If You Knew

Christmas Eve
December 24, 2025

“If You Knew…”

Pray over Message

Before we begin, I just feel really compelled to get something off my chest.

*Sigh* I like to receive gifts.  There I said it.  I like it when people give me stuff. 

I know the Bible says it’s better to give than to receive – and I do love giving gifts.

• A luxury item
• A practical need
• Simple gesture

It’s just so touching how something that’s thoughtful can make you feel.

Think about the best gift you’ve ever been given…

• Go back to that moment
• Where were you, how did you feel
• Recall how the gift changed your life
• Was it a great adventure, a family heirloom, a childhood toy

For me it was a BMX bike my parents gave me when I was around 12 years old.  Words can’t describe it.  Fortunately, we have a picture!

This bike was a huge step up from the bike I had before…

• Mix-and-match work of art (various bike parts and random garden tools)
• Held together with duct tape and bailing twine
• Resembled one of Sid’s toys from Toy Story

This new bike blew me away!  For a couple of reasons…

• It was a huge sacrifice for my parents
• It was more than a bike.  It was freedom
  • Small town kid who could leave early and go anywhere, do anything
  • Could be gone all day hanging out with my friends
  • Bike wouldn’t break or impale me

Think about the gift you remembered earlier…

• The way it made you feel
• The experiences you had with it
• The way it impacted your life

Now, think about how you’d feel if you had never opened the gift.  Envision that same wrapped box or that gift bag or that package in the mail and picture yourself just setting it aside and never opening it.  Consider all you would have missed out on.

How devastating it would be if that gift was something of great value, but you never experienced it because you never opened it!

There are stories of treasures that weren’t opened or recognized, and their value was missed for years.  In some cases, until it was too late to benefit from the gift at all…

Stradivarius

• A violin – synonymous with “priceless”
• Meticulously crafted with high monetary value
• Can make beautiful music in the right hands
• This one wasn’t making music.  It was sitting in a closet
• Given as a gift to someone who thought it was an old violin and never knew the value

Wedding Envelope

• A plain envelope given as a wedding gift by a grandmother to a young couple

• Tossed aside in a drawer and soon forgotten

• Years later, found and opened it

• Stock certificates worth a fortune if they would’ve been opened earlier

• Their value was never realized

Sometimes the greatest treasures, the most valuable gifts, are overlooked because they are left unopened.  Simply because we don’t know or take the time to consider their worth.  But how different would our lives look if we truly knew the value of what we’d been given?  

Tonight, we’ve gathered together to celebrate the eve of Jesus’ birth.  Jesus – Who quite simply is the greatest gift ever offered.  But I wonder – how many of us have missed out on realizing the treasure of what’s been given to us because we never truly opened the gift.

John Chapter 4 tells the story of Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman at a well.  Jesus had approached her and asked for a drink of water.  Her response was to question why He, a Jewish man, would ask her, a Samaritan woman, for a drink.  Verse 10 tells us His reply.

John 4:10 “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is
who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink’, you would have asked Him, and He
would have given you living water”.  (NKJV)

“If you knew the gift of God…”.  It was an appropriate statement for Jesus to present to a woman who clearly had no idea Who she was interacting with.  And it’s an appropriate statement for us to consider this evening.

The gift of God is His Son, Jesus Christ, who offers forgiveness of sins and eternal life – the living water that He offered the woman.  That is really what we are celebrating tonight.

Yes, Christmas is when we think about and observe Jesus’ birth…

• We sing songs and put up decorations
• We tell the Christmas story with Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds, wise men
• We leave Jesus as a baby in the manger, never moving past that aspect of His life
• We consider His birth once a year and leave it at that

Talladega Nights

• Ricky Bobby’s family at dinner

• “Dear Lord Baby Jesus” or “Tiny Infant Baby Jesus”

• Ricky’s wife – “You know sweetie, Jesus did grow up”

• Ricky – “I like the ‘Christmas Jesus’”

• Continues praying “Dear Tiny Baby Jesus with Your golden fleece diaper and Your balled up fist”

• Chip – “He was a man.  He had a beard!”

It’s a funny scene, even if it is a bit irreverent.  But I think it’s a good reminder.  Even at Christmastime, we can’t just look at Jesus’ birth through the lens of nostalgia.  We can’t say, “well, I just like the Christmas Jesus”.  

