Snowy Sundays and Sacred Gifts: The Christmas Message of Hope

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.

I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the Word of God.

Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.

To our special livestream service here this morning.

And if you're joining us online and you're in the Delaware area, you understand that there's been a lot of snow and certainly we did everything that we could to have an in person service this morning.

But out of the abundance of caution and because of the uncertainty of the roads, we decided to make this a live stream service.

And so I hope that you are enjoying this day, this beautiful snowy morning with your family and I hope that this can be a blessing with us together here this morning on our live stream.

Of course, we are in the Christmas season and I wanted to start out our service with a scripture reading from the book of Luke, Luke chapter two.

And we are very familiar with this passage of scripture when it comes to the Christmas season.

And it's going to tie all together in what we're talking about here this morning when it comes to a great gift that God has given us.

And so in Luke chapter two it says, and it came to pass in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was the house and 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.

Verse 8 it says this, and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shown round about them, and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, A Savior which is Christ the Lord.

We'll stop there and we'll think about this morning that great gift that the Lord sent us in his son Jesus Christ.

And so may God bless the reading of his word here this morning.

May we understand those good tidings and let's open up our service with a word of prayer.

Lord, I do thank you for this time that you've given us today to come via live stream to study your word, to worship you.

And Lord, though this isn't necessarily the way that we plan this day.

We know that your plans are greater than ours and we just pray that you be with those that are preparing the roads and getting things ready for travel there.

But I pray that here today, though it's in a different setting, we I can come together as a church family and look into your word and thank you for the great gift of your son Jesus Christ and the salvation that we can find in him.

And so we just thank you for your love and your grace.

We thank you for the opportunity to know you in a personal and meaningful way.

And Lord, I pray that you bless this time as we study your Word as a family this morning.

We ask all these things in Jesus name.

Amen there in Luke chapter two.

It goes on to say that Jesus the Messiah would bring, as it says Here in verse 14, Peace, goodwill toward men.

He'll bring peace.

He'll bring joy.

He'll bring hope.

He'll bring salvation.

And in the Christmas season, we think a lot about gifts.

We think a lot about things that we might receive or that we might give.

And even some of you are familiar with the passage of Scripture in the New Testament that says it's better to give than receive.

But certainly the Christian life is all about receiving a gift.

And that's what I want to talk to you about here this morning is the idea of the greatest gift that has ever been given.

And I think maybe some of us could even think back to an awesome gift that we received either on a birthday or at Christmas.

I know that I can think back to some of those that were amazing gifts that my parents gave me or that someone else gave me.

And I remember those gifts and I'm thankful for those gifts.

But the Bible says that there's this greatest gift that was given to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ that changes the world, that changes our life, that changes our eternity.

There's a lot of passages that we can go to when it comes to this gift.

We looked at Luke chapter two, it talked about Jesus coming to this earth as a gift for all mankind.

Another passage of Scripture that you might have heard of before in Ephesians, Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and then not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

So in verse number eight, it tells us here that the grace that God gives us and grace is simply something that someone gives to someone that they don't deserve.

And so in verse eight here, it says that God gives us this grace and that is our salvation.

And that salvation is a gift.

It's not something that we earned.

It's not something that we worked for.

Verse 9, not of works, lest any man should boast.

And so there's nothing that we can do in our lives that we can boast about when it comes to our own salvation, when it comes to our own good works.

There's another passage of Scripture that uses the same word, gift, and that's in the Book of Romans.

We're doing a study here in the Book of Romans.

And so not too long ago, we were in Romans, chapter six.

And in Romans, chapter six, we see in verse 23, the Bible says, for the wages or the payment of sin is death.

Now, we've talked about what sin is in the past.

Sin is missing the mark.

Sin is disobeying God.

Sin is willingly or even sometimes unwillingly breaking what God has called us to do in our life.

So there's sins of commission, sins that we commit, and sins of omission, sins that we do when we leave off what God has called us to do.

So the Bible says, for everyone has sinned and come short of the glory of God, so all of us deserve the wage of sin, and that is death.

But.

And that's where the story changes here.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And so the gift that's extended to us in salvation is is that gift of Jesus Christ.

Now we're going somewhere with this.

