Eastiew Community Church
Eastview Community Church

Today at Eastview

Third Advent Devotional Guide

Dave Ens - 2009-12-14

THIRD ADVENT – GIVE MORE; GIVE YOURSELF

 

READ

 John 1.1-5, 10-14 (NLT)

 

1 1 In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2      He existed in the beginning with God.

3      God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

4      The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and his life brought light to everyone.

5      The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

 

10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

 

TALK

 

          “The Word” in this Bible passage is another way of talking about Jesus.  God looked at us, the people he made and loves, and thought, “The best gift I can give to people is myself!”  And so he became a person with skin and bones and hair and “moved into our neighbourhood” (from The Message translation).

 

          God knows that it isn’t an idea that saves us.  It isn’t nice stuff that fills our lives with joy. It is when we are in a relationship with Jesus that we find our lives filled with everything we ‘need.’

 

          Sometimes we want God to give us stuff.  But the truth is that, at Christmas, God already gave us the best thing we could get – himself.  A common Christmas term is Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”  That’s what the shepherds, Magi, Mary, Joseph, etc. were all celebrating – God came to earth to be with us!

 

ASK

 

          If you have a relationship with Jesus already, take a minute to talk about why that is such a great gift in your life.

 

Think back for a moment...what is one of the most memorable gifts you have received?  Why do you think you remember that gift?

 

The book of Philippians says that Jesus gave up his place with God to come be with us.  What kind of gift gets you to “give something up” when you give it?  How about giving something up other than money?

 

 

RESPOND

 

          If you are in a family or group setting, put everyone’s name in a bowl and pick names.  The idea is to “give yourself” and buy/make/create a relational gift for that person; something that means you will spend more time together.

 

...Or think of someone who could use the gift of ‘relationship’ and think of creative ways to bless him or her with that gift.