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00:08We often look back at Christmases of the past with a special fondness, memories of giving and
00:14receiving cherished gifts, meaningful time spent with those we love, moments savoring a meal to
00:21mark the occasion, minutes where all is right become precious mementos of our past. While time
00:28moves on, the world around us shifts and we change. Christmas doesn't have to. Your best Christmas
00:36ever is ready for you to make. Family, friends and festivities can be a part of that which makes
00:43the holiday special, but the best Christmas ever is the one where Christ is in its center. The
00:50greatest Christmas plan was God's on the very first, when God sent his son to earth, the ultimate
00:57present to his children.
01:00I'm David Jeremiah with a Christmas question to ask you. What is the central part of family
01:08Christmas celebrations? There are many good answers to that question, but I believe the
01:13exchange of gifts is near the top of the list because of what gift giving represents. For
01:25the recipient, the gift brings out feelings of gratitude and humility. These responses to family
01:32gift giving are perfect mirrors for how we should respond to the gift God gave to the world on that
01:39first Christmas. God's generosity and sacrifice should create gratitude and humility in each one of us. In
01:53we'll examine four responses we can find in the story of the first Christmas. So join me as we discover
01:59them together on today's Christmas edition of Turning Point. Today, I want to talk with you about how we should
02:08respond to Christmas. In the four narratives of the Christmas story, there is a hidden truth that will help us
02:16isolate the responses of Christmas that will enable us to experience not just the message of Christmas,
02:23but the meaning that it can have to our own lives. We will begin our journey by reading the story
02:30backwards. Instead of beginning with Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, we will begin our story with the
02:38wise men. That story is recorded for us in Matthew chapter 2, verses 1 through 12, where we read these
02:45words.
02:46Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from
02:53the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we have seen
02:58a star in
02:59the east and have come to worship him. And when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all
03:04Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
03:09he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea,
03:15for thus it is written by the prophet, and he quotes Micah chapter 5, verse 2,
03:21But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah,
03:26for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
03:31Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star
03:36appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the young child.
03:41And when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also.
03:48When they heard the king, they departed, and behold, the star which they had seen in the east
03:53went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
03:57And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
04:04And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother,
04:08and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures,
04:13they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
04:20And being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod,
04:23they departed for their own country another way.
04:27Now, we know this story. It's read to us every year.
04:31It's in almost every church service somewhere.
04:34We do not know exactly when the wise men came to worship Jesus,
04:38but we know some things that most people don't want to accept.
04:41And that is, as much as it works for us to have the wise men at the manger
04:46in our traditional nativity scenes, the wise men weren't at the manger.
04:51In fact, the wise men did not really connect with the Lord Jesus
04:55until almost two years after he was born.
04:59There are a couple of clues in this passage that help us understand that.
05:02First of all, we are told that when they came to worship Jesus,
05:05they came to a house. It's right there in the text.
05:09Mary and Joseph would love to have been in a house,
05:11but they weren't in a house.
05:13When Jesus was born, they were in a shed or a barn.
05:18In verse 9 and verse 11, the baby in the wise men narrative
05:23is called a child.
05:24And this, in the Greek language, is a different word
05:27than the one used to describe the baby in the manger.
05:30The word child is a reference to a young child
05:34and adequately describes someone who would be about two years old.
05:39The Scriptures tell us that the wise men came from afar.
05:44It took several miracles to get the wise men to the place where Jesus was.
05:49The Bible tells us they followed a star,
05:51and the star had been seen in the east and had now appeared to them
05:54in such a specific way that it directed them
05:56to the very house where Jesus was.
05:59Now, Bethlehem is five miles south of Jerusalem,
06:02and stars travel from the east to the west,
06:04not from the north to the south.
06:07It is very probable that the star that these men saw
06:11hovering over the house where Jesus was
06:13was none other than the Shekinah glory of God himself,
06:17the very same glory that led the children of Israel
06:21through the wilderness and stayed with them for 40 years.
06:25All of this is true about the wise men.
06:28And let me pause and say,
06:30we don't have two years to tell the story,
06:32so we tell it all in one day.
06:35And we bring the wise men into the story as they well belong.