There's another passage of Scripture in Second Corinthians that I really enjoy when it talks about the idea of a gift.

Second Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 15 says that this gift of God, this.

This gift of grace that has been given to us.

Second Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 14 talks about this exceeding grace of God in us.

And then I like the way that the Apostle Paul words it here.

He says, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

Another way that you could say that is this indescribable gift.

I mean, we could sit here all day and we could talk about how wonderful the gift of God is in the gift of salvation.

But we could still, through all of that, never, never reach the pinnacle of understanding completely how great God's gift is for us.

But we certainly know that God gives us in many other ways the book of James.

James chapter 1, verse 17, verse that we've used quite frequently recently in many of our studies, and that that speaks of every good gift, every gift that we have, not just salvation, even salvation being the greatest gift.

But James chapter 1, verse 17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

And so what we can understand through that passage is that every good thing that we have in our life comes from God.

And so that stirs in our heart a heart of gratitude.

It stirs in our heart a heart of praise.

And so today I want to talk to you about a sensitive topic, because in times in our life where everything is coming in and we have all of these gifts and we can know the goodness of God.

We're thankful for him and we praise Him.

But there are going to be some times in our life where it's.

It's difficult to see the blessings because of difficulties.

And we're going to go back to our main text in the Book of Romans here this morning, and I hope that you're following along with me.

Here in Romans chapter eight, we've been talking about the confidence that we can have in God, the confidence that we have in his gift.

And we started all the way back in Romans chapter 8, verse 1.

And it speaks of those that are in Christ Jesus.

Have therefore now no condemnation, no more judgment for our sins.

Remember, for the wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So verse one reminds us that in Christ we can have the confidence to know that there's no more condemnation.

And later on in that passage, we see that all of us have the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life.

He's given us confidence by the presence of the Spirit, comfort in the presence of the Spirit.

Later on he talks more about being led by the Spirit and being adopted into the family of God that we can cry, verse 15, Abba, Father.

And so the Spirit gives us confidence, the Spirit gives us the opportunity to know that we are joint heirs with Christ.

And then that brings perspective.

Verse 18 tells us that we're going to face sufferings, we're going to face difficulties if we're identified in Christ.

But he says we that those sufferings are nothing to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

And so one of the other elements of the confidence of the gift of God is the confidence to know that one day we will be with Him.

And then we fast Forward to verse 28.

We talked about this a couple weeks ago.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

And so we have the confidence to know that no matter what the circumstance might be in our life, it might not seem like things are adding up.

But God has told us and he has proven to us in the past, and he continues to prove to us now and will prove in the future that all things are going to work together for good to those who are in him, to those have their identity in Jesus Christ and love him and follow him in faith.

And then we looked last week at verses 29 and 30.

This, this understanding that those he did for no those that he has known in the past, in faith he predestinates, he, he guides to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

He predestines, he calls, he has a purpose, he justifies.

And in his justification we know that we have the hope of glorification one day to be with Him.

So all of that to be said to, to where we come today.

In verse 31 he asked the question.

He says, what shall we then say to these things?

Meaning how do we respond to this?

How do we respond to all the confidence that we can find in Jesus Christ?

Because there's going to be certain times in our life that we know something, we intellectually understand it.

But there's going to be times in our life where we don't feel that God is for us, that God loves us, that God's providing for us.

And he says in verse 31, what shall we say to these things, these things that we might face in our life difficulties?

What do we say to these things?

How do we respond to these things?

And he says this amazing phrase that I want you to take with you as not only something that you know in your minds, but that you believe in your hearts so that we can continue in that confidence.

And he says, if God before us, who can be against us.

What an amazing thought that is.

What an amazing thought to know that the God of the universe, the One who created us, the One who has all knowing power, the One who is everywhere, all at once, the one who has control of all things in this world is for us.

And then that question is this.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

And the reality is, is that there will be people who are against us.

There will be circumstances that are against us.

But the gift.

One of the amazing aspects of the gift of God is that when he is on our side, there is nothing that anybody can do to separate us from his love, to.

To take us away from the gift that he has given us.

There's something that we believe as Christians, specifically our stripe of Christian, that is called eternal security.

