The Gift of Christmas Pt. 3 - Pastor Greg Addison - December 28, 2025

Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.

You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you, Casey, for leading us in worship today in choir and orchestra.

Well, good morning.

It's great to see you this morning.

I know it's always a little bit weird the week in between Christmas and New Year's, but it is a great time to worship and it's a great time to encourage each other.

Brag on what you uh got for Christmas and all of that.

Uh it's a good opportunity for us to walk in the park in from the parking lot to our seats and try to walk off at least a little bit of what we've been eating for the last three days, right?

So I hope you've had a wonderful holiday, a great Christmas.

I hope you have a wonderful week this week, kind of, you know, getting some time off, hopefully around New Year's and all that.

But I also want to remind you this week, we start our journey of studying God's Word together chronologically.

Beginning on January 1, you're going to start your reading.

So you may have a holiday from work, but you don't have a holiday from Jesus that day, right?

So we're going to go ahead and get started.

Uh you will see the uh uh all the bookmarks out there if you need those, the journal if you need it, whatever you need, however that works, to get ready for the uh holiday, uh past the holiday and get started on January 1 to do our chronological reading.

So you'll see there from the picture on the screen that the first day is Genesis 1 through 3.

Then you'll keep reading, but I'm gonna do the sermon on that Sunday, first Sunday of January, mostly from Genesis 1 through 3.

And so that'll give you an opportunity to see how that'll work.

You'll read and you'll study that week, and then I will preach and it'll fill in, kind of encapsulate that week to some degree.

And uh and so we'll walk through that journey together.

I want to encourage you, find a partner, find a couple of people, have some coffee, talk through it together, uh, spend some time, encourage each other in this journey.

It's a wonderful, uh, gonna be a wonderful experience.

This week, Janet got excited because she started Revelation and she is on track to finish this year on time.

So that's awesome.

So it was a real encouragement to me and excitement.

I've been kind of tracking along with her and our kids as they did it, uh, just trying to keep up with what they were doing, how it went.

It was a part of that discussion process as Matt and I were praying through, uh, making this decision for our church to go through this chronological study together.

And so I was really proud of her and excited, and it got me just ready for uh January 1.

So I hope you get there.

I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 2, and we're going to finish our gift of Christmas series, and it will kind of help set up, uh, I hope and pray uh this week as we get started on that journey.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

As you know, we've been talking about Jesus as the gift of Christmas.

I know we got lots of gifts, and I'm sure they were wonderful, and I got lots of them, and we got to give lots of them, and it was great fun.

But Jesus is the greatest gift and most important gift of Christmas.

And we started off talking about God's heart as the giver, and he gave out of his love for God so loved the world that he gave, and we talked about uh some aspects of the gift and all of that.

Well, today I want to talk a little bit about the aftermath, the moments after Jesus was born.

Now, as you know, many of you know, I grew up in Memphis and I grew up at Bellevue Baptist Church, and there our pastor was Dr.

Adrian Rogers, if you're familiar with him as a preacher and all that.

I don't say that a lot of times, you'll hear me say, the pastor where I grew up, uh, that kind of a deal.

But he was a great pastor and a wonderful leader and one of the greatest preachers of God's word I've ever been exposed to.

So it was a blessing to grow up with him.

We learned so much from him.

One of the things he would say when you would hit some interesting little tidbit in scripture or some moment that you wondered, well, why in the world is that in there?

He would always tell us, look, this is God's word, so he put it in there for a reason.

It must be there for a reason.

Because he put it in there.

And so here's kind of one of those interesting little moments that we're gonna look at today, and you figure it's got to be there for a reason.

It's more than just a head scratcher kind of moment where you say, hmm, that's interesting.

God put it in there for a reason.

So let's read in Luke chapter 2, and we're gonna, again, just review quickly the birth moment, and then I'm gonna point out this moment that we're gonna think about today.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

The Bible says in Luke chapter 2, verse 4, it describes again, and Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and the family line of David.

Luke 2:4

And again, of course, we know from history what's happened is there's been a tax and a census that's been combined, and people are having to go back to the place of their birth and register so they can do a census and take this tax.

So the Bible says in verse 5 to be registered, and that's what that means, along with Mary, who was engaged to him and pregnant.

That's a very significant phrase we know.

We talk about Jesus was born of a virgin.

Verse 6, while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him snugly in cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them at the lodging place or the places where you'd stay, the inn, that kind of a deal.

So there's that moment, there's the birth, and then we know wrapped around that, there's a star in the sky, and the virgin birth, and the promise of Jesus being the Messiah, and you'll call his name Jesus, and all of that.