• A baby has no power, no authority
• A baby is sweet, unthreatening and seemingly doesn’t ask anything of us

But Jesus wasn’t just a helpless baby waiting to be king one day.  He was God in the flesh who willingly humbled Himself so He could present Himself to us as a gift we could receive.      

When we limit Jesus to Nostalgic Baby Jesus (“Christmas Jesus”), we miss our need for His Lordship as Savior and King.

Jesus truly is the greatest gift ever given, but the true gift is not simply that a baby was born.  The true gift is WHY the baby was born. 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.
(NKJV)

Romans 6:23 “…the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

1 John 5:11 “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son”.  (NKJV)

Jesus’ birth is an incredibly humble, selfless act…

• The God of the universe entrusted Himself to His creation
• His birth is not the end of the story – He didn’t stay a baby in a manger
• He grew up to fulfill the purpose He was born in the first place – to become our righteousness
• We could never earn or achieve that on our own

And that gift is far more than we deserve.  But God loves us so much, He even goes above and beyond that.     

Remember I said I like to receive gifts?  I’m thrilled when someone wants to give me a gift.  But there are certain types of gifts that are even more exciting to me.  And those are the gifts that keep on giving.  

• More than a one-time occurrence or experience
  • Fruit-of-the-month club
  • Being taught a new skill
  • Getting a new tool
  • They are the best kinds of gifts

My childhood bike kept giving back…

• I didn’t ride it once and set it aside
• I spent years riding it, washing it, oiling the chain, racing my friends
• It was a gift every time I got on it

It’s the same with Jesus.  When we accept the gift of salvation through Jesus, that’s not the end of what He offers.  Again, if that’s all He offered, it would still be enough.  It would still be far more than anything any of us deserves.  But He’s so gracious and kind and loves us so much that for some reason He keeps pouring out His gifts to us.  Here are a few of them.

• A Transformed Life
  2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old
  has passed away; behold, all things have been made new”.
  (NKJV)

We don’t stay the same.  When we accept Jesus, He gives us the gift change.  Our hearts change, our minds change, our attitudes change, the way we look at the world changes.   

• • A New Identity
    John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
    become children of God, to those who believe in His name”.
    (NKJV)
    He welcomes us into His family by giving us the gift of adoption.  He says, “this is who you were (fatherless, lost, orphans), but it’s not who you are now”.  He offers to call us His own.  Where we used to identify with guilt, shame and regret, we now get to be wrapped in His righteousness and to be identified as His sons and daughters.
    
    
  • Peace with God
    Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with
    God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.  (NKJV)
    Because of sin, we are separated from God.  That separation causes us to be at odds with God, where there is conflict between Him and us.  The gift He offers is for there to be an end to the opposition.  To change our status from enemy to ally.  From alienated to reconciled.  To no longer have judgment hanging over us.  He offers us peace through faith in Jesus.
    
    

• Hope Beyond Our Circumstances
  Hebrews 6:19 “This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of
  the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under
  whatever pressure bears upon it] – a safe and steadfast hope
  that enters within the veil…”.  (AMP)
  Life is full of hurt and disappointment.  It’s full of worry and fear.  It’s full of all kinds of storms.  It’s easy to look around and feel like all hope is lost.  Like, what’s the point of even getting out of bed and trying?  I’m just going to be swallowed up by the waves of life as soon as my feet touch the floor.  God offers us the gift of hope that lifts our eyes above the chaos around us and anchors us to what is secure and eternal.  Our current circumstances don’t get the final say.       

God offers all of this to us through the gift of His Son Jesus Christ – whose birth we celebrate tonight…

• Born in a lowly stable and laid in a simple manger
• He grew up, led a perfect life
• Was still beaten, broken and died on a cross for our sins
• Rose again and offers us relationship with Him now and eternal life to look forward to

He is the greatest gift ever given.  We just have to realize the value of that gift.  To be humble enough and wise enough to accept it and fully open it.

I hope each and every one of you has an amazing Christmas…

• Do all the things and eat all the food
• Get all the amazing gifts
  • New truck with a big red bow
  • Dream vacation
  • Coolest tech gadget
  • Fat engagement ring

I hope that whatever presents you open tomorrow bring a smile to your face and joy to your heart.

But more than anything, I hope you’ll consider the gift of Jesus Christ this Christmas season…

• Fully open the gift He offers by fully opening your heart to Him
• He loves you and wants relationship with you
• Don’t reject Him.  Don’t set him aside.  Open the gift

Don’t let any more time slip away and get to a point where you look back with regret and say, “If I only knew…”.

Amen?