Meaning that my security in my salvation is not found in my good works.

It's not found in whether or not I go to church every Sunday or I give enough to the church.

My eternal security is found in the confidence of the work of Jesus Christ.

It's found in the confidence that God is for me.

And if God is for me, if I'm on His team and we know that God is victorious and we know that Jesus wins and that we know the rest of the story, then we can have the confidence to know that if no matter what might be the circumstance in our life, if God is for us, nobody can stop us when he calls us to do the works that he has called us to do in our life.

And so if you were to read certain aspects of the book of Romans and really the whole Bible, sometimes it looks like God forgets about his children.

He allows people to go through struggles.

Think about Job, think about Joseph, think about Abraham.

I mean, the list goes on and on.

But at the end of the story, we know that it says here in verse 31, if God before us, who can be against us, what an amazing gift that is.

Because sometimes in our life our hearts are weak.

Sometimes in our life, our.

Our minds are confused.

Sometimes in our life, physically speaking, and even sometimes emotionally and spiritually speaking, we feel empty, we feel lost.

But it's that reminder here that God is for us.

And a lot of people think, well, you know what?

I know that God is for me.

And many people in the world that don't know the Lord as their Savior might say, well, God loves me.

He wants what's best for me.

And ultimately in the concept of salvation, he does.

But go back, who is he talking to here?

Verse 28.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

The idea would be this.

This confidence that we can have this gift is truly only understood and materialized in someone who is walking in faith, who has trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior.

This is a promise for his children.

And so there can be times in life that we can be deceived into thinking that God is not for us.

But it's not about the deception.

It's not about the distractions.

It's about knowing in certainty the promise and the declaration of the Lord here that he is for us, no matter what might be the case.

And so we cannot deny Jesus when it comes to his power.

We cannot deny him in his guidance.

We can look for other things in our life for power and guidance.

But what does it say here?

It says that he is the only path to know this type of confidence and to know this type of hope in Him.

Now, some might still question.

They say, well, God says he's for me, but it doesn't seem like he is.

Maybe it's the classic, what has he done for me lately?

I know that there's times in my life where I think about somebody or I think about something, and I have confidence in that.

But maybe over time, my confidence has weakened.

I know that even in my own life, I. I think about times when I was younger and I played sports and I had complete confidence.

Let's say, for example, in softball.

The balls hit out away from me.

I can run and I can get it.

I know I can get to that.

There was a time when I was 18, 19, 20 years old that I had complete confidence that I can do that.

Now, that's not the case.

Sometimes my mind thinks that I can get there, but my body doesn't get there, and I miss the ball.

And I. I'm losing confidence in myself.

Why?

Because of my lack of power, of my lack of strength, my.

My lack of dexterity in some cases.

And so there's times in our life where we can lose confidence in something because of the lack of power.

But we know that God is all powerful.

We know that no one can limit God.

And we know that in this case, it says, if God be for us, who can be against us?

And so we, when we are tempted to doubt, the Bible reminds us that we don't need to doubt Him.

Why?

Because God has already proven his love for us.

And so if you are the one that is questioning or doubting whether or not God loves you, whether or not God is for you in the midst of your struggle today, let's go to verse number 32.

Because here in verse number 32, we are told, what is the definition of love?

What is the definition of sacrifice?

How did God prove His love for us?

We studied back in Romans, chapter 5, verse 8, that God commended or demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And so verse 32 basically says the same thing.

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also give us all things meaning this God proved His love for you by giving the sacrifice of his only begotten Son.

If that's not love, what is love?

If that's not sacrifice, what is sacrifice?

And so if we're tempted to doubt God here and now in the circumstances that we face, if we're tempted to doubt whether or not God is going to get me through this problem today, that the question of, does God love me today?

Well, the answer is right here.

Yes, he loves you.

And the way that he proved that he loved you is that he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.

And then he asked this question, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things meaning?

If God showed us his love that way, he's going to show his love in many other ways.

If the Father already gave the ultimate gift in Jesus Christ and salvation, how can we think that he won't give us gifts in the smaller elements of life?

Now, it might not seem like he's working all things together for good, but.

But that's the gift of God.