Then she has all the shepherds come running up, and they're just aghast because of the sky is exploded with angels, as we talked about last week, and all of that's going on.

She's got all this craziness, all this everything going on, on top of having given birth.

And then here's this verse.

This verse just tucked in at the end of that.

But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.

So you think, well, that's got to be there for a reason.

Now, I was thinking this week because we were with our family like you were with yours, and uh it was Killian's our grandson's second Christmas.

Uh, he just had his second birthday in December.

We're kind of weird as a family.

All of our birthdays are all in December and January.

So Killian was December 1, so he held true to that.

He's all good.

Mabry is pregnant.

This child we know is going to be a rabble rouser because he is not coming in December or January.

But the rest of us are all in that time.

Our son Grant is his birthday, is tomorrow, December 29th.

Mabry, our daughter, her birthday is January the 3rd.

Janet and I both in January, also.

So it's kind of, we're all crammed in there.

So here we are, and I'm thinking through this.

You know, she's just given birth, and you think about all of that entailing that.

If you think about when your kids were born, or your grandkids, or somebody in your family, or whatever, you think about all that time, and you think about all that goes on in that.

And I was telling with Chaffee Campus this morning, I remember when, I remember the moment, I'll never forget it, when Mavery, I saw her for the first time, not in some grainy little ultrasound thing that looked like, you know, the radar deal on television, the weather radar thing.

And, you know, she's like, there she is, she's the baby.

And she comes out and the doctor does whatever, and then he holds her out and he says, Do you want to cut the umbilical cord?

And I'm just overwhelmed in that moment.

I mean, we've just had birth and all of that, and I don't know what to do, and I'm thinking, and so I just blurted out, no, I don't want to do it.

And at that time I was still practicing law.

I was a lawyer in my first career before God called me to ministry.

So I just blurted out, no, and I went to law school to make sure you did it correctly.

Well, he didn't think it was as funny as we think it is.

But I what I know, I'm just overwhelmed in all this.

And I remember thinking, that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, ever seen.

And then I remember thinking, oh my gosh, what have we done?

This is a human being that we're responsible for, you know.

And then I remember thinking, I never knew what love at first sight was till now.

You know, it was just it was just incredible in that moment.

And so you read something like this and you're tempted to think, you know, she's a mom, she's just given birth, and she's kind of thinking through that.

But that's not what the Bible says.

It says she treasured up all these things.

And so sometimes we've got to work through the black words on the white page coming alive.

God is describing an experience that happened here.

And so I want you to think about what all this means for Mary.

She's finally caught her breath.

She's there, she's got the baby.

Picture in your mind, Jesus is just fallen asleep, he's just fed, and she's got all those mommy things going on that are typical for mommies.

But she also is thinking, holy cow, this is the son of God.

She's thinking, how in the world is this happening?

She sees Joseph taking care of something over there, being a dad, trying to take care of business, make her comfortable, and she's thinking, he knows this is not his child.

And I remember the first conversation when I had to tell him that I'm pregnant, I had to tell him that God made me pregnant.

Are you kidding?

How's that conversation go?

And he comes back later and he says, Listen, the whole God made you pregnant, the angel spoke to you thing.

I get it, because the angel came to see me also.

And she's thinking, I'm overwhelmed with this man who has taken on this responsibility with me that had nothing to do with him, and he believed all this craziness, and he's there taking this step of faith with us.

You think about all of those shepherds and all of that, and they come rushing in there because you're not gonna just go walk in and politely tap on the door and say, Would you mind if we see the baby or whatever?

And it's not what's happening here.

They've just seen a multitude of angels explode in the sky and tell them God has sent them the Savior of the world.

Man, they're gonna go overwhelm that thing, and half of them, man, they don't know what to do.

Half of them fall on their face, half of them are stepping over each other because they've never seen the face of God before.

And they want to see the face of God.

And she's there as a mother, and all of this craziness is going on, and the star is up there.

And you think about this.

They all leave and they've told her an angel army told us that this is the savior of the world that God has sent.

And she thinks back to when she was pregnant early on in those early months, and God sent her to live with her cousin Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, who also is having a miraculous birth.

Elizabeth, who's way past childbearing years, and her father is way past childbearing, and her husband is way past childbearing years.

And yet God gives them a miraculous baby, and that baby we know becomes John the Baptist, who is the forerunner for Jesus, the prophet who is preaching about Jesus and the Messiah and identifies him first as a Messiah.

And you think she is married, Elizabeth is married to a priest who knows the word of God and taught the word of God, and you know that she knows the word of God.

