From our Sunday service on December 7, 2025, Matthew 1, Romans 12, 2 Corinthians 1 and 2, Proverbs 16 and 17, Hebrews 3 and 13, James 5, Romans 15, Colossians 3, Matthew 20 and Acts 20. Watch the full message: 7 Good Gifts for the Christmas Season on YouTube.
This message is a bit different from our usual Sunday sermon. It follows the format I’ve been using in the first Sunday school hour, in a spin-off from our last series, “The Seven Steps.” Today we look at seven gifts that can change the way we experience the Christmas holiday.
As Americans, when we think of Christmas, the first thing we think about is usually gifts. Maybe you’re thinking, “I need to go do my Christmas shopping,” or “I need to figure out the perfect gift for someone.” Maybe you’re thinking about the perfect Christmas dinner, or how you’ll scrape the money together to visit your family. The pressure to find the perfect gift or do Christmas the perfect way can easily overshadow the true spirit of the season. But when we look at Scripture, God’s greatest gifts to us were never material things, and material things were never the reason we celebrate Christmas.
The greatest gifts we can give this Christmas are not things wrapped in paper or placed in boxes. They are acts built on love, presence, humility and Christlikeness.
This season is an opportunity to shift our focus from the presents under the tree to the gifts we can offer through Christlike living, gifts that meet the deeper needs of the heart, gifts that cannot be bought or wrapped yet speak louder than anything money can buy. Each of these seven gifts reflects the character of Christ and lets us shine his love into the lives of those around us.
Gift One: Presence
Not the gift of a present, but the gift of presence. It’s easy for us to get stuck in a consumerist mentality, where physical gifts are an extension of love and care. We live in a capitalistic society, and we are bombarded day after day with the message that the end-all of Christmas is a great gift bought at your local store. But Christmas isn’t about the presents under the tree. It’s about the presence we can have in other people’s lives. It’s easy to get lost in the advertisements and believe Christmas is about things rather than about people and about Christ. Physical things cannot replace the emotional needs of a relationship. It is more valuable to be present in someone’s life than to give presents to them.
If you only come by once a year, drop off a gift and leave, you’re not really in that person’s life. Maybe you had a second uncle you didn’t know, whom you saw once at Christmas. He gave you a gift and you didn’t see him until the next year. Would you say that person had a relationship with you? No. He gave a present, but he wasn’t present in your life.
Presence is also what we truly celebrate at Christmas. Matthew 1:23:
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Matthew 1:23
Christmas is about God with us. Before Christians called it Christmas, it was called Epiphany, the revelation of Jesus Christ visible on the earth. Christmas has always been about the presence of Christ on the earth. If we celebrate his presence and aim to be like him, then naturally we should follow how Christ was present in the lives of those around him. This isn’t something I made up today. Scripture backs it up. Romans 12:15 tells us that presence is being with people where they are:
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Romans 12:15
That gives us two situations. Someone is rejoicing, celebrating. Maybe it’s their high school or college graduation, or they finally got the job they’ve been working toward for years. What are we supposed to do as Christians? Hop in and get excited: “Praise the Lord! I’m going to celebrate with you.” Presence isn’t just being around people. It is connecting with people and meeting them where they are. If someone is celebrating a graduation, we shouldn’t say, “Oh, that’s great,” and move on. We should be as excited about it as they are, because that encourages and strengthens them.
On the other side, not every day in someone’s life is a celebration. There are moments of mourning, sadness and sorrow. As believers, we are called not to stay distant from another person’s sadness but to meet them where they are and join them in their sorrow, because that comforts them. One of the greatest presents we can give is being present in someone else’s life, in the high moments of celebration and the low moments of grief.
Why do we do this? Because God comforts us so that we can comfort others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4
Why does God give us comfort? So that we can give comfort to others. We comfort others because God comforted us. Whatever Jesus does for us, we are to do for other people. Just as God comforted us in our hardships, we can go to other people in their hardships and comfort them. At this Christmas, that will be more meaningful than any present sitting under a tree.
What could this look like? Maybe it is sharing a meal or coffee with someone, instead of “Hey, how are you doing? Good. Bye.” Say, “It’s Christmas. Let me take you out for coffee, or let’s get lunch at a cafe and talk.” And don’t fall into the trap of talking and talking. Listen and be present. Learn what’s going on in their life, celebrate with their celebrations, mourn in their losses. That will show Christ to them. Maybe it looks like visiting someone who is lonely or grieving, someone in the hospital or a nursing home, a shut-in unable to get out and do something on their own. Maybe it’s making sure the time you spend with others is quality time. Smartphones are a temptation in our own families. Teens, you’re usually pretty guilty about this one: “I’m spending time with you, Mom and Dad. I’m here.” It’s not the same. You’re not present. Instead of being on your phones and around each other, gather as a family, play a board game, talk about your life and what’s going on in school. Ask your dad how work is. Ask what his job is. Connect with your parents in that way, and it will mean so much to them. Every day they are giving to you, and this is a nice gift to give a little bit back.
Gift Two: Encouragement
Kind words breathe life into weary souls. Proverbs 16:24:
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
Proverbs 16:24
Solomon teaches us that pleasant words are almost like medicine for a problem that has bothered you for a long time. Honey naturally has healing properties. It’s antibacterial, it can help with infections, and it has sugar that can give you energy. So pleasant words are described like honey because honey has benefits. Here we see two of them: sweet to the soul and health to the bones. That means it’s beneficial not just to the mind but also to the body. Anyone who has been through a traumatic event knows the mind has a huge effect on how our bodies function. Trauma or high stress can eventually become physical difficulty. When you give encouraging words, you don’t just make someone’s day better. You help heal them in both body and soul, if not a lot, at least a little.
How often should we give encouraging words? Hebrews 3:12-13:
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 3:12–13
First, notice that encouraging words benefit ourselves. We saw that they help others in mind and body, but here the opposite also happens. When we encourage others, we encourage ourselves, because it helps us get rid of an evil heart of unbelief. When we focus on encouraging others, the temptation for pride to take root is minimized. We won’t struggle as much about ourselves when we’re focusing on others. If we practice kind words, it leads us in a different direction from the temptation to think that maybe this sin isn’t so bad.
Second, it says to “exhort one another daily, while it is called To day.” Isn’t that a little redundant? It’s redundant on purpose. You’re supposed to notice something. We need to do it each day. We can think, “Yeah, daily, daily, daily,” but then the author says, “While it is called To day,” in case you aren’t paying attention. Today will be gone before you even thought about it. The author of Hebrews is saying that if you want to encourage others and heal them and yourself, it isn’t enough to know you need to do it today. You need to be active and searching for a way to say encouraging words, because they’re not just going to happen. If you’re not active, the sun will set and you’ll say, “Whoa, my time’s up. I missed my opportunity.” Don’t let it pass you by.
When we are intentionally looking for affirmation to give others, we actively look at others with the goal of finding where they are succeeding. You can’t say something kind and encouraging without knowing what someone is actually doing. You could say empty things, but that isn’t what this is about. Here is an example. Some people once told me they had read an article I wrote online and that it was really good. I was encouraged until I looked and saw the article had zero views. They never read it, so that affirmation wasn’t encouraging. Encouraging words need to be backed up by evidence. That keeps us humble, because we need to look at someone’s life and see what they are doing right. “Billy, you did a really nice thing for that person. I noticed that. That was great.” Or someone gave a devotional in a small group: “That specific thought you came out with, I’d never heard that before. Thank you.” Or someone at work whose boss has been hard on them day after day: “I noticed how hard you’re trying. I know the boss has been hard on you, but I appreciate that you don’t lash out, that you’re taking it humbly and submitting. I like that character trait in you. I just want to let you know I noticed.”
What are some ways to do this? Write a heartfelt note or send a text message. You don’t have to be there in person, and it might even mean more if you send it after work, when you’re not obligated to have a connection with them: “Great work today,” or “Thanks for those encouraging words last week, I’m still thinking about them.” Make sure your affirmations are sincere and come truthfully out of something that happened. Maybe it looks like sharing a blessing or a Scripture with someone: “You did this and it reminds me of a verse. You showed a little bit of Christ to me, and I wanted to let you know.” That’s the gift of encouragement.
Gift Three: Prayer
Why might this one be overlooked? We focus so much on what we can do materially at Christmas that it’s easy to overlook what can be done spiritually. If we focus on physical gifts, prayer might fall by the wayside, and we should never let that happen, because prayer accomplishes much. James 5:16:
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16
If you want to do a lot for Christ, you need to spend a lot of time in prayer. If you try to do everything in your Christian walk without a prayer life, you won’t succeed the way you could have if you had been praying for God’s help. But don’t just pray for yourself and your own needs. Lift up other people. Spend some time this holiday season lifting up those around you, and don’t let the busyness of the season distract you from a consistent prayer relationship with God. Lifting up a man or woman before God in prayer is a powerful act of love.
