The Gift
by Raymond Sloan
December 2, 2021 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Luke 2, John 3:16

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

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as we get into these this series on the gift uh i i just want to begin with a couple of questions if i could all right now if my voice gets out of way then i'll i don't know i'll go to my elvis imitation i don't know uh but just bear with me christmas time we've already established that in the month of november it's dedicated for thankfulness right and then when we get to the month of december everybody's interested in end of classes or end of school uh probably you may get some time off from work some of us some of you may have to work but also you have family plans whether it's together by a tree or together without a tree or out of town i mean christmas can be spent anywhere right as long as you realize and recognize that it's christmas what is the story the topic of discussion that needs to happen at your house at christmas time what is it jesus and what do you read luke chapter two make a note of that luke chapter two some of y'all may not know that that's what you need to do watch this she's going to give me a gift she's even going to open it oh and for those who care it's sugar-free just in case y'all are worried luke 2 what does luke 2 tell you i'm going somewhere tonight what does luke 2 tell you what happened the birth of christ was on this wise now in christmas season mode i think [name redacted]'s excitement is because he's possibly going to hope for the very best outcome because he's been very not maybe so good this year that that'll be forgotten in december is that right [name redacted] y'all y'all are the same way don't act like you're not because that is the excitement of receiving a gift so again before we get our verse out tonight anybody here ever receive a special gift for christmas or have they all been just pretty blah one of the most special gifts we gave our kids one year my wife and i worked very hard to get this gift for our son and he opened it i think he was two years old and he was so thrilled that there was wrapping paper on him because that's all he cared about a bow and the gift that my wife and i spent the time to go by and wrapped guess what he did with it nothing but the paper and the bow got used quite a bit are y'all with me because the gift to him didn't have what value it simply had appeal yeah i saw the pretty red paper the bow and that's what attracted him and that's what frustrates most parents you know i don't know what again when i was when we had our kids at home and they were little and we'd buy them a gift like you're going to like this now bring that gift to me one time i that like one sorry one time my son got a gift and i broke it it wasn't on purpose but it was the first time to use it you've done the same thing and he said yeah brother dan you've done it too hadn't you you're going oh lord yeah many times and they didn't get that gift here's the point we relate a lot of what goes on at christmas time with gift giving and receiving does anyone here not like to receive gifts please identify yourself i'll make sure we carry that out no takers a dakota oh no you're sorry i thought that was your hand on it no we like that why do we like to receive gifts ethan why they were thinking about you what else herb useful like what a tool i will tell you this from experience my wife did not like that 40 piece socket set i mean i tried logan you're going to love this okay i'll use you know that doesn't work doesn't work let's go to john book of john watch this this is this is going to be cool book of john he's one of the gospel guys chapter 3 verse 16. does anybody know this verse yeah it's going to go on the screen is it there you ready some of y'all don't even have your bible out you just knew it by heart read it with me with a loud voice out loud for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son notice john's writing now the first chapter of john is very specific in the beginning was the word with god was world didn't know it but that's what it was and he goes into great detail about the principle of the purpose of jesus we get into chapter three and we notice god loves the church that he gave his only begotten son you know what it says it says what god so loved the world now if god so loved the world then why do we when we get in the church try to stay out of the world why because the world as we understand it with disconnecting from it is not the same thing as this this is the world meaning the concept that god had for all that he did god loves it if god loves something should we as well is that okay god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son he had from the beginning a plan we learned that from john 1 to that that word that became flesh would have a purpose for the world the idea if god gives that gift to you and to i to the world the idea then don't you think we should be i don't know appreciative thankful and if we can understand the power of that gift then we can truly understand the reason that he gave that son to the idea of the world if you have received what is a special gift that you would receive not just excuse me a tool but a special gift has anybody ever received a special gift i can give you an example few years ago christmas my mother gave to us kids there's five of us she gave to us an envelope in that envelope katie