The gift of God is that he is for us.

The gift of God is that he cares about us and then he wants that personal relationship with us.

He doesn't give a gift and say, well, this gift is conditional.

So if I give you this gift, you must do this or I'm taking that gift back.

The idea here is that he continues to pour out his grace upon us.

It's not just a one time gift, even though salvation is a one time justification in faith.

But the gifts don't stop at salvation.

The gifts continue on in the process of sanctification.

If I told my wife, hey, I love you on our wedding day, that might be the case.

But if I don't continue to love her, I'm not the loving husband that I have promised to be.

And as God has promised us his continuing love, his eternal love, we know that he loved us yesterday, he loves us today, and he'll love us tomorrow.

And that is an amazing gift.

That is the unspeakable gift that Paul mentions there in Second Corinthians.

And so if you're tempted to doubt whether or not God loves you.

Go back to salvation.

Go back to what he has done for you by giving his only begotten Son for you.

Now, when you see it from that perspective, when you believe in that perspective, then we're never tempted to doubt whether or not he loves us, because he has already proven that to us, and he continues to prove that to us.

I want you to stay right there in Romans, chapter eight.

And I want you to go to another passage of Scripture that really, really helped me when it came to this idea of, does God truly care about me?

Is.

Is God I behalf in this world?

It's, it's a, it's a Psalm, actually.

Psalm 118.

Psalm 118 tells us that the Lord is on our side.

I know that's a simple Christianity overall.

And therefore he's petitioning for us.

He's working for us.

And so in Psalm 180, petitioning for us.

He's working for us.

And so in Psalm 118, it says this amazing thing and starts in verse one with, Praise, oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, because his mercy endureth forever.

And so there's a reminder here that God's mercy endures.

Why?

Because we're tempted to think that his mercy ends.

And, and there's repetition there.

Every verse in those first four verses, it says, his mercy endureth forever.

Let Israel now say that his mercy endureth forever.

Let the house of Aaron now say that his mercy endureth forever.

Let them now that fear the Lord say that his mercy endureth forever.

Anytime we see that repetition in Scripture, we see the emphasis to be reminded of the importance of proclaiming a truth.

And here all of us must see this importance of proclaiming the truth and remembering the truth that his mercy endures forever.

It doesn't end today, it continues on.

But verse five is something so amazing.

The.

The psalmist says, I called upon the Lord in distress.

I don't know if any of you here today, when you're watching on your phones or your TVs or your laptops, wherever you're watching this or watching it or listening to it back.

I don't know if there's, there's a place in your life where you can go back to and say, I remember that time that I was in distress.

Maybe it's now, maybe in this current moment you are in distress.

He says, I called upon the Lord in that time.

And what does it say here?

It says, the Lord answered me and set me in a large place or, or a Safe place, A.

An open place.

The Lord is on my side.

So what's the result of knowing that the Lord is on our side?

He says, I will not fear.

I will not fear.

What can man do unto me?

Meaning this man can try to do something to me, but with God on my side, I won't fear.

And there's nothing that a person can do to me when it comes to the eternal perspective.

Says in verse 7, the Lord taketh my part with them that help me.

Therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

Right there.

Verse 8 of Psalm 118 is an awesome testimony for us when it comes to who are we going to trust in, what are we going to trust in.

He says this, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

When we're tempted to doubt the great gift of God here, even in the Christmas season, if we're tempted to doubt that the same God who sent Jesus Christ is the same God who's working in my life today, then it's easier to fall into the trap of putting our confidence in man to putting our confidence in this world.

But he says, no, that's, that's nothing when it comes to the power of God.

So it is better to trust in the Lord than to.

Than to put confidence in man.

It is better to put trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes, meaning people that have worldly authority.

Though there's times and places to appeal to different dignitaries and worldly authorities, ultimately a believer must completely and utterly appeal to the power of God.

Verse 10.

All nations compass me about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them.

They compass me about.

Yea, they compass me about, but in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them.

Them.

Verse 12.

They compass me about like bees.

I can really identify with that verse.

I, I have.

And, and this is something that I, I have to confess to you now.

And it's a.

Kind of embarrassing, but for my whole life I've had an irrational fear of flying bugs that can sting or bite me, okay?