06:38But just a little trivia to tuck in the back of your head,
06:42the wise men weren't there when the shepherds were.
06:45Remember, they came at a different time.
06:48And Matthew tells us that when the wise men came to the house
06:51where the star had led them,
06:53they presented their gifts of love to the Lord Jesus Christ,
06:58gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
06:59and they received a gift in return,
07:03the gift of giving a gift.
07:06If there's ever a season of the year when we learn
07:09that it's more fun to give than it is to receive,
07:12this is the season.
07:13And the older we get, the more that is true.
07:16The joy is in giving and not receiving.
07:20And I'd like to suggest to you
07:22that one of the ways we can respond to Christmas
07:24is through the sacrifice of giving.
07:26Few of us have riches like the wise men.
07:29The calculation of their gifts has been done by many before me,
07:33and it is quite astonishing what they gave to the Lord.
07:38But what matters most, men and women,
07:40is not how much we have but what we do with what we have.
07:44One last thought about the wise men and their generosity.
07:47Here's what you learn when you study their story.
07:50They gave of their time.
07:51As I mentioned, this journey took as long as two years.
07:54They invested two years of their time to get to Jesus.
07:58They gave their talent.
07:59These were wise men.
08:01Again, they used their wisdom to seek out the place
08:03where the Savior was to be born,
08:04and they gave their treasure.
08:07Time, talent, and treasure are still the gold standard
08:11of worshiping God and giving to him.
08:13All of us have some of each.
08:15We all have time.
08:17We all have our talents.
08:19And we all have some treasures.
08:22And when we respond to Christmas,
08:24we ask ourselves,
08:25what are we doing with what God has given to us
08:28to advance the cause of Christ in the world where we live?
08:33And then the story of the shepherds gives us another clue
08:37as to how to respond to Christmas.
08:39We're told about that story in Luke chapter 2,
08:43verses 8 through 20,
08:44and we're not going to read the whole story.
08:46But we're going to start at the end of the story
08:48where we read these words,
08:50so it was when the angels had gone away
08:53from the shepherds into heaven
08:55that the shepherds said to one another,
08:58let us now go to Bethlehem
09:00and see this thing that has come to pass,
09:02which the Lord has made known to us.
09:04And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph
09:07and the babe lying in the manger.
09:09And when they had seen him,
09:11they made widely known the saying
09:13which was told them concerning this child.
09:16And all those who heard it marveled at those things
09:19which were told them by the shepherds.
09:21And Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
09:25And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
09:28for all the things he had heard and seen as it was told them.
09:32The shepherds are continually an enigma.
09:35The shepherds, frankly, don't belong in this story.
09:39Only God had the editorial right to put them in there.
09:44But he did.
09:46My friend Warren Wiersbe was invited to speak
09:49at the graduation ceremony of a well-known seminary,
09:52and he gave the budding pastors something to think about
09:56when he told this story.
09:58A promising college senior at an acclaimed Ivy League university
10:02was undergoing a battery of personality and aptitude tests
10:06offered by the career placement office at school.
10:09He was from a blue-blood aristocratic family
10:13who expected him to take the high road
10:14into the upper strata of society when he graduated.
10:19He was on the edge of his seat
10:21as the counselor announced the results of his test.
10:24Hudson, I have good news.
10:26The tests are absolutely consistent
10:29and conclusive in their findings.
10:31Upon graduation, the ideal path for you to pursue
10:34is to become what Hudson thought would be
10:37a doctor, a lawyer, or a banker.
10:40The ideal path for you to pursue, said the counselor,
10:43is to become a shepherd.
10:46A shepherd?
10:49I don't have to paint a picture for you
10:51of the rest of that story.
10:53I just imagine the astonishment
10:55when a future member of the family looks at the family tree
10:57and sees among the doctors, lawyers, judges, and others
11:00Hudson Meriwether, prestigious the fourth, 1965 to 2050,
11:06shepherd.
11:09Or imagine the great hall of prestigious portraits.
11:13The walls are covered with oil paintings
11:15of past luminaries and judges' robes,
11:17doctors' white coats, expensive three-piece suits.
11:21And then there's Hudson in a dirt-covered pair of jeans,
11:24a soiled T-shirt, sweat-stained hat,
11:27standing in the middle of a herd of hapless and helpless sheep.
