Christmas Generosity

Selfless Generosity- God’s people reflecting the very heart and character of God, is never more powerfully displayed than that first Christmas; when God took on flesh and moved into our neighborhood; we call it the incarnation.

Chip Ingram calls the Incarnation “a graduate course in generosity. The incarnation tells the story of a radically loving, generous God. He came into a hostile world to offer us gifts that are too great for words.” God became ordinary for us, so that we could understand the extraordinary offer of His generosity.

 Notice how each Christmas participant generously offers their “gift” to the Lord-

 The Wise men/magi were generous with money-

“They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Generously relinquished the personal use of their money, their economic resources and used them to honor King Jesus.

 What if we began to live with the idea “I have enough Lord, how can I use this for You.”

 The shepherds also participated in Christmas Generosity

 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night…

The shepherds were generous with time-

“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child…”

 The shepherds offered their time (one of our most precious commodities)

Generously offered their time to honor the Savior and share the good news- A Savior is born- Christ the Lord, and they did it with Joy not fear.

 Too often we hold our time with a clenched fist, begrudgingly offering God our time; afraid we might not have time to do what we want.

Joseph is another character in the Christmas event; he was generous with his reputation-
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly…

Obviously his fiancé had been unfaithful; right? He had to do something to protect his reputation, so people didn’t think he committed adultery and thus tarnish his reputation. If he says the child is his, he lies and will be considered an adulterer. If he goes ahead with this it will mark him for life. Yet, Joseph releases his reputation to the Lord.  

 “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took Mary as his wife.”

Joseph released his reputation- what people would think and say. He generously entrusted his reputation to God.

 Mary was generous with her future-

“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus… Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God…

Mary could have said- “Wait a minute, what’s this gonna mean for me, for my future? This isn’t exactly what I had planned.” Yet- Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

Mary surrendered her future- the known (being an unwed pregnant teenager); and the unknown (How would this play out? What would this mean for her and the child?) With faith and hope she surrendered her future to God’s will; she was generous with the unknown expanse of her life.

What would become of her? All the possibilities and potentials surrendered. Generously offering her future to God and His plans.

 Two more generous participants that 1^st Christmas

 Jesus is generous with His life- He left heaven with a purpose-

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus laid aside His divine rights as God (Philippians 2:6-8)
He laid down His very life, fulfilling the very purpose for which His Father sent Him.

 The Father is generous with His most prized possession-

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

 The Father gave freely, His most prized possession- His Son. He says to all creation for all time, “they’re worth it; I love them. I want them back, I want them with Me”. So the Father sent His Son, His most prized possession, away- on mission, into hostile territory, b/c of love.

 Love leads us to abandon it all for what we love. For love we’ll abandon everything- our self, our wants, our stuff, all that we thought was of value, for the sake of what we truly love.

The Father freely offered His Son, His most prize possession, to bring us back; because of His love for you and me- “they’re worth it”. The generosity of God the Father provided you and me with life and love and forgiveness so we might live lives of love. Christmas reveals the great generosity of God.

The Christmas participants model a commitment to generosity; God invites His children to live generously and experience the abundant life Jesus died for. 

“You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”
2 Corinthians 8:9  

A life lived with Christmas generosity, is a life well lived.

This Christmas, celebrate God’s generosity; wrap yourself in the Christmas generosity of God. Enjoy His grace and His goodness. Then, enter the hostile world around you to hand out gifts of love and generosity.  Live a life of Christmas Generosity; experience the abundant life Jesus came to give you by living, generously, not just for a season, for a lifetime.

 “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” 2 Corinthians 9:11

“Unrelenting opposition-Unstoppable expansion”

Opposition to the gospel and to God’s people is common in the book of Acts. The gospel and God’s truth are so radically different to the thinking of the world that those who follow Him should expect opposition.

The big deal in Acts is this-God’s Kingdom moves forward despite unrelenting opposition.

Luke, the writer of Acts makes it clear throughout the book- Nothing, no one; no people groups, no spiritual forces, no events, nothing can hinder the forward movement of God’s Story; the establishing of His church and the expansion of His Kingdom.  Jesus said; “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” “Will not prevail against” means= “will not overcome”, “will not prove stronger than”. His church moves forward, His Kingdom cannot, will not be stopped.