And it probably started when, when I was a little boy, a wasp blew in my ear and stung me inside of my ear.

And that was a whole mess.

And so I can really identify with the psalmist when he says, all the problems of this world are swarming me like bees.

They are quenched as the fire of thorns.

For in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them.

So his confidence is manifested in his, in his trust that the Lord will take care of his struggles.

Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the Lord help me, the Lord.

And this is what we can all take as a testimony here.

The Lord is my strength and my song and has become my salvation.

If God has extended salvation to us, if we believe that our eternal destination is sure in him, he can handle our our struggles today.

And his strength and I love how it says in verse 14, and I think that we can see this this morning.

He says, he is my strength and my song.

Strength, meaning he is my power.

He is my song, which means he is my praise.

He gives me strength, he gives me power.

He gives me song.

He gives me praise.

And so the outpouring of the confidence of God is that we can tap in and understand his strength.

Philippians 4:13.

I can do all things through Christ, but at the same time, his strength allows us to have a song.

It's proven what God is doing through our heart is proven through how we praise him in the midst of the battle.

There's more that we could go to in this passage, but essentially he ends in the thought of verse 28 and 29.

He says, Thou art my God, and I will praise thee.

Thou art my God, I will exalt thee.

Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for his mercy endureth forever.

What the challenge is for us here this morning is this.

Do we trust him enough to say, I trust you in the times that make sense, and I trust you in the times that don't make sense.

I'm going to give you my praise in the middle of the battle.

I'm going to give you praise in the middle of the victory.

I'm going to give you praise forever and ever.

I'm going to trust in you for my strength.

Why?

Because I know that you are for me.

And so let's go back to Romans, chapter 8.

We're just going to look here at verses 31 and 32 and summarize our thoughts here this morning.

Because I believe that this, these verses here, this passage of Scripture here can be a place that we can go to in our lives to give us strength when we are tempted to doubt.

Because the Christian life is not about how we feel, feel as much as what we know and really, truly what we believe.

So where do we go when we're tempted to doubt that God has gifted us?

Where do we go when we're tempted to doubt whether or not God loves us?

Well, we go to what His Word says we go to his promises.

His promises are laid out right here in Romans chapter 8, and along with many other places in Scripture.

But for the sake of our study, right here in Romans 8, verse 28, all things work together for good.

Verse 31.

If God be for us, who can be against us?

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

So here's a practical tool that I would extend to you as a challenge.

And really what I have personalized in my life.

If I am tempted to doubt whether God wants what's best for me, or if I'm tempted to doubt that God has stopped loving me, I go back to Romans chapter 8 and I read this and I ask God to give me faith to believe what he says.

There's a fella in the New Testament, in the Gospels that is speaking to Jesus.

And he says, lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.

Meaning this, Lord, I want to believe.

I'm striving to believe.

But there's times in my life where I stumble.

There's times in my life where I get to a place where I'm struggling to believe what you have said.

And so what we see here in Romans chapter eight is this is, along with many other places, this is the passage that we could go to in our lives to be reminded that God loves us.

And the greatest act of love, if it was the only act of love, it would be enough.

The greatest act of love is that he sent his only begotten Son.

Now, I've used this analogy before.

I love this church and I love the people that are in this church.

But if someone asked me to sacrifice my firstborn son, I would have a really hard time with that.

Because as a human, we understand that there's certain people that we love beyond, beyond all comprehension.

And the fact that God the Father would love us, those that sinned against him, the fact that God the Father would love us so much that he would send his only begotten Son to be a sacrifice for us that shows and proves his love.

And so if you're tempted to doubt whether or not God loves you, don't go to the circumstance, even though we can go to the circumstance and many times see God's love.

But there's gonna be times in our life where we don't see the full picture.

So instead of looking at the circumstance that we're dealing with today, let's go farther and look to see what he did for us in the improving his love by sending his only begotten Son and offering us a gift of salvation, offering us the opportunity to be his child, to one day walk with him.

And that's the type of confidence that is an amazing thing to.

To walk in and to trust in as a believer.

Now, there's so much more here in Romans chapter 8 that we could look at here today, but we won't.

