As we wrap up this series, I want to talk about the last gift I want for Christmas, which is a real love, not an “I love you now but tomorrow is negotiable,” kind of love. Not an “I love you as long as things go my way but when they don't...” kind of love. Certainly not the Hollywood kind of love that really is more lust than love. I want you to see today that real love comes from above. I want to use this message as a way to show us what real love is all about. If you think you really are a really loving person - a loving husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, or friend - get ready for a love checkup. Let’s see how your love measures up to the real love that comes from above. 

The biblical word “hope” means “certainty.” It doesn’t mean possibly or probably, but surely. It is a certainty based not on a feeling, nor an optimistic intuition, but it is based on God's Word. Having biblical hope means having a sound assurance in your heart that because of what God has promised, His plan for you will come to fruition and will not disappoint. With that in mind, in this message, I want to show you three things you can put your hope in knowing the seed of that hope will bear fruit and you'll be glad that it did. 

Do you know what a day trader is? These are high-risk investors who jump in and out of the stock markets often many times a day and they try to capitalize on price changes in the market. They have no interest in the companies of the stocks they are buying. They are just simply trying to make a buck. There are a lot of people in the church today who are day traders. They don’t know very much about God. They claim to have made some sort of a decision about Jesus, but they have never really surrendered their life to Him. They jump into church when they feel like they need to and jump back out when they don’t. They just want a God who will give them dividends in the form of blessings and leave them alone. That is exactly the kind of faith that is as worthless as a Christmas gift you got twenty years ago that no longer fits. I don’t want that kind of faith. And I’m sure you don’t either. Instead, I want us to have a redeeming faith, a renewing faith, a reviving faith. And I want to show you today the marks of a redeeming faith that we should all want for Christmas. 

As we wrap up this series on the family, I want to speak directly to the children. Whether you’re still living at home with your parents, or if you’ve moved out and started your own life but still have your parents around, this message is for you. If you are a child of God, then your goal should be to be a godly child. And while that is a responsibility you should take seriously, it’s also a responsibility your parents share with you to an extent. It takes godly parents to do their best to have godly children. Godly parents must provide leadership, and godly children should give followship. Again, if you are a child of God, your goal should be to be a godly child. So with that in mind, I’m going to give you three things you need to do to be a godly child.

So far in this series, we have talked to husbands, wives, and fathers. Today, we are going to talk to and about mothers. I know from both having one and being married to one that the dad may be the head of the home, but the mother is the heart of the home. I read one time where someone said, “A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.” That being said, it’s a tough task to be a mom, but thankfully Scripture gives us a great picture of what it looks like to be a model mom. In this message, we’re going to look at this example and learn from this model mom how to navigate through the tough times of life in such a way that the peace of God will comfort you, the joy of God will bless you, and the power of God will strengthen you.

I love what President Franklin Roosevelt said: “We may not be able to prepare the future for our children, but we can at least prepare our children for the future.” In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul gives fathers the best advice and wisdom on how to be the father your children need you to be. In a simple but sublime sentence, Paul shares with us four things we need to give our children to be the parents we ought to be.

Last week we talked about how husbands should give their wives leadership, love, and loyalty. We have already noted that Paul had a lot of strong things to say to the husband, even more so than he did to the wife. But now let’s now turn our attention to the wife. Paul lays out two principles for a godly wife to follow to be the wife that God wants her to be and to be the wife that her husband needs her to be.

I don’t believe there has ever been a marriage in the history of the world that did not end up happily ever after when the wife was the wife God wanted her to be and the husband was the husband that God wanted him to be. This week and next week, we are going to see what Scripture has to say about what it looks like exactly to be the kind of husband and the kind of wife God wants. In Ephesians 5, we begin with the husband. It is extremely important to note that Paul takes more time and gives more space to what he says to the husband than he does to the wife. In fact, he says three times as much to the husband as he does to the wife. So let’s look at what exactly a good, godly husband is to do for his wife.

Marriage is tough. Marriage is hard work. Dating reveals the best in you; marriage can reveal the worst of you. But that doesn’t mean marriage isn’t worth pursuing. Marriage was God’s ideal idea. It was His creation, and therefore it is meant for good. Does that mean it doesn’t come with challenges? Absolutely not. But it does mean that marriage can be an incredible tool of sanctification and a beautiful model of God’s relationship with us if we will lean into learning how God intended marriage to be. So with this in mind, let’s take a look at three principles of love and marriage we need to recapture in the present day.

As we wrap up this series, I’m going to share with you a one-on- one encounter that happened two thousand years ago that gives us the perfect example of how to engage people one-on-one with the gospel. God did not allow you to hear about what Jesus did for you, believe what Jesus did for you, and move you to accept what Jesus did for you just so you could just keep it to yourself. Salvation is not to be stored; it is to be shared. Not only is every Christian commanded to do evangelism, to share the Gospel, to tell other people about Christ, but God has also equipped every one of us to do it and given us the tools that we need. Let’s look at three steps we can take to share the gospel with others.