11:30Can you say disconnect?
11:33I mean no disrespect if you happen to be a shepherd here today.
11:38But in biblical days, the shepherds were considered
11:41the lowliest of the low in society.
11:44So it continues to fascinate me
11:47that out of all of Israel,
11:49God chose to reveal himself through his son,
11:52first of all, to the shepherds.
11:54And it was not enough for the shepherds
11:56to hear the message of hope from the angels.
11:58The message required a response,
12:01and each of these men had to make a decision
12:03to follow the instructions of the angel.
12:06The shepherds were the first worshipers
12:09and evangelists of Jesus Christ in history.
12:12They model what we are to do today.
12:15We're to worship him.
12:16We're to bow before him in humility and simplicity.
12:20Then we're to tell others the good news that he has come.
12:24We are to make widely known, according to the Scripture,
12:27the saying concerning this child.
12:30After seeing Jesus, as the shepherds left the manger,
12:34they told everyone in their path
12:35of the things that had happened to them.
12:38The shepherds teach us what we are already
12:42in the process of learning,
12:43that worshiping Christ is impossible without serving Christ.
12:48And one of the ways we serve Christ
12:51is by telling others about him.
12:54It's not a rocket science study.
12:56It's just telling them what God has done for you.
13:00Many of you have done that already during this season.
13:03But what a wonderful response to Christmas.
13:06Go tell somebody what God has done for you.
13:10Go share with somebody how blessed you are
13:13to be called a Christian
13:15and what it means to you personally.
13:18And then the third response is in the life of Joseph.
13:22Once again, Joseph is told this unbelievable story.
13:28He's told the story of what's going to happen.
13:31It is hard for him to comprehend
13:34the message that is given to him.
13:36Joseph, the son of Jacob, was God's choice
13:39to act as an earthly father to Jesus Christ.
13:42He was a carpenter and as such,
13:45most probably a simple and practical man.
13:47He would have liked the feel of wood and stone
13:50and the satisfaction of building something
13:52that was beautiful.
13:53We can imagine that he set about a life
13:55that would be orderly and ordinary.
13:58According to Matthew's genealogy,
14:00Joseph was a royal person,
14:02a potential king,
14:04but we don't know very much about him.
14:06He appears on the scene for only a moment
14:08and then he disappears,
14:11almost as if to emphasize
14:12that Jesus was born of a virgin without a man.
14:17The only other time he's mentioned in all of Scripture
14:20is when 12-year-old Jesus,
14:22inadvertently, is left in Jerusalem.
14:25After that, Joseph isn't mentioned again
14:27in the narrative of the New Testament.
14:31Yet this one thing we know.
14:33When we meet Joseph,
14:35he's in the midst of a crisis in his life,
14:37one of the most incredible crises
14:39in the story of humanity.
14:40He's called upon to marry a pregnant virgin,
14:43to bear the scorn and absorb the burdens
14:46of raising the man of sorrows.
14:49Several years ago,
14:50Max Licato and I,
14:51along with some other friends,
14:52put together a little Christmas book
14:54containing some of our favorite Christmas sermons.
14:57With his typical freshness,
14:59Max described Joseph as being
15:01caught between what God says
15:04and what makes sense.
15:06Have you ever been caught
15:08between what you know God is saying
15:09and what makes sense to you?
15:12Yet he didn't let his confusion
15:14disrupt his obedience.
15:16He didn't know everything,
15:18but he did know what he knew.
15:20And he shut down his business
15:22and picked up his family
15:24and went to another country
15:25because that is what God said to do.
15:30There's no record in Matthew's account
15:32of Joseph speaking one single word
15:34in the narrative of Christmas.
15:36But we have something more important
15:38than his words.
15:39We have the record of his obedience.
15:41And we read in verses 24 and 25
15:44of Matthew 1,
15:45Then Joseph, being roused from sleep,
15:48did as the angel of the Lord commanded him
15:50and took to him his wife
15:52and did not know her
15:54till she had brought forth
15:55her firstborn son,
15:56and he called his name Jesus.
16:00As practically hard
16:01and publicly humiliating
16:04as it might have been,
16:06Joseph silently obeyed God's instructions.