We'll save that for another time, because farther on in this passage, we see very, very clearly that nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

And so I hope that this is something that you can understand here today, not just with your mind, our minds, but also with our hearts to believe, to trust in faith that God loves us.

And so the greatest gift that you can trust in, in this Christmas season is the gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the gift of grace, the gift of the love of God.

You all know the passage of scripture, and if you don't, you maybe at some point in time have heard some reference to it, and you'll know it as I quote it, John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, and one of the things I love to do is replace my name in that passage.

And for God so loved Josh that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

That's the gift.

And so here in this Christmas season, let's give wonderful gifts to those around us.

Let's be joyful for the gifts that we do receive from friends and family.

But ultimately, in the bigger picture, let's be thankful for the gift of grace that God has given us, the gift of love.

And if you've been in your life tempted to doubt, I understand that.

Because let me be honest with you.

There's been times in my life where I've been tempted to doubt.

But the remedy to the doubt is the clarity and the truth of the Word of God.

The Bible says in John 17:17, sanctify them through thy truth.

Thy word is truth.

You want to find truth?

Go to the word.

Satan is a father of lies.

Satan is a deceiver, and he wants to do everything he possibly can for us to get to a place where we believe the lies around us.

But what Jesus says is, no, don't go to those lies.

Don't fall into the deception.

Come back to the truth that we find in the Word of God.

And so I would challenge you here this morning, as I challenge myself, is to go to Romans chapter 8 see this as a passage of scripture.

That is a promise for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And so the first question is, number one, are you in Christ Jesus?

Have you trusted in him for salvation?

If you have, then number two, are you trusting in him today for those daily struggles that you face, for those struggles that you might face tomorrow?

We might not have all the answers, but.

But we know the one who does.

And I pray that here this morning, and not just this morning, but for all of our lives, that we can walk as Christians and, and that are more than just Christians who are circumstantial, cultural Christians, but Christians who have been transformed, who have understood that God has predestined us to be conformed to his image, that we are called, that we are justified, that ultimately one day we will be glorified with Him.

And so I wanted to talk to you this morning about the gift, the greatest gift, that gift of Jesus Christ.

And so think about that here this morning, pray about that, maybe even give a testimony to your friends and family about that great gift.

Now, I know that we're online here today, but if there's any questions that you might have, we would certainly love to hear from you.

You can comment on one of our videos or you can call the church at any point.

We're here every Sunday, every Wednesday, and we would love to talk to you to help you know that Jesus loves you, to help you know that he proved his love for you on the cross and that you can trust in Jesus Christ in faith to know that he not only died on the cross for your sins, but he rose again on the third day and conquer death so that you might have life.

And I pray that that's something that you can all consider here as we celebrate the Christmas season.

Well, I'm going to go ahead and close in a word of prayer.

After that, I will have a few announcements for you and then we will end our stream here this morning.

Lord, I do thank you for this time that you've given us today, though in a different setting, though not the way that we planned, but Lord, the way that you planned us to be here worshiping you.

Because of the love of Jesus, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, because of the great gift of your son, that unspeakable gift.

Lord, we know that it's only through grace, only because of our faith in you, that we can know this gift not of works.

And Lord, we know that what we deserve is the wage of sin.

But you have given us that gift of everlasting life.

So Lord, we thank you for that.

But I also pray for those folks who are struggling now.

They're having difficulties with seeing your love, with believing that you have what's best for them.

Help them to understand and to live in the truth of your sacrifice and also to be thankful for those gifts that we receive above and beyond the gift of salvation.

Lord, we know that every good gift comes from so Lord, I pray that you be with us as we go about our work this week, as we go about our lives this week.

Lord, return us back safely at the appointed time.

Lord, I pray that if anyone's traveling today that they can be safe on the roads.

And Lord, I just thank you for the opportunity here today.

Because of technology be able to still speak to your family.

And so Lord, I just thank you for your love and your grace.

I pray that you'd be with us in this Christmas season.

Help us as we go about glorifying your name and we ask all these things in Jesus name.

Amen.

Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.

I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.

You would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or or YouTube.

You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.

Com.

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Thank you so much.

God Bless.

Have a wonderful day.