Christmas shows why Christianity is unique. In all other religions, a prophet arrives and teaches how we can find eternal life. In Christianity, God comes to us and gives himself as the way to eternal life. Christmas shows that salvation is by grace, that we can have true intimacy with God, that love really matters, and that there exists an unceasing river of joy beneath all the sorrows of this world.

Many people today believe that Jesus never claimed to be God. They think Jesus was merely a wise teacher whose followers later deified him. Yet, key passages, such as Philippians 2, demonstrate that from the very beginning of Christianity, Jesus was worshiped as God. In our lives, we can only see Jesus’ love for us once we realize that he is God. Jesus left the perfect love of the Trinity in order to serve us. He then sends His disciples out into the world, following in his footsteps, serving and sacrificially loving others.

The premise of Christian marriage is that two people are filled with the Holy Spirit and are committed to serving one another. Wives are to grant husbands leadership in the marriage. Husbands are to use that leadership not for their own selfish desires but to sacrificially serve their wives. The purpose of Christian marriage is not for individual self-fulfillment, but to work for the growth and sanctification of the spouse. Lastly, Christian marriage is not an end in itself, but a pointer to Jesus Christ, the ultimate spouse who will never let us down.

There are some churches that care about evangelism but not about serving the poor. Other churches will eagerly serve the poor but they don’t care about proclaiming the Gospel. But churches aren’t meant to do one or the other; they must do both. In fact, the two are linked. When non-Christians see Christians sacrificially serving the needy, it displays the beauty of God to them and becomes an aid to evangelism. Separately, serving the poor doesn’t just help others, but helps ourselves.

What does it mean to say that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ? What is the relationship between God’s sovereignty and our free will? This sermon explores the tensions between God’s rule and our free will, and it relates how those truths are connected to God’s love. In the end, it is only because God is sovereign that Christians can be assured that nothing will separate them from God’s love.

Additional scriptural references made in this sermon are: Proverbs 16:1,9; Acts 27; Matthew 10:32; John 15:16; John 6:44; Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Psalm 27:10.

In the life of Jesus Christ, we see a living example of the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus modeled love, but He did so in a way that challenges our culture’s understanding of love. In this passage Jesus shows that love is more than romance or a feeling. Fundamentally, love is an action. Jesus demonstrates His love for the disciples by moving straight to where they are least attractive—their feet. We tend to avoid loving less attractive people. We like to love beautiful people so that we can feel better about ourselves.

Money is not a peripheral subject for Jesus. Jesus is always concerned about the hearts of His followers, and He constantly teaches about money because our attitude towards money is a window into our hearts. We put our trust in money instead of trusting in God. We look to money for the security that only God can provide. Yet, when we see how Jesus gave up his heavenly riches in order to draw near to us, we can forsake our earthly riches in order to draw near to Him.

1 John is one of the greatest places in the Bible to test one’s assurance of salvation. John gives us three external tests and one internal test. The external tests are behavioral, relational, and doctrinal. The internal test is an experience of knowing God—with all the connotations of the Biblical word “know.”

Genesis 4:1; Matthew 7:22-23; Hebrews 11:2; Galatians 2:14.

We are smothering under our small ambitions. Our hearts and minds were made for nobler things. God does not bless Christians merely to fulfill their individual needs, but sends them out on mission to display Jesus and to meet the needs of others.

Additional scriptural references made in this sermon are: John 4:13-14; Isaiah 6; Genesis 12.

When Paul prays for the Ephesian church, he does not pray for an improvement in their external circumstances. Rather, Paul prays for God to grant the members of the Ephesians church a profound internal knowledge of the depths of God’s love. Paul prays that the doctrines that the Christians intellectually believe would become experientially real to their hearts.

Additional scriptural references made in this sermon are: Colossians 2; 1 Samuel 16:7; Psalm 139; Philippians 2:6.