The Great Gift Exchange | Rev. Greg Stepp
by Greg Stepp
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: John 1:1-17, Isaiah 9:6, Acts 2:38, Luke 2:7-14, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 8:23-27

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/greg-stepp--the-great-gift-exchange
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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if we could turn in our bibles tonight i don't have a long message it's 12 pages but don't worry it's front and back but it is double spaced so turn with me in your bibles to the gospel of john i'll take a little different view tonight look for a little different approach john chapter 1 and verse we know this scripture i'm going to read several scriptures here in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god can i get an amen the same was in the beginning with god all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not verse 6 says there was a man sent from god whose name was john the same came for a witness to bear witness to the light that all men through him might believe now he john was not that light but he was sent to bear witness of that light verse 9 says that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh unto the world he was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not verse 11 he came unto his own and his own received him not but as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of god even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of god verse 14 says in the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten as as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth john bear witness of him and cried saying this was he of whom i spake that he that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me and of his fullness have always received grace for grace for the law was given unto moses but grace and truth came by jesus christ father we thank you tonight lord that you gave us your word lord you told us very clearly that you've been there all along you were there at creation you've been there through every situation and lord you're going to be there when you call for your bride to come home father we thank you for your word we thank you for this day we thank you for each and every soul here those watching and listening online god we ask that your spirit touch the souls tonight touch my heart and lord let us be recipients of your mighty word that anointed word of god and we will give you praise and glory and honor in jesus name and the church said amen amen you may be seated in jesus name the bible in john here gives us an amazing description of of our savior and the witness of course of john the baptist and through this i said to myself i said what can compare or what shall i compare to the kingdom of god how can i compare to the kingdom of god and and i and i was trying to find a little analogy and i found something like this and anybody ever heard of a a white elephant exchange so the story goes that this man was at a party if you will and it was a white elephant gift exchange he was first to open a gift and and he opened a gift and the gift was a it was a toilet bowl coffee mug in a book about the marines he was a little dejected and soon next person goes and they open gifts and they start seeing these nice gifts and around and around and around it goes and there's dozens of people and they're opening these gifts now during this process though the one thing that he's hoping for is during this white elephant gift exchange what you can do is you can take the gift of somebody that you've already seen and let them open another gift you know somebody gets a real nice crystal bowl or dish yeah i think i'm going to take that well he is certainly dejected because he's got a toilet bowl mug and a little paperback book about the marines he knows nobody's gonna want that gift so it circles back around and the last person gets to open their gift there's one gift left there it's a small little box and the man says i think i'm going to take your gift the reason why he says that is because he's the one who wrapped that gift that was his gift that he had wrapped for that event and he knew what was in it so he sent it over the man who opened the first gift and he opens he starts unraveling this little box and then inside it's another box and inside it's another box don't you hate that i do that to my kids he opens up the last box and inside of it is a brand new key to a brand new porsche you see the kingdom of heaven we think we grab the worst things and often sometimes our choices we do don't we but then god comes along and says here open this one open this gift i will exchange yours and give you this tonight i want to title my message the great gift exchange the great gift exchange you know there's two very important events in a in a in a christian's life excuse me in a christian's uh uh process of of of living many many many christians i refer to them and and i don't mean this is any slight to anybody but i call them ceos they're christmas and easter observers they're ceos that's true they're out there churches will be packed tomorrow night for mass or mess or whatever and of course the easter they're all flock in and do their observance but the beautiful part about us being born again is that we celebrate this every day we celebrate this birth his death his burial and his resurrection every day we're not casual observers to christianity in that respect we're not casual observers to well it's christmas i guess i get a new outfit and i go to church and oh it's easter i get another outfit and a hat and go to church no we celebrate this every day every day and it's the it's that celebration that we find so exciting the the story of jesus obviously begins if you will at christmas his birth we know it wasn't december 25th but his birth we we get excited about that this time of year his birth oh hallelujah that child swaddling clothes laying in the manger it's a beautiful story because we know the end we know the end and that that story is what i want to talk about tonight because that is the great gift exchange and it started with his birth it started with his birth because this this this perfect loving holy righteous god loved his people so much that he didn't want any of us to perish in our sins he loved us so much i read that in the beginning was the word the word was with god and the word was god he knew that he didn't want us to perish and because of that one of my favorite scriptures isaiah 9 6 that child