beth was a copy of a handwritten letter and there was a cd in there there was also on the front of the envelope was from years before so us kids got it mom went and sat down i opened mine up i got the paper out and i began to read it anybody want to guess what that was anyone it was a handwritten letter that my father had written to my mother while he was stationed in vietnam she made copies of it now that wasn't the coolest part the coolest part was well this is going to seem so old school does anybody know what a cassette tape is oh like like you got church now because it's a cassette okay let me ask it this way can anybody play a cassette tape now probably not a lot right but they had these little recorders you could buy these long and that but king had to push like nine at a time my dad had one in vietnam my mother had one in murfreesboro so my dad would record hey guys dad about 10 at night i had a real good week this week and my dad would record a message he would say sabrina i hope you're taking care of the you know mike i'll make sure you eddie make sure rhyming you're my favorite because everybody oh y'all are so bad he'd send that tape to my mom and she would play it for us kids and then mom in her quiet time would get hers out and she'd record one and send it to dad now maybe have a conversation to take nine months to get through how you doing i'm doing good huh talk about voicemail now come on come on sam stay on to me come on y'all thought i was done didn't you here here's here's i want to ask y'all a question how much could i sell that for to you what value does that have for you probably not much but for me it's in that drawer in my nightstand the second drawer what's in the top drawer no thank you that's a special gift y'all want another one many years ago my precious grandmother christmas you know grandparents are they're just ooey there's gooey am i right i mean you know they're all smoochy on you and stuff and my grandmother gave to all of us grandkids there's a whole stack of us a photo album and guess what was in the photo album pictures of us that she had collected throughout her life and she put those in a photo album and she gave each to the grandkids now i didn't realize what she'd given me brother daniel quite honestly i opened it it was really cool but then everybody makes fun of raymond and now my feelings are certain i'm joking because it's the fat cheeks come on he made what i'm talking about it's the gooby gooby doo but that's what my grandmother did i will ask the same question how much do you think i would sell that to you for there are pictures of me and my brother my mom and my dad and my aunts and my uncles my grandparents my people that i don't even remember it's in there because my grandmother sat down and for months she painstakingly went through her photo boxes i probably need to start this over anybody know what a picture is some of y'all are going well that's here on your phone you just scan through my man that's already done no i'm talking the picture kodak on the you know what i'm saying most of them have dates written on it because that's the only way god are wearing me out y'all don't know nothing about cool stuff special gift anybody else come on brother gibson special gift what'd you get how much is that worth to you special gift anybody yes ma'am just kim what's that worth is that a special gift here can i ask a question you put that in the yard sale what would you get for it it means nothing to no one else y'all hang on to me tonight hang on to me christian what'd you get who did wait who's paw paw grandfather how much would you take for that clock special you'll get where i'm coming from see some of y'all this year gonna get stuff and by next year you won't even know you had it you know you know how i know that because i go to yard sales too somebody's ever been to a yard says didn't i give that to you you're like oh lord i got caught i got caught upset i didn't want that little ugly thing i got to go do something special gift stay with me guys listen to me carefully i know some of y'all realize pastor i like history the part of history that that i like the most is the fact that common folk like you like me like folk i rub shoulders with every day in history they're written about because they did something or they didn't do something are you with me does anybody know who john schmuckatelli is john schmuckatelli anybody i don't know i made up the name years ago that's the one i use for falsta it quite yeah it's in my brain right he doesn't have any value to anybody but to me when i have a conversation i can bring up that guy and there's not a story written about him there's no history about him it's it's a name but i can bring up the name abraham lincoln and what does that mean to you it's okay abraham lincoln see i knew [name redacted] would jump up again he likes christmas and lincoln ready for it ready help me [name redacted] four score that's all you got you did good history is written about folk who leave a mark good or bad you know there's history about hitler but nobody wants to be hitler well some may there's a book that i recently read you guys know a few months ago my wife and i went to north carolina we went to visit the wright brothers museum that is very intriguing because aviation flying the ability to fly has always been interesting to me now my daughter knew that i'd bring this up because she gets bored with me telling me stories i told her you're going to