{"id":7416,"date":"2020-12-24T06:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T06:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communitychurchministry.com\/?p=7416"},"modified":"2020-12-12T04:16:04","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T04:16:04","slug":"the-best-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communitychurchministry.com\/?p=7416","title":{"rendered":"The Best Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Best Gift<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u202d\u202dLuke\u202c \u202d2:7\u202c \u202d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a busy December afternoon, I discovered that a nail was making my tire go flat. So, I went to get it fixed at a local tire store.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While I was there, one of the young men recognized me and came over to greet me. I didn&#8217;t recognize him, but when he told me his name, I remembered. He was a child that used to attend the first church I pastored several years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The young man told me he never forgot an object lesson I used one Christmas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I smiled, amazed that he remembered my simple lesson after all these years. God had hidden His word in the young man&#8217;s heart&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like I said, it was a simple object lesson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I showed the kids 2 gifts. One was wrapped with fancy wrapping paper, ribbon and bow. The other, a plain brown paper sack.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I held them up for the kids and adults to see.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Which one is the best gift?&#8221; I asked. (Some of the bright kids pointed to the brown paper sack!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I opened the fancy gift, and there was nothing inside! Then, I opened the brown paper sack and showed them the contents, a miniature manger scene.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I explained the Christmas story to them. Reminding them that Jesus was born in something like a barn, not in a palace.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Son of God left His home in heaven, came to this Earth as a little baby, born of a virgin. He was born to parents who were not wealthy. In other words, He became poor for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u202d\u202dII Corinthians\u202c \u202d8:9\u202c \u202d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I explained to the kids and adults that Jesus became like us, identifying with our humanity. He grew up, lived a sinless life, and offered Himself for our sins.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I told them that the fancy box looked good, but it was empty, explaining that things of this Earth were like that. It&#8217;s empty without Christ. He came to give us life abundant.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u202d\u202dJohn\u202c \u202d10:10\u202c \u202d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Christmas, let&#8217;s rejoice and thank God for the best gift of all, His Son Jesus Christ.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Best Gift \u201cAnd she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.\u201d \u202d\u202dLuke\u202c \u202d2:7\u202c \u202d On a busy December afternoon, I discovered that a nail was making my tire go flat. So, I went to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Best Gift - Community Church Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Best Gift, One was wrapped with fancy wrapping paper, ribbon and bow. 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