Christmas Talk- “Gift of Love”
Welcome
How great it is to be here together taking the sacrament on Christmas morning. How great is it that the Bishopric is giving all the talks today. That was Kurt’s idea this year so all the thanks go to him. On a totally unrelated note Kurt has been banned from coming up with any other great ideas in Bishopric. Feel free to keep those ideas to yourself from now on!
- -So much to be grateful for this time of year- story of one thing I am grateful for… is my kids
- -I attended Tate Mulliner and Grant Chamberlin’s baptism Alan gave a talk and asked the boys, “Why do we get baptized?” Wow dad…your breath smells like meat loaf!!!
I know that Faith is the first principle of the gospel. Repentance is the number one doctrine of the kingdom. Obedience is the first law of heaven. And Happiness is the object of our existence. But of all things in the gospel, in the scriptures, and in the plan of salvation, that gift which is the most important of all is the Love of God.
We know when the savior was born:
- The prophets from the beginning of the world foretold of the event and we have that in the scriptures
- Angel’s appeared to Mary and Joseph foretelling them the how and when of the event
- The star appeared in the heavens
- The angels rejoiced and announced to the Sheppard’s of the blessed event
- The wise men came from afar to offer their gifts of gold, frankincense and Mir. These were critical gifts for Mary and Joseph because they were warned to flee to Egypt for a time because Herod was going to kill all the babies in Bethlehem and they would need these resources to sell and live on until it was safe to return.
Let’s talk about gift giving on Christmas. Heavenly Father has given us all the Greatest Gift possible with the Plan of Salvation and the Savior Jesus Christ who through his atonement overcame sin and death making it possible for all of us to return to live in heaven. The world has somewhat shifted focus on what Christmas is really about. Black Friday is almost a contest to see who can be the least Christ like in a Wal-Mart. Modern Warfare 3 earned $1 billion in revenue in 16 days (passing Avatar Movie by 1 day). USA Today reported 59 % of nonprofits report their donation income is flat or lower than in 2010, which was another down year for most charities.
- A lot of good humanitarian things happen as well but sometimes that focus is more on the gifts than on the reason for the celebration of Christ’s birth.
- Now we give gifts as a fun holiday tradition to express love for one another symbolic of the gifts the 3 wise men brought for the savior.
- But what gifts gifts would truly be good for the savior? I mean really, it’s his birthday not ours!!
Mormon Doctrine States- The highest manifestation of love on man’s part is seen in his devotion to God, the next in his attitude towards his fellow man. Love is always associated and manifest through Service.
3 Great Gifts I want to touch on that would qualify us for the Love of God are:
Obedience
Service- Love one another, love thy neighbor
Prayer/Communication
Obedience- Commandments
How do we wrap our gifts? I’ve seen gifts beautifully adorned in paper, bows, frills, or you may prefer to wrap gifts in the funny paper like my step dad. Wrapping a gift to god manifests itself in a little different way. When you love god you keep his commandments; you are obedient and happy. You are constant, or, as the book of Mormon says, “Firm and Steadfast” (see Nephi 2:10, Hel 15:8, 3 Nephi 6:14). You can be trusted. You do things for the right reasons. There are 3 degrees of glory in our obedience:
- Telestial is obedience out of obligation- you have to-The way my kids do their chores
- Terrestrial is obedience out of duty but willingly- seminary for most teenagers-drooling, Sacrament on Christmas Sunday?
- Celestial is obedience out of love and man. You delight in obeying all truth that you know because you love God, the father of truth-
- Story of the High Priest with the lesson Manuel underlined in red, “I guess that’s the difference between Elders & High Priests”- Step your game up!
Service- Love one another, love thy neighbor (Is it a thoughtful gift?)
Story- Professor Big Rocks, Gravel, Sand, Water
- What’s the lesson?- you can always do more…NO If you don’t put the big rocks in first they won’t fit later. Don’t fill your jar/life with the less important trivial things. Ensure God and Savior, family matters are firmly in place first.
Prayer/Communication (Is it even close to what they want)-
Prayer- I love the way Elder Cucucci put it when he came to our Stake Conference a couple years ago. You should have your own “private sacred grove” every morning and evening with your father in heaven. Wonderful for us to willingly go to the father (Who put a veil) in prayer and talk to us. Imagine a father trying to get his teenage daughter to talk to him. I mean good open honest meaningful conversation. If you can somehow manage to peel away the phone from their hands and REALLY talk there will be so much more understanding and love and joy in both lives. We start each day on our knees in honest supplication to the lord, live each day dedicated to the purposes of god, and end each night in the name of Christ.
It is my hope and prayer that in addition to all the sparkly, fun gifts and gadgets that we give to each other this Christmas we consider also the gifts we will give to the birthday boy, our Savior Jesus Christ. After all it is his party. As we make New Year’s resolutions and set new Goals for 2012 this year remember that one of your “big rocks” this year is to live worthy of the Love of God. And give the savior the gifts of Obedience, Service, and Prayer.
Thankful for the greatest gifts Heavenly Father has blessed me with in my life which are my wonderful family and beautiful wife.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
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