miss me one day and you're going to wonder the details of a story that i told you didn't pay attention to when when they were eight and eight and ten years old their dad milton wright he was a traveling preacher for a certain organization he went out of this country to visit to preach to do church works what he did came home and as a lot of parents do how many parents travel come back and your kids ask the first thing they ask is what'd you bring me i brought you dirty clothes go wash them um he brought for his two youngest orville and wilbur this piece of wood by tim is about 11 inches long it was round on top of the piece of wood was a piece of flat wood that was about 11 inches and the dad milton hands it to his boys and they look at this piece of woods tied together what is this dad he said i found this in my travels and i knew it would excite you boys watch how it works and he took his hands and he placed the upright piece round here and he went and guess what happened to that thing they run over and with their eight-year-old hands ten-year-old hands broke it stay with me it's in this story i read dad brought him a gift and everyone sitting in this room in 2021 are recipients of the power of the gift of flight orville and wilbur wright the wright brothers because in 1903 their interest in flight got the best of them and after five years of trial test broken bones bruises the money that came out of their pocket to make it kitty hawk north carolina on the beach they flew 850 feet flew with controlled flight everyone to that point said it was impossible to do the gift of a stick changed the world i stand here tonight to begin this series about the gift god so loved the world he gave i can ask you this question tonight because we're in the holiday season the gift of jesus to you what has it meant duran what has it meant sarah what has it meant seth what has it meant no you can't use that everything else you can say that herb here's the point we talk in the month of november about being thankful and hopefully it changes our attitude we'll become more grateful right but we get the december and we know jesus was not born on december 25th you all know that don't you history reveals that is that okay everybody okay with that i want to make you guys aware of something i have not i'm 56 years old i know i'm young i have never bowed before christmas tree and worshipped it i have it now you may have i haven't i know there are people who who have issues with holidays and whatnot i understand there can be issues there's only one that i have an issue with and that's my birthday because they keep coming and i keep feeling them you know some of y'all are just nuts in this house pastor i wish i had just look at the energy that one i wish i had done i looked have you lost your mind with this body trying to do what he just did do you know what would happen i don't want that energy i want to be able to just kind of hold my own come on somebody i just want to be able to survive you know i want a little tucker just fall down flop boom get up and walk away and i'm like man ain't no way i'd get off that floor nine one hang on to me a minute when we talk about the father right giving to his kids i can promise you they had no idea brother gibson what was going to happen in their future in fact read the story they were written off considered to be knuckleheads ignorant they don't know anything long about 1905 1906 he now they now have hundreds and hundreds of hours of flight with a manned controlled airplane longest flight they did two hours and 12 minutes you know what their greatest challenge was fuel couldn't get more fuel the landing was simple they went to 4 500 feet in height imagine that in one of them little paper looking are you with me anybody else want to do that kind of stuff somebody like yeah yeah until you crash and burn and break half your bones are you with me but they kept a gift that doesn't do nothing for none of y'all to me i'm like lord a simple thing that probably cost a few pennies change the world hang on to me a moment god so loved the world he gave his only begotten son do you realize that you are a gift to this world because you've been baptized and buried in the name of jesus christ this world has the greatest gift ever and you're the one that presents it to them you understand what i'm saying you think just it's happenstance again i'll i'll say part of what i said on sunday some of y'all come in here half dead dragging your old body and just trying to make it but when you get in here the holy ghost kitchen worship happens and prays and and you lift up the name of the lord because you realize god has one more time blessed you understand church when you walk with jesus the gift that god gave this world is represented and it is working it is functioning the gift that i'm talking about in the month of december is simply this i cannot tell you how great how wonderful how perfect how pure mighty excellent incredible and all the other words that i could talk about how god is i can tell you what it's from me tim but if you'll ever fall in love with what god gave the idea then you in the midst of your worst nightmare can have the greatest smile on your face joy in your heart realizing god gave me a gift and i believe in it man didn't fabricate it they can't look at this bible and tell me it was just somebody put it down hey you can take that word if you want to put it away but i'll stand here and say i still believe in the