that was born wrapped in flesh god almighty he came for that exchange brother dean he came for that exchange i didn't know about it but sullivan i didn't know about it way too many years ago i was 31 years old when the lord opened my eyes the lord i went to church and started going to church in june baptized in july filled with the holy ghost in august what a journey it's been brother naomi and i'm so grateful for it i guess the only thing i'm sad about is the fact that i wasted 31 years amen anybody else agree with that it's true right man all that heartache i went through all that mind numbing losing brain cells i for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor the mighty god the everlasting father the prince of peace and and that jesus that baby wrapped in flesh would one day grow up 33 and a half years later to die on the cross to die on the cross he would take our sins and exchange it to give us eternal life now i can't put dollars and cents on any of that but i think i can fairly safely honestly say without any problem that we got the better deal amen i don't know of any other deal that i could ask for that would bring such precious truth and life to my to my existence he takes our sins we receive eternal life and so much more the bible says when we take up our cross and follow him when we follow him the exchange is made he takes our sins we grab our cross and say let's go what an exchange the greatest exchange boy i tell you know i i need to be really happy about that i need to understand how precious that exchange was now i just gave you the the shortest version of of the reason for christ if you will it wasn't elaborate but you know sometimes it doesn't need to be elaborate the things of god aren't so difficult because if we can understand in all of my sins in all of my days and all of the thoughts and trash that was in my mind for those years i came to an altar one day and said lord take it and you know what he did brother sullivan he said i got you i got you i got you what an exchange what an exchange but i believe i said i i i put this in my notes i said i believe what happens too often in in the religious world or or in our in our in our christian thought process is that people still think he's a child look every year we come to december 25th right it happens every year these messages it's it's it's a little hard sometimes to preach a a holiday message or or something because it's there it's been there the word says there's nothing new under the sun and it's just a different way to look at it so when i looked at it i said wait a minute what an exchange he gave my sins for eternal life that's basic it's simple and for someone out there tonight perhaps or listening who who doesn't understand that please let this word sink in tonight about that exchange about what it requires of us acts 2 38 says it very clearly we're supposed to repent be baptized in the precious name of jesus for what the remission of sins take him away here's the greatest exchange here's the exchange guys i'm going to take your sins away and you might get the holy ghost tell me brother or what does it say you shall receive the gift that's a that's a promised exchange that's a promised exchange all i have to do is repent and say lord i'm so sorry come to you with a meekness and a mouth as my heart go down in that precious water in his name and the exchange happens sins are gone oh and by the way he says then i'm gonna put my spirit in you i'm gonna give you some comfort i'm gonna let you live this life oh by the way i'm going to also let you live it more abundantly is anybody getting this exchange here is anybody seeing this exchange i know i'm preaching to people who've been in church for a long time but what i'm trying to get us to understand is yeah it's christmas but my my my what the lord has done in this exchange and when you think about it what a blessed time it is to celebrate his birth to celebrate his birth because that starts that exchange luke 2 and 8. and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and lo the angel of the lord came upon them in the glory of the lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid and the angel said unto them fear not for behold i bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people everybody raise your hand if you're all people you know what the plural of y'all is all y'all to all people to all people it doesn't matter your disposition it doesn't matter your color doesn't matter your creed doesn't matter tall short thin it whatever it doesn't matter it doesn't even matter what you've done again amen it doesn't matter what you've done because he said if you repent and you're baptized in the name of jesus those sins who that's the exchange it doesn't matter how deep that sin was doesn't matter how deep that myri reclaim was he's going to bring you out of it he's going to exchange all of that filth for his righteousness hallelujah for unto you verse 11 for unto you is born this day in the city of david a savior which is christ the lord and this shall be a sign unto you you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger and suddenly there was an angel a multitude and suddenly there was with the angel and multiple heavenly host praising god and saying my message from last night not singing they were saying glory to god in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men and and here's the thing that brother hammond said so perfectly and it was part of my notes and he got to before i did but it's so true except for king herod those guards that were sent to kill the babies the wise men who were looking for him except for them and the angels who were praising and saying glory unto god there was nobody else looking for that birth brother ham said they were five miles away in the city who knows how many jews were there did any of them come no five miles away can you imagine that being that close to the savior but yet they didn't come and he grows up he begins preaching at 30 and you know what brother young he's not a kid anymore he's not a baby anymore you see i think that's what happens sometimes because we get and i and i say we i see christianity let me say it that way gets tied up in that cycle it's almost like it was in ancient days where the high priest went in and gave that offering and the sins were rolled away they were just rolled they weren't given forgiven they were just rolled it seems like sometimes in christianity we come back every december 25th and we keep looking at jesus as just a little baby