And Mary is thinking back with all this savior business to times when she was walking in the cool of the day, these two pregnant ladies and her older cousin mentoring her and sharing with her.

She says, What in the world does the Messiah mean?

What does it mean I'm carrying the Savior?

And Elizabeth teaches her about Isaiah and the prophecies of her baby.

He will be the Lamb of God.

We know what happens to lambs.

That lamb that is without blemish, it is taken to the altar and it's sacrificed and it sheds its blood as the picture of the Lamb of God who would come and shed his blood for our sins.

And she's thinking, that's my child.

And she's looking at this precious baby and she's looking at his face and how sweet he is and perfect and been born.

He's asleep and he's peaceful.

And she remembers reading through Isaiah with her cousin.

And when the Bible says he will be beaten beyond recognition, and by his stripes we are healed.

And she is trying to process all of this.

And one version that we sometimes read from and have memorized, it says, Mary pondered these things in her heart.

I love that because that gets a bigger picture that speaks of all of this that she's trying to think through.

But I love this version because it breaks down for us what pondering means.

You think about the magnitude of what God has done, and the magnitude of the promises that God has made to her, and the magnitude of this experience of God using her to bring salvation into the world.

And she is overwhelmed with all this, and she can't help but sit there and work through what all of this means and consider what it means.

Now, let me just tell you this.

In all of the magnitude of that and the majesty of angels and Jesus coming as the Savior and the miraculous night in which he was born and what it means to Mary and Joseph, let me tell you what.

The day that you were saved has all the majesty and miracles and eternal magnitude of God as the same day in which Jesus was born.

That is the significance and the worth and the eternal value and the impact of the day that you were born again.

It is equal in measure in every way to the birth of Jesus.

Because he was born so that you and I could be born again.

They are attached and connected, and the promise of God providing a savior was the promise of God providing a savior to you and me.

And so the day that you were saved and you gave your life to Christ, it was the culmination of what Jesus did when he was born.

It was the purpose for his coming.

And so the day that you were saved has all of the same eternal value and majesty and magnitude of the day that Jesus was born.

When was the last time that you pondered that in your heart?

Why do we lose this incredibly powerful value and depth of what God has done in our lives?

Let's think about that for a minute and break it down.

There are three concepts I want you to see here.

These three concepts, when it breaks down this idea of pondering treasure, heart, and meditating.

Treasure, heart, and meditating.

It says she treasured these in her heart and she meditated on them.

So let's think about those concepts and what it means for us.

First of all, heart.

Let's look at the word heart, right?

Now, here's we think about what the word heart means.

The word heart in scripture means, and in Jewish culture, when scripture was written and all that, heart is the essence of who I am as a person.

Your heart is who you are.

Now here's what Jesus said to us.

Remember, they asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment?

And he said, to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

So heart is the overarching culmination of all of that.

And it's broken down by mind, soul, and strength.

Soul is that thing that makes me Greg.

It's my humanity.

Mind is how we think and how we work.

Body, that's our strength expressed and all we do.

And that heart is the essence of all of that.

And so when you read heart, it's the essence of who it is.

Now here's what it says that she treasured these in her heart.

All of who she was was invested in this moment.

Why?

Because the value of this moment demanded all of her to be invested in this moment.

How could you not be moved emotionally?

How could you not be challenged mentally to think through and to process all this together?

How could it not affect you physically, even beyond the giving of birth?

She is moved.

It's powerful.

She feels emotions, like there's a stirring in all of this.

And she's considering what all of this means in the fullness of her person and who she is.

Listen, when Jesus saved you, he saved you from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet and all of who you are.

You don't just give your Sundays twice a month to Jesus.

It is all of who you are invested in your walk with Him.

When we describe being saved, we talk about you take everything you've been, everything you are, and everything you ever will be, and you give it all to Jesus.

And all of us should be invested in Him.

It's not a mental exercise when somebody at work says something woke or liberal or whatever, and you get all offended and you defend your faith or whatever, and then you go back to doing whatever you're doing.

That's not what it is.

There is enough in our faith to challenge us intellectually, and there is enough in our worship, and times we consider what Jesus did for us to move us emotionally, and there are times when you're making a choice of faith.

I used to describe it this way: they are gut-level, gut-wrenching, clenched fists, lock, jaw steps of faith.

That we step out in believing God's promise and we stand for who we are, or we get involved in what He has called us to do, or we're sharing Jesus or whatever it is, and we're all invested in all of that.

The Bible says in this pondering idea, this treasuring deal, it was all of who she was, was invested in this consideration.

As you head into January 1 and you think about either your quiet time, if you're gonna do something else, or if you're doing this Bible journey with us, it should involve all of who we are.