old rugged cross i still believe that the power of the blood of jesus can wash away sins you know how i know that because the greatest and most special gift in my life was the night at a junior high youth camp on a wednesday when i received the wonderful gift of the holy ghost and i spoke in other tongues as the spirit gave utterance you know how why that's such a special time come on somebody you need to recognize the fact he didn't have to do it but he did and when i come up off the altar that night i didn't know what was going to happen in my future i was just glad to get out of the sweaty altar soaking wet snot everywhere je soaked through my clothes it's a july wednesday night 198 000 degrees but i staggered out of that tabernacle at that junior high camp something has happened to me something came into me something got a hold of me that gift that god gave to the idea of a world a love a pattern a principle all of a sudden came alive in me it wasn't just grandma's story now it wasn't just my mom and dad talking about something that they had experienced it was me now going to the phone to call mom i got the holy ghost tonight and my mom dropping the phone shouting of it why because she knew she couldn't give me that gift come on some of y'all it's been so long since you've spoken to you can't remember when you received the holy ghost i'm going to be honest and some in this room i'm going to be this look i love you not mad i'm not i'm not trying to play you down i'm simply telling you if you'll ever recognize the power of the gift and what it brings into your life into your family under your job in this community wherever you are okay i'll ask you this i'll keep an eye on the clock what power does the gift from god what power does it have in your life come on answer me somebody what power keep you sane all right wait wait now hang on ask your neighbor are you in your right mind come on ask him now if you're not don't feel bad just look at me you don't have to look side left or some of them right now trying to convince you i ain't even going to ask you that because i already know the answer you're like well no no no no come on now let me let me at least plead my case right i mean you know what it's like to know that the power of god works regardless i know there are people sitting under the sound of my voice you're online you're at home wherever you are and you have failed miserably i'm i'm saying you failed miserably you could not have done a worse job with your life with your choices and your decisions i'm telling you you know how i know it because the fruit you drag into this place hear me but for some reason god so loved the world that he gave you his only begotten son that if you could believe in him you could be saved pastor you're saying i just got to believe yeah because if you believe you'll follow anybody here believe they can get a million dollars in the mail tomorrow some of y'all excited yeah connor how will you get it do you okay do you even know where the mailbox is it's on the computer right it's called the e-mail thank you con he responded because he wants a million dollars right yeah you thought i was gonna pull it out of my pocket and hand it to you yeah okay whatever but you know what you could do you could learn the power of the gift you could learn you could learn how you stay in your right mind you can learn how it helps you learn and grow and mature come on anybody here pray for wisdom i pray every day god give me wisdom knowledge understanding i know there's stuff that god puts in this gourd that i don't know how it got there i know there's also a whole lot of things that i've studied and i've had an experience brother gibson and i put there and when god wants it he brings it out y'all listen to me i'm telling you the truth i've come to understand in my little short life 56 years that there are experiences and things that i've been through that i had no idea why i was going through them until god brought it out until god made an opportunity y'all hear what i'm saying i can give you unlimited things that have happened in my life and i looked at that and said well that was strange and god's behind the scenes saying no it wasn't i needed you to be here so i could make this happen there and you received that so this could connect with this and then you'd be in it you think it's just a roll of the dice i refuse to believe that god lets me live every day with just a happenstance i know my word tells me god orders my steps i know that god puts you in places and positions and if you were sensitive to the gift you would recognize turn left right now open your mouth and say to somebody what's your name and god would begin to open doors some of y'all young folk don't understand this because you can get on your thumbs and make it all happen now this can i be carnal for just a moment y'all think pastor's lost his mind but i have never now this may happen and some of y'all may have a testimony about it i don't know but i've never seen anybody receive the holy ghost texting i mean what would you text whoa oh yeah huh my brain works so wrong sometimes i've been noticing seth around town these real estate agents they've been putting their pictures on their signs house for sale you may not i don't know i wouldn't put my picture on that you ugly you know what i'm saying and now y'all act like you don't think the same thing but you're going to go you may notice that well now somebody cuz they smart on on the