I’ll share something off the cuff that wasn’t in my message. I came across a short video of two podcasters. One said to the other, “You never go to church, do you?” The other said, “I go to church every single Sunday.” “You’ve never told me.” “I didn’t think you needed to know.” And the first said, “That says a lot about our friendship. I’ve been your friend for years, and you’ve been going to church every Sunday, and not once have you invited me.” It was kind of a joke, but it’s actually serious. Prayer is the same way. How much can we say we love other people if we’re not willing to pray for them? How many of us have a friend we’ve never asked, “Can I pray for you? Is there anything I can pray for you about?” They’re going through a difficulty and we don’t even ask, “Can I pray with you real quick?” Imagine a friend saying years later, “My mom died, and you didn’t even want to pray with me. I was losing my house, and you didn’t pray with me. Don’t you believe in the power of God? I thought I was your friend.” Prayer is an act of love like any other. If we want to show Christ and give good gifts, we need to be praying for other people in our lives.
What might this look like? Pray with someone on the spot when you hear they have a need. Sure, it might be a little uncomfortable and out of your comfort zone, but if you truly believe in the power of Christ, that is a great gift, and it shows you care in action, not just words. Or create a special Christmas prayer list this year. There are twenty-five days of Christmas, so write down twenty-five days of prayer and pray for something every day. And this last one I really love. I wish it was my idea, but I threw my topic into ChatGPT to see if it could give me anything good, and it spat out the best idea: pray over everyone you give a gift to as you wrap their present. Stop, look at the name, and pray over them. Pray for their walk with God. If they’re unsaved, pray that God would reveal himself to them and be real in their life. Pray for their peace, that difficulties wouldn’t overcome them, that they’d have faith in the midst of trials. Pray for their joy, that sadness wouldn’t take hold but that the joy of the Lord would be their strength. Pray that Christ would be so real to them that they can’t help but believe in him. We’re already going to sit there and wrap those presents. Wouldn’t it be easy to stop and take this person to God in prayer? What is more important than the gift is their walk with God.
Gift Four: Hospitality
Another way to think of this is the gift of making room for others. The Christmas story hinges on the reality that there was no room in the end for Jesus. We talk about that story all the time. “How could they leave Jesus out in the cold?” But how many people have we left out in the cold? We never ask, “Would I have let Jesus into the inn?” The inn wasn’t like a modern inn, a series of rooms you rent. It was a place in someone’s home, the guest room, the inner room where they would stay. When you put it that way it becomes more relatable: “I’m sorry, there’s no room in my house for this pregnant woman.” I have a house or an apartment with rooms, but do I have room for other people in my life? Many people feel that same rejection as Mary and Joseph during this season. They feel like outsiders looking in on everybody else’s happy family gatherings, left out in the cold.
Hospitality is a form of Christlikeness. Romans 15:7:
Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
Romans 15:7
Just as Christ received us when we were sinners, alienated from him, we are to open up our lives to those around us. If we’re going to be in people’s lives, we can’t keep walls up. We have to let them in and invite them to take part in our lives.
“Where should I draw the line? Strangers, close friends, acquaintances?” Hebrews 13:2:
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Hebrews 13:2
In that day people would travel without any real sense of direction, follow roads and hope somebody had a place for them. Mary and Joseph couldn’t plan ahead and book a room in one of their family’s households. If your family didn’t have room, you were on the kindness of strangers so you wouldn’t sleep in the streets. So the author of Hebrews says, “Don’t forget to give hospitality to those you do not know at all, those you have no connection to whatsoever.” And there is a word of encouragement: some people have been kind to strangers and didn’t know they were entertaining angels.
There are two ways to read this. It could mean literal spiritual angels, or the word “angel” could just mean a messenger. I’m not sure which this passage means. We know from the story of Abraham that when angels come, they look just like human beings, and people could talk with one and not know until later. But we also know God sends messengers into our lives to encourage us. I know one time God sent a homeless man to talk to me and encourage me when I was discouraged. Sometimes God sends messengers when you’re not expecting them. Be hospitable. It might be an encouragement to you more than you are encouraging them. You take them into your household, thinking you’re doing them a favor, and you find out you’ve gained so much more from them than they ever gained from you. If we lock off our lives and put up walls, we’ll never see that shocking revelation. God calls us to invite people into our lives, especially those in need.
