Jesus is God’s Gift to us this Christmas
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God; 3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1: 1-5
After Christmas three children were asked what they did on Christmas Day. One, the son of a minister, said that the family had been to church, afterwards at home they opened their presents and sung a carol. The second boy said, that he’d been to Mass and at home he’d opened his presents and sung a carol. A little Jewish boy said, that his father owned a toy factory, and after breakfast they had visited the factory, looked at the empty shelves, all their Christmas toys they had sold out, they sang, “What a friend we have in Jesus.’
We all like opening our gifts on Christmas day.
I’ve brought with me a gift to share with you today. Would someone help me open this gift. 
(Contained in this gift box two more boxes.)
From the Jewish people we have received the ancient Bible where it tells us about God the creator of the earth and the heavens, the universe.
We are able to navigate into the universe because we understand the laws of the universe put in place by God.
The gift box held up by IB and me
God’s gift to us: our planet: It takes a year for the earth to orbit the sun and the moon orbits the earth in 271/4 days, a month, consistently over millennium keeping the same orbits.
{Pointing to the spacecraft on the board) In March 2004 the Rosetta spacecraft was launched, it was on a mission, to enter the orbit of a comet in the inner solar system. Rosetta’s lander module landed on the comet as planned, ten years after being launched. The achievement was described as like, “ a fly landing on a speeding bullet.’ Scientist were able to calculate by understanding the laws that govern the universe. www.esa.int
Frederick Larson his explanation of ‘The Star of Bethlehem’ is that in 2 BC Jupiter lined up with Venus to produce this bright star that the wise men from the East saw and believed that a King had been born, so they followed to Jerusalem around the time of Jesus’ birth. Matthew 2: 1-5.
Our second gift – 
The Bible is in two parts the Old Testament. In the Old Testament God gave words of prophecy to Isaiah of Jerusalem, his prophesies gives light and hope to the world. “A virgin would conceive and bear a son and he would be called Emmanuel which means – ‘God with us,’ and “A child is born a son is given and his name shall be called ‘Wonderful, Counsellor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. . . “ Isaiah 7: 14. 9: 6. These rpophesies were fulfilled in Jesus
Third gift –
Helped to open the gift by a young child, who took and showed baby Jesus to everyone present.
Below: Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus.
The New Testament reveals that Jesus is God’s gift to us. We receive this precious gift by faith when we acknowledge our need to make peace with God.
Jesus’ mission to enable us to be reconciled to God, making our peace with God through his death on the cross, his resurrection and ascension. God loves us and he’s reaching out through Jesus, to say I’ve dealt with all that has separated you from knowing me, just believe in Jesus.
So by belief, simple faith we can receive God’s gift to us.
If this Christmas you want to make peace with God say this prayer with me:
Lord Jesus Christ, I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. I ask for your forgiveness. Thank you for dying on the cross for me to set me free from my sins. Please come into my life and fill me with your Holy Spirit and be with me for ever. Thank you, Lord Jesus, Amen.