computer yeah i'm gonna date myself you could take your picture and it'll change it into an animated face will you call that huh caricature and my neighbor do ronaldo mean i don't know what is it you know what saying yeah my mom did sister kathy she's got one if you get something from her it's this cartoon looking character with gray hair and a bun my mom has one she's 82. i'm like you get that it's an old lady sitting there like you know anyway if i had one if i had wanted to be walter what are you looking at that'd be me said i'll just say it you know you just always wanna be mad anyway y'all tell me y'all like who is not everything you're like um listen to me carefully to me carefully i'm noticed though on those signs now that this lady for an example she's got that image on there pointing to a house for sale and i went that's a neat idea yeah i said that's what i should do you know people have said well pastor why don't we put your picture on the website and i said man i want people running off put my wife's picture on there show them the glory show them the anointing i get i get chocolate okay hey almost i mean y'all eat my time listen to me because of the inability to be real in our society to be real i mean you know when you come face to face with god you gotta get real when you understand the power that god can change your life when it you drag yourself bring yourself run to an altar and get in the presence of god you will recognize the fact that you are nothing and he is everything but he wants to be your everything and you'll put on one of the ugliest cry faces and you'll put on one of the ugliest things just getting all with god because it won't matter what you wear it won't matter what your hair looks like or anything else you will be lost in the presence of the lord god and you will recognize beyond the shadow of a doubt there's a gift that was given to you and when you understand that you'll then notice within yourself you know what take this whole world but give me jesus god loved the world he loved the idea he loved the concept he loved everything about it and because he loved it he adored his plan he said i'm gonna make a way for people to be saved from themselves their sin and what the enemy is trying to do for them and if they'll believe in that plan that'll be the greatest gift they ever receive in their life i'll let me ask you this way am i landing is coming down does anyone in this room have the gift of the holy ghost lift your hand and if you're okay with it wave it come on if you're all right with it put both hands up come on now wave them around listen what you're doing right now the atmosphere the air that's in this room you would make orville and wilbur proud because you are disturbing the air and there's something happening in this room because you recognize the gift of god that he's given to you through the blood of jesus christ and you understand that anointing is bigger than a sunday church service or a wednesday bible study but it is what gets you out of bed on a monday it's what picks you up on a friday when you're broke it's what helps you in all of a life situation god so loved the world he gave you a gift if you'll understand the power of a gift it can revolutionize your family your messed up life you'll understand his grace you'll understand his mercy you'll have the concept and understanding that god is indeed in control of everything worry and fret and strife and fear they won't have any place in you stand with me please what do you think daniel said in the lion's den i ain't never been here before i don't know what these guys are about come on 2021 somebody gonna make a meme out of it right hmm and i don't even like cats and don't nothing fit here sir nothing he can't i don't fit with a lion hmm don't bother me a chair like a lion tamer they're not a chair and a demon of lions but i'm convinced oh god help me stay i'm convinced that early in the morning daniel would open his window and he'd bow god of glory jehovah you have been god from the beginning and you are god right now i worship you i bless your name i magnify i exalt you i keep you lord god in perspective fear doesn't have to run over me because i'm praying to you the things of this world don't have to stop me because i'm praying to you and then he shut the window but guess what what happened in the midday he'd show back up at the window i don't care who's watching i've come to just love you god you've been good to me lord you've always been there for me you're the answer to every prayer that i can pray you're the anointing lord that touches me from the top to the bottom when i go through the valley of the shadow of death i'm not afraid i'm you're with me i'm with you we're okay and he'd get up and shut the window but at the evening hour i got to get to my window he understood in the lion's den none of this looks right but i'm here because of him come on y'all know the story anybody here on sunday is going to hear this story the next morning the boss man comes running to the rock move the stone daniel you in there what'd he say livo king god help me stay on this see uh 2021. i done told you you can't shut me up i'm a child of god we we would we stand firm we declare it out of the lion's den what daniel do live o king you might have had a bad night's sleep and you may have been worried about me and you may have wondered what happened to me hear this king i'm the same as when you put me in here and when i'm about to come out i