Matthew 1:22 – 23 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet (Isaiah 7:14): “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.”
Intro: Dad’s have got to be the worst people to find a Christmas Gift for! We always try to select a gift that is needed or fills a want, but dads usually have everything they need and most of what they want! I once heard a young lady say, “I don’t know what in this world to get my Dad this year. Last year, I bought him a pearl-handled backscratcher, and the year before that, it was a gold-plated cherry pitter. This year, I am fresh out of ideas!”
God has blessed us with so much that maybe you need some ideas “for those who have everything” already!
Dads Need SIMPLICITY!
We have all noticed a child unwrapping the nicest toy and discarding it to play with the box or the wrappings? We need a time for sorting out the things in our lives: Time to get to know others better; Time for being with those we love; Time to share our skills with others!
We have become too complicated – we need to sort through our lives and throw out a lot of the “Make-Believe Facades!” Things truly can get done without us!
Dads Need HOLY TIME!
Those who have most of what they need often occupy their minds with the temporal and forget the eternal! We all spend so much energies on the things that “won’t matter a hundred years from now!” We need to invest our hours with eternal matters!
Dads Need SPACE!
No, do not attempt to buy them a pass on the next rocket, nor a room on the International Space Station, but they really could use space for seeing life as it truly is! It is as we look at some of the needs of others that we realize the blessings that God has already given us.
Wayne and Sandy Butler were a couple that came to know the lord while we were pastoring in Missouri. They found Jesus just before Christmas. I do not know how they came up with t his idea, but they encouraged their three (3) children to select a toy that they had to give away to a neighbor friend on Christmas Eve. To their amazement and delight, all three of the children had selected their best – favorite – most played with toy and gave it away before they opened their new gift on Christmas Morning!
When we get some space, most of us will realize we need to mend our ways of ingratitude. This will make us truly want to become the kind of children our Heavenly Father will appreciate!
Dads Need The CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS!
We all need to hear and truly receive the message of Christmas: That God has entered the human arena to dwell with us; That His presence is consequently here and available to us NOW; That we are not alone; That we are not about to blow ourselves up by our own brilliant stupidity; That we daily stand before God Who gave us the Holy Child Who was born in the Bethlehem manger!
Truly realizing the message of Christmas, everyone needs to once again surrender our lives to Christ, who is the real gift of Christmas!
Conc: I believe we all are greatly in need of a SLOWER-PACED, SIMPLIER, AND MORE HOLY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION! To accomplish such, we need to give SPACE (Time) to truly comprehend the full meaning of Immanuel!
Archive for January, 2011
DAD’S CHRISTMAS GIFT
DAD’S CHRISTMAS GIFT
Matthew 1:22 – 23 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet (Isaiah 7:14): “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.”
Intro: Dad’s have got to be the worst people to find a Christmas Gift for! We always try to select a gift that is needed or fills a want, but dads usually have everything they need and most of what they want! I once heard a young lady say, “I don’t know what in this world to get my Dad this year. Last year, I bought him a pearl-handled backscratcher, and the year before that, it was a gold-plated cherry pitter. This year, I am fresh out of ideas!”
God has blessed us with so much that maybe you need some ideas “for those who have everything” already!
Dads Need SIMPLICITY!
We have all noticed a child unwrapping the nicest toy and discarding it to play with the box or the wrappings? We need a time for sorting out the things in our lives: Time to get to know others better; Time for being with those we love; Time to share our skills with others!
We have become too complicated – we need to sort through our lives and throw out a lot of the “Make-Believe Facades!” Things truly can get done without us!
Dads Need HOLY TIME!
Those who have most of what they need often occupy their minds with the temporal and forget the eternal! We all spend so much energies on the things that “won’t matter a hundred years from now!” We need to invest our hours with eternal matters!
Dads Need SPACE!
No, do not attempt to buy them a pass on the next rocket, nor a room on the International Space Station, but they really could use space for seeing life as it truly is! It is as we look at some of the needs of others that we realize the blessings that God has already given us.
Wayne and Sandy Butler were a couple that came to know the lord while we were pastoring in Missouri. They found Jesus just before Christmas. I do not know how they came up with t his idea, but they encouraged their three (3) children to select a toy that they had to give away to a neighbor friend on Christmas Eve. To their amazement and delight, all three of the children had selected their best – favorite – most played with toy and gave it away before they opened their new gift on Christmas Morning!
When we get some space, most of us will realize we need to mend our ways of ingratitude. This will make us truly want to become the kind of children our Heavenly Father will appreciate!
Dads Need The CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS!
We all need to hear and truly receive the message of Christmas: That God has entered the human arena to dwell with us; That His presence is consequently here and available to us NOW; That we are not alone; That we are not about to blow ourselves up by our own brilliant stupidity; That we daily stand before God Who gave us the Holy Child Who was born in the Bethlehem manger!
Truly realizing the message of Christmas, everyone needs to once again surrender our lives to Christ, who is the real gift of Christmas!
Conc: I believe we all are greatly in need of a SLOWER-PACED, SIMPLIER, AND MORE HOLY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION! To accomplish such, we need to give SPACE (Time) to truly comprehend the full meaning of Immanuel!
Matthew 1:22 – 23 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet (Isaiah 7:14): “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.”
Intro: Dad’s have got to be the worst people to find a Christmas Gift for! We always try to select a gift that is needed or fills a want, but dads usually have everything they need and most of what they want! I once heard a young lady say, “I don’t know what in this world to get my Dad this year. Last year, I bought him a pearl-handled backscratcher, and the year before that, it was a gold-plated cherry pitter. This year, I am fresh out of ideas!”
God has blessed us with so much that maybe you need some ideas “for those who have everything” already!
Dads Need SIMPLICITY!
We have all noticed a child unwrapping the nicest toy and discarding it to play with the box or the wrappings? We need a time for sorting out the things in our lives: Time to get to know others better; Time for being with those we love; Time to share our skills with others!
We have become too complicated – we need to sort through our lives and throw out a lot of the “Make-Believe Facades!” Things truly can get done without us!
Dads Need HOLY TIME!
Those who have most of what they need often occupy their minds with the temporal and forget the eternal! We all spend so much energies on the things that “won’t matter a hundred years from now!” We need to invest our hours with eternal matters!
Dads Need SPACE!
No, do not attempt to buy them a pass on the next rocket, nor a room on the International Space Station, but they really could use space for seeing life as it truly is! It is as we look at some of the needs of others that we realize the blessings that God has already given us.
Wayne and Sandy Butler were a couple that came to know the lord while we were pastoring in Missouri. They found Jesus just before Christmas. I do not know how they came up with t his idea, but they encouraged their three (3) children to select a toy that they had to give away to a neighbor friend on Christmas Eve. To their amazement and delight, all three of the children had selected their best – favorite – most played with toy and gave it away before they opened their new gift on Christmas Morning!
When we get some space, most of us will realize we need to mend our ways of ingratitude. This will make us truly want to become the kind of children our Heavenly Father will appreciate!
Dads Need The CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS!
We all need to hear and truly receive the message of Christmas: That God has entered the human arena to dwell with us; That His presence is consequently here and available to us NOW; That we are not alone; That we are not about to blow ourselves up by our own brilliant stupidity; That we daily stand before God Who gave us the Holy Child Who was born in the Bethlehem manger!
Truly realizing the message of Christmas, everyone needs to once again surrender our lives to Christ, who is the real gift of Christmas!
Conc: I believe we all are greatly in need of a SLOWER-PACED, SIMPLIER, AND MORE HOLY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION! To accomplish such, we need to give SPACE (Time) to truly comprehend the full meaning of Immanuel!