Unwrapping the gifts of Christmas 2004 Sermon 12-26-04
Intro
Johnny Carson story…bought son a tank $100, played in the box
Gifts available this year
20,000 suit of armor---60 $125,000 maserattis were gone in a matter of minutes
Victoria secret $10 million piece of clothing-----Nieman marcus 10 million Zeppelin
Private islands online $50,000
best gift you ever received……easy bake oven----vibrating foot ball field
Really Good Gifts do things for us on the inside
Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? Book?
Body………….Scripture
We know how to give gifts…..so does God……
When we give, we get back….something happens to us….
Gifts….gold, frankinsence and myhrr
the best gifts prepare us for the journey of living, they are not simply consumed
green pressed out Christmas cookies---kids licked the package….too bad
Parking lot boys…..Rob blair, Ray, Jim Lavelle, offering time to direct traffic at the funerals. Came inside sat, the the back and cried.
Teacher who came to ss late last week, sorry, my house is on fire……
fern…children brining their gifts to Jesus birthday party
the gift of your kids getting it…shadeeg story
kids sitting on the couch, snuggled up together
len Bennett…..folks down to Westport
Brent Mustoe quoted it in an illustration he used
Saw it on a sign on the wall in the movie it’s a wonderful life
The only things you keep are the things that you give away
Conclusion
Ralph waldo emerson wrote : Money and status are not basic human needs. Rings and jewls are not gifts, but apologies for gifts…: the only true gift is a portion of ones self-----------------That is what God gives to us…..
Stephen Shadeeg is an Arizona businessman, the father of four children, who told a wonderful story of a particular Christmas morning. He said they had a rule at their house that none of the children could go down to see gifts under the tree until the rest of the family was awake and they could all go together.The year David was 7, he came bounding into their bedroom at 4:30 a.m., his face glowing with excitement, his mouth running at about 90 miles an hour. Daddy! Mother! Come quick! I saw it!As they wiped the sleep from their eyes, both he and his wife knew what had happened. The rule had been broken. David had already discovered the new bicycle that he had been wanting for two years. They felt cheated that he had rushed ahead and they had missed seeing his discovery, but it was Christmas, after all, and they couldn't scold him for being overanxious.They climbed out of bed, pulled on their robes and slippers, and David took them by the hands, dragging them down the hall. They woke the rest of the children, and with all the family in tow, David led them down the stairs and through the darkened living room toward a window on the eastern side of the house, totally oblivious of the bicycle which sat unnoticed beside the tree. He pointed his little finger to the eastern sky and said, Look! The Star of Bethlehem! I've seen the star!_James A. Harnish, 24 December 1993, Tampa, Florida.
Don Hart is the manager of a Cokesbury bookstore in Detroit, Michigan. His great uncle was Moss Hart, the late Broadway playwright/librettist/ director. In his autobiography Act One, An Autobiography (New York: Random House, 1959), Hart describes one particular Christmas Eve at the turn of the century when he was ten and the family was living in New York City. Because of their poverty Moss was surprised that special night when his father said Let's go downtown and set out on a walk down to 149th Street, a part of town where push carts full of toys were lined up for shoppers.Moss knew his dad was going to try to buy him a Christmas present, but he also knew that his dad had very little money (later he figured that his father might have had 75 cents in his pocket). As they walked by these carts, Hart said he saw all sorts of toys he wanted. But after his father asked the price, the two of them would move quietly to the next cart, his father putting his hands in his pocket and fingering the coins. So it went from one cart to the other. Nothing the youngster wanted could be purchased for what his father had been able to save. This is how Moss Hart remembered his feeling that night:As I looked up at him I saw a look of despair and disappointment in his eyes that brought me closer to him than I had ever been in my life. I wanted to throw my arms around him and say, It doesn't matter ... I understand ... this is better than a chemistry set or a printing press ... I love you! But instead we stood shivering beside each other for a moment - then turned away from the last two pushcarts and started silently back home I don't know why the words remained choked up within me.I didn't even take his hand on the way home nor did he take mine. We were not on that basis. Nor did I ever tell him how close I felt that night - that for a little while the concrete wall between father and son had crumbled away and I knew that we were two lonely people struggling to reach each other (24-25).
