Cindy’s Recurring Christmas Dilemma

She was actually giving back what belonged to others.

Amy Carmichael 1 8 6 7 - 1 9 5 1

One of the best known and respected missionaries in the first

half of the 20th century. Gave up her comfort and safety

in order to give comfort and safety to abused children.

“You can always give without loving. But you

cannot love without giving.” A m y Ca r m i c h a e l

She was actually giving away what God had given to her.

Because God is love, God loves to give.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it

comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change

or cause darkness by turning. (GNT)

Miroslav Volf Free of Charge (2006)

“God is essentially a giver just as God is love…God is a giver more the way ducks

are quackers than in theway I’m a biker.”

Explain Volf’s comparison.

Matthew 7:11 As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things

to people who ask. (CEV)

Because God is love, God loves to give.

God, the Prodigal GiverLuke 15:29 But he spoke back to his

father, ‘Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have

never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to

have a feast with my friends! 30 But this son of yours wasted all your property on

prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!’ 31

‘My son,’ the father answered, ‘you are always here with me, and everything I

have is yours. (GNT)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16

God the Giver

God the Giver

Our Recurring Christmas Dilemma

Whatever we have to give that’s precious and priceless, God gave it to us first.

Because God gave us Jesus, we have been given the gift of God’s unconditional forgiveness…

…of God’s prodigal love

…of a radical new way of sharing this planet with everybody else

God doesn’t want us to give these back to him.

God wants us to give away his gifts to the world.