but i'm here to tell you tonight he grew up i'm here to tell you tonight he's not a baby anymore he is god almighty the everlasting father the prince of peace the mighty god amen you see he's not still in that manger he's not still there he is the everlasting god everlasting father he's grown up and he is our savior today i said the fact is that i don't want to serve a god quite frankly who stays in the manger i don't want to no i want to serve one that grows because if he grows we grow if we follow him if we follow him we grow amen how many here have grown in your understanding and wisdom of god all of us have doesn't matter if you've been here 15 years or 15 weeks but troy we grow we learn we listen we hear we watch we see it's just like a child growing up how do they learn they watch they listen they hear that's what we're doing it doesn't matter what your age is we're growing and that's the god that i want to serve brother carpenter says it and and we use it and i and i love the scripture god is great and greatly to be praised but do you know there's a comma with another part after that brother sullivan and it says god is great and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable greatness is unsearchable so what does that mean about my praise should it stop should it diminish no it should be growing to find that end that doesn't have an end but my my praise should be growing my worship should be growing great he is and greatly to be praised so my praise has to keep growing just like the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes he grew we need to grow that's part of the exchange that's part of the exchange we have to be able to grow ourselves i said in my notes i said i'm serving a full grown god because in all his power and all his glory he is mighty in everything he does to be able to seek and to save out of any situation that's a mighty god that's a mighty god now could that god wrapped in the flesh at one day old stood up if it would if you'd allow me to say it stood up in his crib and called the heavens down sure he could have absolutely absolutely but he didn't because he grew and he grew and he wanted us to see that growth he's more than a child he's more than a child more able to heal more able to deliver more able to grab the the the essence of every human and change it think about that everyone in here every one of us in here is different we were different before we got in church than we are now and he is continually changing us everybody heard the saying is the gift that keeps on giving he is the gift that keeps on giving because he keeps working on us he keeps working on me keeps changing me he keeps opening my eyes you know what happened this morning i woke up and went i had breath but he's the same yesterday today and forever that means he wants us to continue to grow in him second corinthians 5 and 21 says this god made him who had no sin to be sin for us who knew no sin so that in him we everybody say we might be made the righteousness of god in him in christ we are made righteous through him so i ask you tonight since he's asking us to continue to grow and that gift to continue to keep giving what do we have to give him tonight some of us have anxiety depression illness some of us have a stress in our lives right now some of us want to get rid of our past and for those who have not been filled with his spirit that's the greatest gift to give him what do you mean give him my past yeah give him your past give him your sins give him that thing that he actually wants to take away from you in exchange because jesus offers every one of us something better he offers his forgiveness anybody need forgiveness does he offer his hope hope in the midst of trying times he offers us hope does anybody feel like they've been loved by him count me in with both hands how about peace that passeth all understanding peace in our lives joy to the fullest a promise to work all things together for his good to then that love him and all the called according to his purpose that's that part about us picking up the cross you see he has for us so much to give so much to give and all he wants us to give him is our sins our anxiety our hurts our illnesses and lastly our hearts you see that's really it he says i'll take all that other stuff i'll take all that mess that you caused in your life i'll take all those sins that you stirred up i'll take all that trouble that you caused i'll try take all that hurt that you were but just give me your heart soul mind and strength that's all i want you see in this great gift exchange we have to make room for the gift we have to make room for the gift because if we don't make room for the gift he can't give it he can't exchange there's nothing he can't work but if we make room in our own selves for the gift that exchange will continue to happen that exchange will continue to manifest itself every day oh there'll be tough times but in the midst of tough times guess what he's going to bring you peace oh there's going to be some times when your spouse is in the hospital and you just don't know what to do you know what he's going to give you hope hope oh there's going to be times man when you just lord i don't know how i'm going to make the payments this month oh it happens and he steps in and goes i got it i'm going to take care of it for you you see but we have to make sure that we make room for the gift because that gift exchange won't happen if we don't have room in our hearts and our minds and our souls for that exchange for the gift that he wants to give us how many of us want peace and joy and hope and love in our lives i do amen but if we don't make room for it how's he going to give it to us how's he going to make how is he going to give it to us if we don't make room for it i said we ought to grow up and realize who we are and the opportunity that we have today i don't care if you're young or old i don't care if you've been filled with the holy ghost for 50 years i don't care if you've been there for 15 minutes but we have to make room for that gift we have to make room for that gift if we want to grow if we want to have our lives meaningful full of hope full of peace full of joy him working all things together for the good according to his purpose you see if remember when we make this exchange and he gives to us when we are filled with his spirit we take on his name don't we and in taking on his name we take on his power and his authority when we speak the name the name of jesus and in that exchange from my name to christ jesus i have power and authority we can lay hands on the sick we can cast out devils we can plead the blood over situations is anybody seeing this gift here this room isn't big enough to hold it anymore it keeps growing and growing but yet people sometimes just want to look back at that baby thank you jesus they go to the nativity scenes and they there he is there he is what a baby no he's my god he's my god he's almighty and all-powerful he's the one who came god almighty wrapped in flesh for me he's my gift i want to share him with everybody i want to share him he's more than child matthew 8 23 and i'll and i'll walk through it for just this just this just this minute for for for an illustration it's matthew 8 23 talks about the disciples following him onto the ship we know the story and the and the tempest the storm comes starts rocking that boat jesus is down in the bottom of the boat and he's asleep disciples are screaming bloody murder they just don't know what's going to happen we're going to die we're going to die we're going to die they go down and wake him i said lord we're going to perish help us why are you fearful oh ye of little faith you see i am the gift i am your gift why are you afraid he arose and rebuked the winds in the sea and there was a great calm and those men on the ship marveled saying what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey doesn't matter if we're on the sea doesn't matter from the air or in a car he can calm situations his gift to us is calm is peace when we call upon his name and we give him that praise you see mary doesn't have to take care of that baby anymore mary didn't have to take care of that baby after it grew up mary became that one that she knew who he was not only was he her son but he was her savior and that gift exchange she knew was coming his mother didn't have to take care of him but today we have to take care of ourselves and how do we take care of ourselves making that exchange making that exchange each and every day because that gift keeps giving that gift keeps giving when we stop giving to him our s our sicknesses our illnesses our sins when we stop that it doesn't come back down the exchange doesn't happen it doesn't happen i said we need to be active praise worship yes but prayer in jesus name all over the world people want to celebrate the birth of jesus but it seems like after that they want nothing to do with that man he's just one of three he's just one of three but i say today he is the almighty god i know beyond his shadow of a doubt my savior my rock my sword my shield my buckler he is my all in all and when i have that why wouldn't i want to give up in exchange all of my troubles all of my sins all of my worries all of my problems and say here lord take them they're yours and believe me i've been through enough to know he will answer and he'll take care of him can we give him praise right now thank you lord thank you lord we are so grateful for that exchange lord so grateful for that exchange musicians singers would you come so i ask everyone tonight those listening here in the auditorium what are you going to do with this man christ jesus what are you going to do with that promised exchange how do you seem today do you see him as the baby or do you see him as god almighty upon his throne you see that's the important part is what we see in him in our lives today i said just as you would talk with your spouse talk with your children talk with your friends we need to be speaking to that savior we need to be thanking him because i'm let me say it this way i was brought up my mother always made me write a note whenever i got a gift to say thank you christmas birthdays whatever just a little note that was fine because she said you need to remember the gift put it together for me if we don't talk to him every day oh jesus if we don't talk to him every day we're forgetting the gift we're forgetting the gift that he gave up on the cross if we don't send him a love note saying thank you for that healing thank you for that blessing if we don't send him a note saying hey thank you for breath this morning lord hey lord thank you for fixing that situation we're gonna forget the gift it's gonna go stale it's not gonna work he's gonna say they've forsaken me i gave my life upon the cross they don't even want to talk to me anymore a great gift exchange i pray you don't forget it i pray this has touched your thought process and your heart and your mind i'm so i i love the holiday i love the lights i love the the festivity i love the songs that we can sing but i love my jesus and i if i can say it this way i challenge you to write him a note to say thank you after the holidays and in february write him a note and in march write him a note and every day in april write him because that gift continues to grow he continues to manifest in our lives he doesn't bless me just one day out of the year not on his birth not on his resurrection but he blesses me every day and i want to let him know it if nothing else my prayer thank you for the blood on calvary man thank you for that blood that's one of my brother sullivan that's one of my oh man that's my go-to message that's like my candy stick the blood and i thank him for it every day because that was the gift it was his birth but his birth was done so he could die for our sins and bleed you know you never know how a baby's gonna turn out except this one we've heard the song mary did you know the last verse says mary lift our hands to him right now do we know tonight do we know that price do we know that exchange do we know how to do it yet mary did you know that your baby boy is lord of all creation mary did you know that your baby boy will run one day rule the nations did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect lamb mary the sleeping child you're holding is the great i am can we stand tonight and give glory and honor to that great i am that little child hallelujah born willing to go 33 and a half years later to that cross shed his blood in the greatest gift exchange that history has ever known lord we thank you tonight for that exchange your eternal life your life here on earth more abundantly you took my sins all you ask lord is for me to follow you all you ask lord is my heart and soul lord jesus lord jesus hallelujah will we make room for that gift tonight can we make room for that gift tonight we give you the praise and the glory and the honor this altar is open tonight for anybody who wants to give him some thanks for that gift exchange thank you