didn't have to shake hey friend you hear me i have stood on the rock and i have shaken but the rock never shook under my feet i stood firm because i know in whom i trust in whom i believe i know who can cleanse blood and make it clean i know who can drag alcohol out of a body in a second i've watched it i know that drugs can be pulled out of a body i've seen it happen i know i have seen with mine own eyes eyeballs made and put into sockets where they're wording and i saw that i saw the legs of a baby straightened out i saw that i explained to you sunday how god touched my body as a teeth y'all hear what i'm saying to you god so loved the world he gave and the power of that gift will get you through any situation in life it's eight o'clock on a wednesday night i gotta ask you before we go home is there anybody that'll run to this altar and spend some time thanking the lord god for the gift that he's given you anybody realize the power of that gift come on get to the altar lord i've just come to love you and thank you i've come lord god in a midweek service to establish my feet upon the rock one more time the shure foundation i know in whom my strength that lies i know in whom my power and anointing comes it is the greatest gift that i have ever received and i just want to come tonight and thank you for it oh come on somebody you want to thank him for it come on put a praise in your mouth and give it to god put a thankfulness in your heart and offer it to the lord god you've been good to me god you've been good to me the greatest gift that i could have ever received was the power of the holy ghost hallelujah oh come on somebody realizing right now the lord's been good to you the anointing of the lord has been right in your life god has ordered your steps he has taken you places he has raised you up he has flown into your life joy and peace in the holy ghost you've been good to me lord yes you have now i know it's midweek and i realize that the the you got stuff going on i do too but i'm going to tell you something if i ever take advantage of the fact that the lord loves me in spite of me and he's got a plan for me he had it from the beginning if i'll understand that then i got a feeling there's a whole lot of stuff that i put myself through that the lord looks at and says won't you won't you just stop i want one won't you just quit fighting figuring out and why don't you let me i know what our problem is we want to be on the committee now lord this is the plan i have for my life i need you to get on my committee because connor needs a million dollars lord i know it's gonna get it see if we would i got a feeling i don't know again i ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer but i got a feeling if we'd get off that committee and step aside and let god be god and come around the front where he's looking at us and we just love him and every step you take you'll be able to say put me in a lion's den lord i'm okay put me in a furnace lord i'm loving you some of y'all in here your testimony would simply be lord you put me in a terrible family but i love you everybody look at pastor for a minute some of y'all might even say lord you gave me a terrible spouse oh don't say nothing but you love me anyway i know all the parents look at me lord you just gave me some terrible children but you love them and you love me you understand because no matter what goes on how many knows you can get another job if you lose this job come on uh just in case you haven't seen hardee's is higher and then mcdonald's you know saying you go down the list right sign on bones twenty thousand dollars i saw the other day that was for a stay-at-home food tester person nobody took the job it was like whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa back up listen to me careful i'm done god so loved the world he gave he gave us the greatest gift we could ever ever need he gave us the power and the purpose of his son jesus if you're thankful for that before you go home lift your hand just thank him lord i thank you for being my lord i thank you for the possibilities daily thank you for the anointing lord in the truth of your word i thank you lord for the for the the glory god that comes when i get into your presence i love you jesus and i'm so glad that you're leading me help me lord god to stay off the throne and let you stay there and help me lord god to be in the position to where i can just love you and follow you and trust you go with us this week lord let the hand of the lord be upon our lives i pray for every family i pray lord for every individual every heart every home that's here if the glory of the lord reside abide with each one of us we'll love you for it lord it's the season god where we can become so distracted and sidelined with things of the world but i don't want to do that lord i want to always always be thankful for you take somebody's hand right now lift it to heaven lord bless the church family anoint my friend anoint lord my my brother my sister god give grace where they need it mercy god show them lord speak to their hearts i know you can speak into their lives lord i know you want to help us god to hear with heaven's ears the voice of god as it speaks give us guidance and direction from the remainder of this week in the name above every name jesus jesus come on love him before you leave come on love the lord before you leave i love you jesus you're holy god thank you for the gift the power of the gift in jesus name