16:11Men and women,
16:12obedience is not usually
16:13a public thing, is it?
16:15It's what we hear God say to us
16:18and we do it.
16:20It usually doesn't get up
16:21on the marquee.
16:22Nobody knows about it
16:23except for us
16:24and in our hearts we know.
16:26We know when we say yes to God
16:28and we know when we don't answer God,
16:31which is like saying no.
16:33And Joseph illustrates for us
16:35the power of responding to Christmas
16:38with silent obedience
16:40to what God is speaking to us
16:41in our hearts.
16:43It is impossible for you
16:45to go through all that we go through
16:46during this season
16:47if you're a Christian
16:48without hearing a prompting
16:50from God somewhere along the way.
16:52Go help that person.
16:55Get things right with your children.
16:58Go find a way to be of ministry
17:01in your community
17:02or in your church.
17:03God speaks to us like that.
17:05We know that.
17:06He surely does to me
17:07and I know he does to you.
17:09And Joseph teaches us
17:11that when we hear things
17:12that are hard for us to comprehend
17:14and sometimes things
17:15we don't really want
17:16to have any part of
17:17but we know it's from God,
17:20silently we obey.
17:22And then finally we come
17:24to the center of the story
17:26apart from Jesus
17:27and that's the person Mary.
17:30Mary's story is well known
17:32to all of us
17:33and she is told
17:35that she's going to be
17:36the mother of the Lord Jesus.
17:39And when she hears this
17:41she responds
17:42as we would respond.
17:44And Mary said to the angel,
17:46how can this be
17:47since I do not know a man?
17:49In other words,
17:50how can I have a child?
17:51I've never been with a man.
17:53And the angel answered
17:54and said to her,
17:55the Holy Spirit will come upon you
17:57and the power of the highest
17:59will overshadow you.
18:01Therefore, that Holy One
18:03who is to be born
18:04will be called the Son of God
18:05and indeed Elizabeth,
18:07your relative,
18:08has conceived a son
18:09in her old age
18:09and this is now
18:10the sixth month
18:11for her who is called barren
18:12for with God
18:13nothing will be impossible.
18:17And Mary said,
18:18here's her response,
18:20Behold, the maidservant
18:22of the Lord,
18:23let it be to me
18:25according to your word.
18:26and the angel departed
18:28from her.
18:30The last personality
18:32in our little personality profile
18:34is Mary.
18:36And the record of Mary's response
18:38is one of the great stories
18:40of the Bible.
18:41Mary was not perfect.
18:43Luke tells us
18:44that she was highly favored,
18:45but she was chosen
18:47from among all the women
18:48in the world
18:49to be the one woman
18:50through whom God
18:51would send his son
18:52into human flesh.
18:54Up until this particular day,
18:56Mary probably lived
18:57a very normal life
18:59and then in the midst
19:00of routine,
19:01a single supernatural moment
19:02shattered the normality
19:04of her life
19:05and the angel stood
19:06before her.
19:06When did it happen?
19:08Perhaps while Mary
19:09was kneeling beside her bed
19:11attending to prayers,
19:12beginning or finishing a day.
19:14How frightening
19:15the sudden arrival
19:16of a heavenly messenger
19:17must have been
19:18for this peasant girl.
19:21Gabriel's appearance
19:22frightened Mary.
19:24When he saw
19:24how afraid she was,
19:26as he assured her
19:26there was no reason
19:27for fear,
19:28for the news he was bringing
19:30was wonderful.
19:30She was about to be blessed
19:32among all the women
19:33of the world.
19:34She would have a son
19:35who would be the son
19:36of the Most High.
19:39Consider the change
19:41that came about
19:42in Mary's life.
19:44Thoughts of marriage
19:45turned to thoughts
19:46of motherhood.
19:48And thoughts of a quiet,
19:49ordinary life
19:50turned to the anticipation
19:51of being at the center
19:53of a spectacular miracle
19:55from heaven.
19:57No wonder God sent Gabriel
19:58to help her understand
19:59and get ready.
20:02As the exclamation
20:03of her role in redemption
20:05began to take hold
20:06of her heart,
20:07Mary responded
20:08with these words.