What might this look like? Look around for someone with no family nearby and invite them into some of your Christmas activities. Maybe someone has just moved into the area, or you have a new neighbor who doesn’t know anybody. Invite them to your Christmas dinner: “I know you’re new in the neighborhood. Would you like to join us?” Or host a low-pressure gathering for neighbors you don’t know well, no dressing up, just spending time together to get to know each other better. Or when you see someone standing alone at a holiday event with nobody talking to them, leave your group, go and spend time with them, and bring them into the conversation and make them part of your group.
Gift Five: Grace
Christmas celebrates the beginning of humanity’s reconciliation and peace through Christ. Jesus came to extend grace to the world, and as believers we are to extend God’s grace to others. Colossians 3:13 tells us we give grace because God shows us grace:
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Colossians 3:13
Forbearance is pretty much the equivalent of our modern word “tolerance.” A lot of us don’t like that word, because we think it means something it doesn’t. Tolerance just means I am going to put up with you. It really concerned me when I started studying this in Greek, because forbearing literally means “put up with.” It seems strange that God would call us to do no more than put up with people, but that is what the word means. Why does it say that? I thought about it for weeks before I came to this conclusion: not everybody you meet is someone you’re going to like. Scripture says, “as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men,” and it’s just a fact of life that you can’t live peaceably with every single person you meet. In that situation you tolerate them. You may not be close friends, and you may not be able to heal all the wounds between you, but you can understand their mistakes without casting them out and rejecting them.
When someone has wronged you, maybe dozens of times, you won’t have the same relationship with them as if they hadn’t. That relationship may always be broken in a way. Even so, we can treat them right. We can accept that they’re not perfect, just as we aren’t. And we also forgive them, because Christ forgave us. We’re told not just to tolerate but to forgive: not to hold resentment, but to release them from their sins against us.
What might this look like? Maybe it’s making that call you’ve been avoiding. They haven’t come to apologize, and you think, “I’m owed an apology.” That may be true. You may have done nothing wrong. But the Bible calls us to tolerate and forgive. Realize that person is never going to be perfect, because until we get our glorified bodies we are all broken. Instead of saying, “I’m not going to give them the pleasure,” humble yourself, pick up the phone and say, “I’ve been ignoring you for too long. I’ve been holding this grudge for too long. Whether I’m right or you’re right, I forgive you and I don’t want this to come between us.” Then hang up and walk away. Maybe that’s the gift you can give this Christmas: releasing someone who may not even be asking to be released, letting go of an old grudge even if they aren’t sorry.
It might also be spur of the moment. You’re out Christmas shopping and there’s someone in everybody’s space with the most entitled attitude in the store. Rather than being angry and confronting them, let it go: “They’re having a bad day. I have bad days too. It’s a minor offense. Let’s move on.” Overlook the minor offenses that irritate you. This happens a lot in the workplace, with people who keep making mistakes or keep annoying us. Take a step back and say, “I’m making a bigger deal of this than it needs to be. I’m going to tolerate it, I’m going to forgive them, and we’re going to move on.”
Gift Six: Joy
Joy is one of the most contagious and beautiful things we can offer. It is a gift that continues to give. Proverbs 17:22:
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Proverbs 17:22
Just as encouraging words are healing, joy and a positive outlook are healing too. If I look at the positives in life, I’m going to be happier. If you want to treat the sadness in your life, you have to start looking for the good things, not just the bad. And positivity doesn’t just benefit us. It extends to those around us. I know people who, when days were looking dark for me in college, had a positive energy and a happy attitude, and you couldn’t help but be happy with them. Maybe I had just flunked an exam, but this guy was having the greatest day of his life, and I wanted to be there with him. Positivity is contagious. Be the light in someone’s dark day.
We see that joy is encouraging to others in 2 Corinthians 2:1 and 3:
But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. … And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.
2 Corinthians 2:1, 3
If you know anything about Paul, you know he had plenty of reasons not to be happy. He was stoned by a city, left for dead, whipped, illegally detained by Rome, threatened, tortured and abused. And Paul says to Corinth, “You guys have some real sins in your congregation, but I want to be your joy. My joy is the joy of you all.” It would have been easy for Paul to say, “My problems are worse than yours. I was left for dead.” Instead, Paul focuses on what Christ did on the cross, the ministry he’s called to, and the blessings he’s received more than the hardships. Not only does it help him be more positive, it helps the church. If the church didn’t have that positivity, they were never going to overcome the sin problems they had. I know this isn’t deep, but we don’t often think about it: if we want to encourage people to get out of sin, they’re down, burned out and discouraged, so we need to encourage them through positivity, just like Paul did.
