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 a format I have been using in the first Sunday school hour. 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. The pressure to find the perfect gift can easily overshadow the true spirit of the season. But God’s greatest gifts to us were never material things. 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.
Presence and Encouragement
Not the gift of a present, but the gift of presence. We are bombarded with the message that the end-all of Christmas is a great gift bought at a store. But Christmas is not about the presents under the tree. It is about the presence we can have in other people’s lives. Physical things cannot replace the emotional needs of a relationship. Presence is also what we truly celebrate at Christmas.
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. If we celebrate His presence and aim to be like Him, then we should follow how Christ was present in the lives of those around Him.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Romans 12:15
If someone is celebrating a graduation, or finally got the job they have been working toward, we should not say, that is great, and move on. We should be as excited as they are. And not every day is a celebration. There are moments of mourning and sorrow, and we are called to meet people there, because that comforts them. Why? Because God comforts us so that we can comfort others. Share a meal or coffee, and listen. Visit someone who is lonely or grieving. And make sure the time you spend is quality time. Smartphones are a temptation in our own families. Being in the same room is not the same as being present.
Kind words also breathe life into weary souls. Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Solomon teaches us that pleasant words are almost like medicine, beneficial not just to the mind but also to the body. The writer of Hebrews says to exhort one another daily, while it is called To day. When we focus on encouraging others, the temptation for pride is minimized. And those words need to be backed up by evidence. 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 was not encouraging. Look at someone’s life, see what they are actually doing right, and then say so sincerely.
Prayer and Hospitality
It is easy, if we focus on material gifts, to let prayer fall by the wayside, and we should never let that happen.
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. But do not just pray for yourself. Lift up other people. Lifting up a man or woman before God is a powerful act of love. I came across a short video of two people talking. One said, you never go to church, do you? The other said, I go every single Sunday. You have never told me. That says a lot about our friendship. It was kind of a joke, but it is actually serious. Prayer is the same way. How much can we say we love other people if we are not willing to pray for them? Pray with someone on the spot when you hear they have a need. And here is one I really love. I wish it was my idea, but I asked for suggestions and this was the best one: pray over everyone you give a gift to as you wrap their present. Stop, look at the name, and pray for their walk with God.
Hospitality 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? The inn was not like a modern inn. It was a place in someone’s home, the guest room where they would stay. Many people feel that same rejection as Mary and Joseph during this season, like outsiders looking in, left out in the cold.
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. We are not to forget to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. There are two ways to read that word “angels.” It could mean literal spiritual angels, or it could just mean a messenger. I am not sure which this passage means. We know from Abraham that when angels come, they look just like human beings, and we also know God sends messengers to encourage us. I know one time God sent a homeless man to talk to me when I was discouraged. Look around for someone with no family nearby, a new neighbor, or someone standing alone at a holiday event, and make room.
Grace, Joy, and Service
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.
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 do not like that word, because we think it means something it does not. 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.” Not everybody you meet is someone you are going to like. Scripture says, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. In that situation you tolerate them. You may not be able to heal all the wounds between you, but you can understand their mistakes without casting them out. And we also forgive them, because Christ forgave us. Maybe the gift you can give this Christmas is making the call you have been avoiding, even if you think you are owed an apology, and letting go of an old grudge even if they are not sorry.
Joy is one of the most contagious and beautiful things we can offer. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. If you want to treat the sadness in your life, you have to start looking for the good things, not just the bad. Be the light in someone’s dark day. Paul had plenty of reasons not to be happy. He was stoned, left for dead, whipped, detained, and abused. And still he determined he would not come to the church in heaviness, because his joy was the joy of them all. Share what God has done in your life. Christmas comes right around the time we reflect on the year that has passed, and it is a great opportunity to tell people what God has done for us.
During the holiday season we are severely limited in our time, and as we get busier its value skyrockets. It is tempting to hoard it. I think a lot of times we take more for ourselves than we truly need. All service we do is ministry.
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 are going to be somebody who does ministry, all you have to be is somebody who serves others. 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. And service is also more meaningful than being served. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. All these gifts come right back to us. What does that look like? An act of kindness when someone is a few dollars short at the register. Cooking a meal for someone in need. Helping with a heavy load, like watching a single mother’s children so she can shop. Or something more invisible, quietly meeting a need so they do not even need to know it was you.
It is easy to get swept up by the noise, the shopping list, and the pressure to give the perfect gift. But 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. Christmas is the celebration of Emmanuel, God with us, and because God drew near to us, we should also draw near to others. So as you prepare for Christmas, do not 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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