Intro
Johnny Carson story…bought son a tank $100, played in the box
Gifts available this year
20,000 suit of armor---60 $125,000 maserattis were gone in a matter of minutes
Victoria secret $10 million piece of clothing-----Nieman marcus 10 million Zeppelin
Private islands online $50,000
best gift you ever received……easy bake oven----vibrating foot ball field
Really Good Gifts do things for us on the inside
Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? Book?
Body………….Scripture
We know how to give gifts…..so does God……
When we give, we get back….something happens to us….
Gifts….gold, frankinsence and myhrr
the best gifts prepare us for the journey of living, they are not simply consumed
green pressed out Christmas cookies---kids licked the package….too bad
Parking lot boys…..Rob blair, Ray, Jim Lavelle, offering time to direct traffic at the funerals. Came inside sat, the the back and cried.
Teacher who came to ss late last week, sorry, my house is on fire……
fern…children brining their gifts to Jesus birthday party
the gift of your kids getting it…shadeeg story
kids sitting on the couch, snuggled up together
len Bennett…..folks down to Westport
Brent Mustoe quoted it in an illustration he used
Saw it on a sign on the wall in the movie it’s a wonderful life
The only things you keep are the things that you give away
Conclusion
Ralph waldo emerson wrote : Money and status are not basic human needs. Rings and jewls are not gifts, but apologies for gifts…: the only true gift is a portion of ones self-----------------That is what God gives to us…..
Stephen Shadeeg is an Arizona businessman, the father of four children, who told a wonderful story of a particular Christmas morning. He said they had a rule at their house that none of the children could go down to see gifts under the tree until the rest of the family was awake and they could all go together.The year David was 7, he came bounding into their bedroom at 4:30 a.m., his face glowing with excitement, his mouth running at about 90 miles an hour. Daddy! Mother! Come quick! I saw it!As they wiped the sleep from their eyes, both he and his wife knew what had happened. The rule had been broken. David had already discovered the new bicycle that he had been wanting for two years. They felt cheated that he had rushed ahead and they had missed seeing his discovery, but it was Christmas, after all, and they couldn't scold him for being overanxious.They climbed out of bed, pulled on their robes and slippers, and David took them by the hands, dragging them down the hall. They woke the rest of the children, and with all the family in tow, David led them down the stairs and through the darkened living room toward a window on the eastern side of the house, totally oblivious of the bicycle which sat unnoticed beside the tree. He pointed his little finger to the eastern sky and said, Look! The Star of Bethlehem! I've seen the star!_James A. Harnish, 24 December 1993, Tampa, Florida.
Don Hart is the manager of a Cokesbury bookstore in Detroit, Michigan. His great uncle was Moss Hart, the late Broadway playwright/librettist/ director. In his autobiography Act One, An Autobiography (New York: Random House, 1959), Hart describes one particular Christmas Eve at the turn of the century when he was ten and the family was living in New York City. Because of their poverty Moss was surprised that special night when his father said Let's go downtown and set out on a walk down to 149th Street, a part of town where push carts full of toys were lined up for shoppers.Moss knew his dad was going to try to buy him a Christmas present, but he also knew that his dad had very little money (later he figured that his father might have had 75 cents in his pocket). As they walked by these carts, Hart said he saw all sorts of toys he wanted. But after his father asked the price, the two of them would move quietly to the next cart, his father putting his hands in his pocket and fingering the coins. So it went from one cart to the other. Nothing the youngster wanted could be purchased for what his father had been able to save. This is how Moss Hart remembered his feeling that night:As I looked up at him I saw a look of despair and disappointment in his eyes that brought me closer to him than I had ever been in my life. I wanted to throw my arms around him and say, It doesn't matter ... I understand ... this is better than a chemistry set or a printing press ... I love you! But instead we stood shivering beside each other for a moment - then turned away from the last two pushcarts and started silently back home I don't know why the words remained choked up within me.I didn't even take his hand on the way home nor did he take mine. We were not on that basis. Nor did I ever tell him how close I felt that night - that for a little while the concrete wall between father and son had crumbled away and I knew that we were two lonely people struggling to reach each other (24-25).
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