What might this look like? Share testimonies of what God has done in your life, or uplifting stories of how he has blessed you this year. Christmas comes right around New Year’s, the time when we reflect on the year that’s passed, and it’s a great opportunity to tell people what God has done for us. When we do, they start to look at their own lives and think, “Maybe God can do that for me as well.” Maybe you’ve got a little bit of the gift of comedy, and you can bring some joy through humor. Bring a joke to work. Even if they roll their eyes, it will brighten their day. Or go back to the gift of presence, and be a cheerful, warm presence with something encouraging to say.
Gift Seven: Service
During the holiday season we are severely limited in our time, and as we get busier, its value skyrockets. It’s tempting to hoard our time: “I can’t do that. I have twenty presents to get. I don’t have time for you, I have to do this for my family.” While it’s important to have a balanced life, I think a lot of times we take more for ourselves than we truly need. It’s important to remember to surrender our time to the needs of others. All service we do is ministry. Matthew 20:27-28:
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:27–28
If you’re going to be somebody who does ministry, all you have to be is somebody who serves others. All service in the name of Christ is ministry, whether it’s helping someone put on a new tire, mowing their lawn, raking their leaves, shoveling their snow, or saying an encouraging word. Jesus came not to be served but to serve. Have you noticed the theme in this message? Jesus did it, so we should do it. These are gifts Jesus gave to us, and because he gave them to us, we ought to give them to others. Love that acts is the greatest and most Christlike thing you can do on this earth. If you want to be like Christ, you have to serve.
Service is also more meaningful than being served. Paul says in Acts 20:35:
…remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Acts 20:35
We thought that being hospitable meant doing something for someone else, and that saying encouraging words meant benefiting someone else. But all these gifts we give come right back to us. It’s not work to be a pastor, because all the work I do comes back in blessings. Any service you do will bless you more than the blessing you give. The Bible tells us that giving is a blessing more to the giver than to the one who receives.
What does the gift of service look like? Volunteering or acts of kindness. Maybe you see someone at a cash register buying Christmas gifts for their kids, down on their luck and a few dollars short, and they say, “I’ll put it back.” You say, “No, no, let me get that for you.” God gave me a great gift, and that’s what Christmas is about, giving: “Jesus gave me a gift, let me give a gift to you.” Maybe it looks like cooking a meal for someone in need, which fits with hospitality. Maybe you invite someone who is an outcast, or whose household can’t afford a good Christmas, and you’ve got some extra seats sitting there unused: “Let me make you a Christmas dinner this year. Spend Christmas with us.”
Maybe it looks like helping others with a heavy load of responsibility. Time is a valuable resource, and there may be people around you who are completely overwhelmed. Maybe there’s a single mother who wants to buy gifts for her kids and doesn’t know how she’s going to get out and do it because there’s nobody to watch the kids. Offer, “Let me watch your kids for a couple of hours while you do some Christmas shopping. Have them come over to my house. They can play with my kids.” Maybe it’s more invisible, quietly meeting someone’s needs: “They don’t need to know it’s me. I’m going to put some money in an envelope and give it to them.” Maybe that’s the act of service you could do this Christmas season.
The Gifts That Can’t Be Wrapped
It’s easy to get swept up by the noise, the shopping list, and the pressure to give the perfect gift. But Scripture reminds us that the greatest gifts are not things wrapped in paper or placed in boxes. They are acts built on love, presence, humility and Christlikeness. Christmas is the celebration of Emmanuel, God with us, and because God drew near to us, we should also draw near to others. We can offer presence to the lonely, encouragement to the weary, prayer for the hurting, hospitality to the overlooked, grace to the imperfect, joy to the discouraged, and service to those in need. None of these gifts require us to give money at all. None depend on perfect circumstances or perfect execution, and each reflects the heart of Jesus in our lives.
The greatest gifts we can give this Christmas are not things wrapped in paper or placed in boxes. They are acts built on love, presence, humility and Christlikeness. So as you prepare for this Christmas, don’t be overwhelmed trying to find the perfect present. Ask God to make you the kind of person who embodies his presence to the world around you. May this be a season where people encounter Christ’s love because they encountered one of us, and may they see in us the true gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ, the Savior who came not to receive but to give himself for us all.
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