20:09Don't ever forget
20:10these words.
20:11These are not just words
20:12for Mary.
20:13These are words for us.
20:16Behold the maidservant
20:18of the Lord.
20:20Let it be to me
20:22according to your word.
20:24In other words,
20:24Lord God,
20:25whatever you got in mind,
20:28count me in.
20:29Amen.
20:31I marvel at her submissive attitude
20:33to the will of God.
20:35In that particular day,
20:36for a woman to be pregnant
20:38out of wedlock,
20:39especially a Jewish woman,
20:41could cost her her life.
20:44Adultery was punished
20:45by stoning.
20:47She knew that she would be
20:49the laughingstock
20:49of her community
20:50and the byword
20:51of every idle conversation.
20:54She knew that people
20:55wouldn't understand.
20:56She wondered in her heart
20:58about Joseph
20:59to whom she was engaged.
21:00But in spite of all that,
21:02because God had spoken,
21:04Mary submitted and said,
21:05Lord, whatever it is
21:06that you want,
21:07I am willing.
21:10Do you see the thread
21:11that runs through
21:12all four of these narratives?
21:14The wise men obeyed
21:16and brought their gifts.
21:18Theirs was an obedience
21:19of sacrifice.
21:21The shepherds obeyed
21:22and came to the manger,
21:24praising and glorifying God.
21:26Theirs was the obedience
21:27of service.
21:30Joseph quietly accepted
21:31the incredible story
21:33of Mary's pregnancy
21:34and did what he was asked to do,
21:36and his was the obedience
21:37of silence.
21:39Mary said,
21:40let it be to me according
21:41to your word.
21:42Hers was the obedience
21:44of submission.
21:47Is it not time for you
21:49to respond to the Christmas message
21:51by submitting to God's kindness,
21:53and if you have yet to do so,
21:55receiving Christ
21:57as your Lord and Savior?
21:59And is it not for us
22:01who are Christians
22:02a great opportunity
22:04to take inventory
22:05in our own lives?
22:07How am I doing, Lord?
22:10How am I doing
22:12with submission to your will
22:13when I don't even understand it?
22:15How am I doing
22:16in serving you?
22:17How am I doing
22:18in saying yes
22:19when it doesn't make sense to me?
22:21How am I doing
22:23in the sacrifice
22:25of my time, talent,
22:28and treasure?
22:30And for those
22:31who do not know
22:32the Lord Jesus Christ,
22:33there can only be
22:34one thing important,
22:37and that is to understand
22:38that behind all
22:39of the imagery
22:40and pageantry
22:41of this season
22:43is a true story
22:44of a God in heaven
22:45who loved us so much
22:47that he gave to us
22:49the greatest treasure
22:50heaven had,
22:51the only begotten Son
22:53of the Father
22:54who came to this world
22:56and went to the cross
22:58to die for us
22:59so that we could be forgiven.
23:00The story of redemption
23:02begins in Bethlehem
23:04when God became flesh,
23:06when Christ came
23:08to be one of us,
23:10to join into
23:11the humanity experience
23:13and ultimately
23:15in his humanness
23:16go to the cross,
23:18not leaving anything
23:20of his divinity behind.
23:22And on that day
23:23outside of Jerusalem,
23:25God died
23:26in his Son's body
23:29so that you and I
23:30could be set free.
23:33I know that most of us
23:35have some inkling
23:37of that story,
23:39but we are living men
23:40and women
23:41in what most people call
23:42the post-Christian era.
23:46Things that we understood
23:48normally just because
23:49we grew up in America
23:51no longer exist
23:52in our thinking process.
23:54even young people
23:55who grow up
23:56in Christian homes
23:57are not taught
23:59the main stories
24:00of the Bible.
24:02So, I want to conclude
24:04with a human story
24:06that illustrates
24:07this incredible God story.
24:11During the reign
24:13of Russian Tsar Nicholas I,
24:16there was a young man
24:18in his army
24:19whose father
24:20was one of his close friends.
24:22Because of that relationship,
24:23this young man
24:24was given
24:25a very responsible post.
24:27He was the paymaster
24:28of one of the barracks
24:29for the Russian army.
