was there at the very inception. He was there at the very inception of life at the beginning of time before the beginning began God was always love that first John one one and the interpreted that the one of the paraphrase versions hasn't before the beginning began God was because creation was the beginning of time and at the beginning of time when God formed us from the dust of the earth and breathed into us the breath of life. We became a living soul. We had a value, that he, God loves more completely than anything else in the universe anything out than ever been created. The love that the beloved that one that he formed and breathed into, but somehow we lost track of what was important, and we rebelled and when our own way of God, but in the beginning God breathed and lost the breath of life, and that breath of life has never left us and also the Scripture says that the word. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. When Jesus was born in a manger that wasn't his beginning is beginning had done. He began his life as a human being because he decided to become like us that we could somehow become like him. And in this process of celebrating Christmas in the process of understanding what Christmas is about. We're understanding of a prospective of a gift that God decided that the greatest thing that he could give to us was the ability to make a choice. The ability to choose right and wrong. The ability to choose life-and-death. The ability to choose to love or withhold so the greatest gift that you have is your ability to love the greatest gift that you have is your ability to receive love is a great gift and the extent a great example of that of course is Jesus Christ because he has come to love us whenever we didn't even know that we were lost and came to love us because he loves us because his breath of life is in us, his breath of life is there, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, God became flesh to become like us so that we could become like him, and how that we become like him. How then do we. How then do we take this gift that God has given of himself that he has bestowed upon us that this we unwrap every day we arrived, the gift of life every day they were still breathing and his life is still than us, and this life is therefore us to hold or to curse the choice is there for us to embrace OR to let go of and interest gift that God has placed in the hands of each one of us and were all responsible for how we fondle holds embrace the gift of life. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and then we have in the Scriptures, how that God tells us his word, and it's a funny thing about the word how that what we create with our words it's it's it's crazy what we create with our words can you look back over today, indecent and and decipher what you created or will they just responding to events where we just responding to the circumstances of the day. The lights in the dislikes of everybody around us that we were just responding to those events with our words or more, we really creating them with our word, and so we have a challenge now to take that which is on the word of God, and to allow that fullness of God 's love and life inside of us and that his spirit and breath of life that is breathed into us. Is there uniting with us solve in our minds and our thoughts and our concepts are once our desires, our dreams and the word of God comes to wireless and that word is Christ. He says never leave you nor for thank you so you can go anywhere that I will be there with you. All things have a way to work out to find good whenever you start having faith and keep having faith in me my presence will be with you my presence will be with you no matter where you go, the Psalmist said, if I take the wings of the morning and go to the uttermost parts of your through their phi can travel at the speed of light from one mountain peak to the next, God is there, so the presence that we open this Christmas. The gift is a gift of God 's word the gift of God 's love because God who has everything, can speak all things into existence, the God who can create whatever it is, whatever desire whenever he desires. He could just do it in his greatest desire is that we be united with him as a friend with a friend. That's his greatest desire and end our greatest desire. He gave Aussie ability to choose the say yes or no. That is the greatest gift the ability to choose life to choose to love pictures to forgive to choose to have the light of God 's life burning inside of us, a life that will live forever and never be extinguished to death that is the whole of Christmas, the hope that the Messiah would come foretold hundreds of years before of virgin will conceive born in the town of Bethlehem. I mean it's it's all written his life was written before it happens. So Jesus just doesn't show up one day and a bunch of sages get together write a wonderful story about a young shoppers in a campfire dreaming up stories came up with this. This is foretold in centuries prior and then it comes the past and it is there lived out in the life of Christ. And here we are. Centuries later, telling about the gifts became announced by Shepherdson, spoken of by prophets and teachers around the world and people living it out in foreign countries in which we take the gift and share it with someone else, so this Christmas when you're opening your gifts when you're opening your gifts. Remember the gift that was given to you the gift of life of love, friendship, the gift that God gives to us is from his heart to our heart. That's the gift of life. Amen. Father, we thank you for this very special gift begets of your presence, the gift of life. Oh God, that you have breathed into us, we pray that you will help us now as we continue to celebrate your birth and larger great gift of yourself to us. We asked Lord as we bring this evening to a close with a few songs and lighting of our candles. We pray Lord, we pray Lord that your breath of life that you breathe into mankind at the beginning God, we still my take a deep breath and realize God. It is life that you've given us. And it is a very special gift that we can share with others in Rondo