Dayo encouraged us that Christmas is not about gifts, food, lights and holidays. These are temporal things that will not last forever.

The true meaning of Christmas is God becoming flesh through the life of Jesus Christ. He is the eternal gift that was given to us so that we might know God personally.

This is the fulfilment of The Word becoming flesh detailed as part of Gods perfect plan from the beginning. We have much reason to rejoice and find hope in this incomparable gift all year round.

This part focuses on the judgement day experience for the believer who is assured of their salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ. For these people their names will be in the Book of Life ensuring their place in heaven.

However, the bible is clear, they will still give an account of their lives before God. But what is the point of this as it isn't works that can save us?

We were encouraged that this is an opportunity for God to reward the sacrifices and obedience of believers in this life. This is consistent with his nature where he loves to bless us. It should also motivate us, to make the most of living our lives well for God, capitalising on every day. Jeff unpacks what this looks like.

These heavenly rewards will not mean we have greater value to God in heaven or different levels of enjoyment. All believers will have the same experience of Gods glory and majesty.

This passage reminds up that Jesus alone is the cornerstone. It is only upon receiving the gracious gift of Jesus' death and resurrection we can have salvation. There is no other method or foundation for this.

We are also to align ourselves to the cornerstone and build our foundations up from this. The outcome as we do this will be visible fruit is born in our lives. This fruit is love, righteousness and justice. These things don't earn or add to our salvation but they are the expectation of what Jesus calls us to see in our lives. The Holy Spirit helps bear this fruit within us.

We were encouraged to have the faith to pray big prayers because we pray to a God who can do the impossible! This is evidence in how Jesus curses the tree in this passage. This faith is God given and originates from him bearing fruit in our lives. 

We were also challenged to confess times where we have paid lip service to following Christ like the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. The opposite of this is to live a life of wholehearted obedience to God including in our prayer lives. 

This passage also encouraged us that no person is ruled out because of what they have done in their lives. Our relationship with God is one granted through grace and available to all who the Holy Spirit reveals it too. 

We see in this passage Jesus' righteous anger on display at those in the temple who had neglected prayer and instead focused on acquiring money & wealth drive by greed. 

We were encouraged to confess our neglect of prayer and greed in our own lives. So, that we can be free from these things and respond to Jesus' desire that we would prioritise time spent in his presence. 

We were led in a prayer that we would be radically generous church to the poor because our God is a radically generous God!

This sermon reflects on the powerful truth that Jesus is King over all the world! He is also our personal King when we receive him into our lives. We were encouraged to humbly receive Jesus' kingship, being obedient and submitting to all he has called us too. For he is an amazing King that became a servant for us and is worthy of all our worship and adoration!

In part 5 of this series Jeff spoke to us about the judgement day that awaits us all. This day answers the innate cry for justice within us either on the shoulders of Jesus or in eternal judgement. It allows us to forgive others because God the righteous judge has forgiven us and will judge that which has been done to us fairly. This day should also motivate us to share the good news of salvation through grace alone with those have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour so their names can be in the book of life too. Jeff lovingly ends with an appeal for the unbeliever to receive this good news and an affirmation of the confidence we can have if we have already done this.

Dayo encouraged us to heed the call of scripture to grow spiritually and into maturity. One of the ways we do this, is by hearing and doing what Gods Word says. We were also encouraged to lay hold of the promises in scripture and petition God about these. For he is a faithful and loving God who provides.

The most biblical rom-com reaches its climax in this chapter. We were challenged and encouraged to be sacrificial in our care for the vulnerable and needy as Boaz displays in this passage. But the main focus of this sermon was dwelling on the beautiful imagery Boaz's redemption of Ruth displays for how Jesus Christ our redeemer has rescued us from our sin. We were reminded that God has done this amazing act of redemption because he loves us.

This chapters narrative leads us to reflect on the shelter and rest that God provides underneath his powerful wings. We are encouraged to continue bringing ourselves to this place for comfort, security and spiritual refreshment. God does this for us because his covenant to his people is one of everlasting love.