24:31And it was his responsibility
24:32to see that the right amount
24:33of money was distributed
24:35each month
24:35to the soldiers.
24:37The young man meant well,
24:39but his character
24:40was not up
24:41to his responsibility.
24:43He began to gamble,
24:44and eventually,
24:45he gambled away
24:46most of his own money
24:48and a great deal
24:50of the government's money.
24:52In due course,
24:54the young man received notice
24:55that a representative
24:56of the Tsar
24:57was coming
24:57to check the accounts,
24:59and he knew
25:00that he was in trouble.
25:02That evening,
25:03he got out the books
25:04and totaled up
25:05the funds that were owed.
25:07Then he went to the safe
25:08and got out his own
25:09pitifully small amount
25:10of money,
25:10and as he sat there
25:11and he looked at the two,
25:13he was overwhelmed
25:14at the astronomical debt
25:16that he had built up
25:17versus his own small change.
25:20He was a ruined man.
25:22He knew he would be disgraced.
25:25At last, he determined
25:26the only way for him
25:28was to take his life.
25:30He pulled out his revolver,
25:33placed it on the table
25:34in front of him,
25:35and wrote a summation
25:36of his misdeeds.
25:38At the bottom of the ledger,
25:39which he had totaled up
25:41his illegal borrowings,
25:42he wrote,
25:44a great debt,
25:45who can pay?
25:47And he determined
25:48that at the stroke of midnight,
25:49he would die.
25:52As the evening wore on,
25:54the young soldier grew drowsy
25:55and eventually fell asleep.
25:58That night,
25:59Tsar Nicholas I,
26:00as was sometimes his custom,
26:02was making the rounds
26:03of this particular barracks.
26:05Seeing a light,
26:06he stopped and looked in,
26:08and knowing this young man,
26:10he recognized him immediately,
26:12and noting that he was asleep,
26:14he looked over his shoulder
26:15and saw the ledger book
26:17and realized all that had taken place.
26:21He was about to awaken this young man
26:23and put him under arrest
26:24when his eye fastened
26:25on the young man's words
26:28at the bottom of the page,
26:29a great debt,
26:31who can pay?
26:34Suddenly,
26:35with a surge of grace and mercy,
26:37he reached over,
26:38he wrote one word
26:39at the bottom of the ledger,
26:40and he slipped out.
26:42The young man was sleeping fitfully,
26:45and he awoke suddenly
26:46in the middle of the night,
26:46glanced at the clock,
26:47and realized it was long after midnight.
26:49He reached for his revolver,
26:51but as he did,
26:52his eye fell on the ledger.
26:54He saw something
26:55that he had not seen before.
26:57There was his writing,
26:59a great debt,
27:00who can pay?
27:01But underneath was the word
27:04the Tsar had written.
27:06Nicholas I.
27:09He could pay.
27:11He was dumbfounded.
27:12He did not understand
27:14how it could have gotten there.
27:15He must have made a mistake.
27:16He went to the safe
27:17where material bore the signature
27:19of the Tsar,
27:21and it was the Tsar's signature.
27:23He said to himself,
27:25he must have come when I was asleep.
27:27He has seen the book.
27:28He knows all,
27:29and he's willing to forgive me.
27:32And the next morning,
27:33a messenger came from the palace
27:34with the amount of money
27:35needed to meet the deficit.
27:37Only the Tsar could pay,
27:39and the Tsar did pay.
27:43In the same way,
27:45only the Lord Jesus Christ
27:47was able to pay our debt to God.
27:51We look at the moral requirement
27:53of God's righteousness
27:54spelled out in his book,
27:55and we compare it
27:57with our own tawdry performance,
27:59and we ask a question,
28:01a great debt.
28:03Who can pay?
28:04And the Lord Jesus Christ
28:06steps forward
28:07and signs his name
28:10to our ledger.
28:12Only Jesus can pay,
28:14and that's why he came
28:16to this earth
28:17at Christmastime,
28:18to begin the process
28:20of signing his name
28:22at the bottom of your ledger
28:24to forgive all your sin
28:26so that you can be free
28:27from that sin
28:28and forgiven
28:29and go to heaven
28:31to spend eternity
28:32with God.
28:34So let me ask you this question.
28:37Have you submitted to him?