 Unrelenting opposition would not stop God’s activity.  “But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children.” Acts 4:4 The message was unstoppable; God was undeterred, His Kingdom would expand. The core of the message that fuels the unrelenting opposition yet empowers the unstoppable expansion of God’s Kingdom is “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

 How does God expand His Kingdom today? Just as He did in the beginning, in the book of Acts- “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 God used ordinary people who were with Jesus, who were led and empowered by His Spirit to expand His Kingdom.

They were “unschooled and ordinary”-   The principle- “God uses ordinary people”; real, ordinary, everyday folks. Ordinary people, living and responding with extraordinary faith, courage, boldness, simply because they had been with Jesus. The principle- “being with Jesus empowers ordinary people for extraordinary lives and service”. If you’re ordinary and unschooled God wants to move His story forward through you and your life.

 God’s church will not be stopped. The church built by Jesus, empowered by His Spirit is always moving forward; driving back the enemy and setting people free. And God has always used ordinary people- people who have been with Jesus and are filled with His Spirit; Here’s the Big Deal- “God’s Kingdom moves forward through the lives of Spirit led, Spirit empowered followers.” God’s engine is Holy Spirit and the wheels are the Spirit filled lives of His people.

Throughout history God has been moving His Story forward, expanding His Kingdom; He will do it from here to the ends of the earth; and from now until eternity; and we can participate with Him. We can be part of His Kingdom generation to expand His Kingdom under our watch. It will happen, God will complete what He started, He will expand His Kingdom. Only question is- will you be a part? Will you be one of those ordinary men and women who were with Jesus, led and empowered by His Spirit, and used by God to expand His Kingdom?

"The Force is not with you"

May the Force be with you;" Is a popular quote from the Star Wars movies.

If you asked the average Christian how they think about the Holy Spirit, most of them would say they think of the Holy Spirit much like the “Force” in Star Wars. They believe that the Holy Spirit is some sort of neutral, invisible spiritual power or energy somehow working in the world, or as a force that did something a long time ago. But the Holy Spirit is so much more. Friends, if you’re a Christ follower the force is not with you- God the Holy Spirit is; He’s not a force.

So what or who is the Holy Spirit?

 First, the Holy Spirit is not a “force” or energy or an “it,” He’s a Person. He has characteristics of a person. The Holy Spirit  is a Person, with mind, intellect, will and emotions.

He’s intelligent and has an intellect. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 says, “No one knows the mind of God except the Spirit of God who searches all things.”

He has feelings. Just like when someone does something that causes us sadness and grief, we produce a similar emotional response in the Holy Spirit when we disobey Him or reject Him or refuse His leading. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” He has a will. In 1 Cor. 12, the Apostle Paul describes the Holy Spirit as the One who wills, or determines, how He distributes spiritual gifts to Christ followers. He does so by an act of His will.

 He’s a Person and He’s God; the Holy Spirit has the attributes of God. He is all-powerful, all present, and all-knowing. He has the very mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit is God; He is co-equal, co-existent, and co-eternal with the Father and the Son. (1 John 5) I Corinthians 3 it says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” So the Holy Spirit is a person and He is God. He’s the person of God without a physical being.

 But here’s the most amazing part of all of this: The Father and Son in the person of the Holy Spirit dwells inside of every Christ follower. The moment we confess our sin and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we, become members of God’s family and the Spirit immediately takes up residence inside of our bodies. You become a living, walking, breathing temple and the Spirit of God dwells inside of you. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”

 So what does this mean to us as Christ followers? Plenty, everything; it means we have 24/7 unlimited access to the Father and Jesus. It means we have the power of the living Christ dwelling inside of us. The point of the Christian life is not about us following all the rules or trying hard to “be good.” The Christ life is about Jesus living in and through us by His Spirit and us becoming more and more like Jesus. And the Holy Spirit wants to produce inside of us the very life, heart, personality and character of Jesus. J.B. Phillips writes, “Every time we say, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit,’ we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it.”  WOW!