What Gift Will You Bring to Jesus?
December 31, 2024 · 2:02:06 · Watch on YouTube ↗
Summary
This New Year's Eve gathering before 2025 was set apart as a day of thanksgiving and testimony. The church looked back over the year to thank God for His mercy and protection, recalled what He had taught them, and prepared to step into the new year with deeper devotion and more room for His Spirit to work.
The central teaching came from Matthew 2 and Matthew 21:43. The wise men brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh - the very things God once required for His tabernacle (Exodus 30). Since believers are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), the gift Jesus is looking for is our fruit: gold pictures the fruit of the Spirit grown quietly in the heart, frankincense pictures prayer rising like the evening sacrifice, and myrrh pictures dying to self so that Christ comes alive in us.
Throughout the evening members shared testimonies of God's care over the past year - a dream that turned a young man away from Chernobyl and spared his life, jobs and a home provided just in time, and generosity that God returned in full. The service closed with seven reasons to give thanks and a confident hope in the eternal Kingdom and the coming of Christ.
Key Points
- On Jesus' birthday we tend to give gifts to ourselves; the real question is what gift we bring to Him.
- The wise men were truly wise because they recognized the King and offered Him the costly fruit of their labor.
- Gold pictures the fruit of the Spirit that God grows quietly inside, not the words we perform for others.
- Frankincense pictures prayer rising to God like the evening sacrifice.
- Myrrh pictures dying to self - laying down our own will so that Christ lives in us.
- A new year is the time to first thank God for the old one before asking for anything new.
- Our future is secure in an eternal Kingdom, so do not give up in the year ahead.
Devotional
God is not impressed by the right words sung loudly in church while the heart stays unchanged at home. He longs for the hidden gold of love and patience, for prayers that rise like incense, and for a will surrendered to Him like myrrh. As this year ends, look back and thank Him for every mercy, then step forward asking Him to grow real fruit in you. The same God who has carried you this far is able to do far more than you ask or imagine.
“On Jesus' birthday we bring gifts to ourselves - but what gift do we bring to Him?”
“Your fruit is the gift He is looking for, and fruit takes a long time to grow.”
“When we die to ourselves, Christ comes alive in us.”