28:40Have you asked him
28:42to come and live within your life
28:44and be your savior?
28:46It is the greatest decision
28:49you will ever make.
28:50It will change your life
28:52from this moment on.
28:53You will never be the same.
28:55And it is the most incredible way
28:58to celebrate Christmas,
29:00to accept the gift
29:02of Jesus Christ,
29:03which God gave.
29:04That gift was given
29:05at Christmas.
29:07Why don't you receive
29:08that gift?
29:10Dr. Jeremiah will return
29:12to close today's program
29:14right after this.
29:18Thank you for watching today.
29:20When you support this program
29:21with a gift of any amount,
29:23Dr. Jeremiah would like
29:25to thank you
29:25by sending you
29:26Daily in His Presence,
29:28his new 365-day devotional
29:30for 2020.
29:32Each day's short reading
29:33in this beautiful
29:34leather-bound devotional
29:35provides scripture
29:36and a spiritual thought
29:38to encourage you,
29:39challenge you,
29:40and focus your attention
29:41on God
29:42so you can experience
29:43God's will in your life
29:45and enter into the company
29:46of the Savior.
29:48This devotional
29:49is also perfect
29:50for sharing with others.
29:51And with a generous year-end gift
29:53of $120 or more
29:55in support of this program,
29:56you will receive
29:57a four-pack
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30:00your loved ones a copy
30:01and help them walk
30:03ever closer to God
30:04in the coming year.
30:05Your support helps
30:06this program
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30:08and keeps the ministry
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30:11into the new year.
30:13Contact Turning Point today.
30:16And now,
30:18with one last word
30:19for today's program,
30:20here is Dr. Jeremiah.
30:22Our response
30:23to any gift
30:24reflects how we view
30:26the gift and the giver.
30:27Can you identify
30:29with the four responses
30:30we found
30:31in the original
30:32Christmas story,
30:33the responses
30:34of sacrifice
30:35and service
30:36and silence
30:38and submission?
30:40The more we know
30:41about and appreciate
30:43the nature of God's gift,
30:44the deeper
30:45and more mature
30:46our response
30:47to Christmas will be.
30:49To help you deepen
30:50your own appreciation
30:52for God's Christmas gift
30:53to us,
30:54please allow me
30:55to send you
30:56two free gifts
30:57from Turning Point.
30:58One is our booklet
30:59called
31:00Your Greatest Turning Point
31:01and the other
31:02is our monthly
31:03devotional magazine
31:04called
31:05Turning Points.
31:06Both of these gifts
31:08will lead you
31:08into a deeper understanding
31:10of the gift
31:10of Jesus Christ
31:11to the world
31:12and we will gladly
31:14send both of these gifts
31:15to you free of charge
31:17if you will contact us
31:18here at Turning Point
31:19today.
31:22In addition
31:23to these free
31:24study resources,
31:25nothing is as profound
31:26as the Word of God.
31:28And now,
31:28Dr. Jeremiah
31:29has a Bible
31:30for every member
31:31of the family.
31:32There are numerous versions
31:33of the Jeremiah Study Bible
31:35perfect for adults
31:36and teens.
31:37And the Airship
31:38Genesis Kids
31:39Study Bible
31:39will bring the truth
31:40of God's Word
31:41to the young ones
31:42in your life.
31:43Contact Turning Point
31:44for more information
31:45or to order today.
31:52Next time
31:53on Turning Point.
31:55Join David Jeremiah
31:57for Make the Season Bright
31:58Christmas on Broadway
32:00at the historic
32:01Beacon Theater
32:01in New York City.
32:10Thousands of Christians
32:11take cruises
32:12for their vacations.
32:13So, why not take a cruise
32:14with Turning Point?
32:15Enjoy a Bible conference
32:17on the water
32:17when you set sail
32:18with David and Donna
32:19Jeremiah to Alaska.
32:20You'll experience
32:21exciting ports
32:22and activities
32:23and uplifting daily times
32:25of worship,
32:26Bible teaching,
32:26and fellowship.
32:27More than just a getaway,
32:29it's a time to refresh,
32:30renew,
32:30and reconnect
32:31with God and loved ones.
32:33Call or go online
32:34for more details.