So often, Jesus gets our leftovers.

Now, you know, leftovers are cool at Christmas time, right?

I mean, it's awesome.

One of my favorite things to do is after you've eaten a couple of turkey meals, is you make a turkey sandwich with the smoked turkey.

Now, this is not lunch meat, that kind of nonsense, right?

This is like real turkey that you smoked and you eat, and you put a little cranberry on there, and you put some mayonnaise on there, and like, oh my goodness, that's like awesome.

Leftovers are awesome at Christmas time.

But your leftovers are not awesome to Jesus.

My leftovers, it doesn't mean the same thing to him.

I'm supposed to be invested fully in who I am.

Let's look at the next concept.

You go from heart to meditating.

I found this definition this week.

It's incredible.

This is what it means to meditating.

Meditation is a concept that is taught all throughout Scripture, it is all over the Word of God.

Here's how J.I.

Packer explains it.

Meditation is the activity of calling to mind and thinking over and dwelling on and applying to oneself the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God.

That's an all-in.

I'm invested fully in this process.

It is an activity of holy thought consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.

That's what meditation is.

This is not just having a cool thought about something.

This is I am sitting down with the word of God, and I am taking all of who I am, and I am speaking to and searching for all of who God is through his word, and in this time we are meditating, and I am invested because of the intrinsic value of my salvation and God's word.

And that brings us to the concept of treasure.

Think about what treasure means.

Now, I had that quote up there a minute ago from Jesus where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What does treasure mean?

It means that I am deeply honoring and valuing something for its own intrinsic worth and value.

The Bible says that Mary treasured all of these things in her heart.

She treasured them.

Why?

Because of the value that God had met as promise and brought a Savior.

The value that God had stepped into her life and used her.

The fact that God had stepped into the life of Joseph and he was a man of such godly character that he believed and stepped out in faith and stepped into this mess with her because he loved the Lord and he was honorable before God.

And God had done that in his life.

The intrinsic value of God working in the life of her husband.

The intrinsic value of the fact that God had accomplished his promise of sending a Savior.

All of that is worthy in and of itself for you to invest all of yourself in that truth.

Again, the Christian life is not something to be played at.

It's not something that you do with sort of one eye and half effort.

It's not something that you play around with and you give your leftovers.

The Christian life is so valuable in and of itself that everything in it demands my all and my concentration and my participation with him.

I don't bring any value to the salvation process.

It is valuable because God is a gracious, loving God who so loved the world that he gave his son so that we would be able to be saved.

It is the value of his promises and what he does.

Even though his promises impact my life powerfully, listen, there is intrinsic value in simply acknowledging the fact that God made promises and accomplished his promises and is faithful to his promises.

Half the time that we don't step into a choice of faith, it's because we have not valued the honorable nature of God to be faithful to his promises enough that when we get in this moment, we panic and we're worried and we don't think he's going to do it because we have not spent enough time treasuring with all of our heart the truth and the value that God honors his promises.

As Janet was, we were driving and doing some of the vacation driving we had to do, and she was listening to the radio on her on her daily readings to make sure that she stayed on track to finish strong.

And one of her readings while we were in the car, we were listening to it together with 2 Peter, and in 2 Peter chapter 1, the Bible says this by his glory and goodness, he has given us great and precious promises that give us everything for life and salvation.

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

And sometimes we turn the Christian life into what I need out of Scripture, and we forget the intrinsic value of God by his glory and goodness created great and precious promises.

And he deserves to be honored for that alone.

He deserves to be worshiped for that alone.

He deserves for us to take time in our daily life and walk to begin with the foundation that God, you are awesome and you are gracious, and you have done this for us, and your promises are worthy of my learning and consideration and meditation and focus.

And focus.

Mary pondered these things in her heart.

As we begin this journey on January 1, whether you're doing this journey or not, the most important thing that you need to do in your walk with Jesus is you commit to spend time to ponder as Mary did, the Word of God.

That you treasure with all your heart and you meditate on the great and precious promises of God.

That you are invested in God's word with all of who you are and you spend that time.

Now listen, here's what I'll tell you, and I've told you this before.

If you're depending on my 30 minutes a week, 30, is that okay?

Can I say that?

32, maybe.

If you're depending on this sermon time each week to be your boost and carry you through the week, then you're going to starve to death as a Christian.

Now, I will promise you, I know I'm not the greatest preacher in the world, but I give my all and give everything I have, right?

I mean, I study, I pray, I do all that.

But listen, that is not enough.

That is not enough.

What we do on a Sunday morning in God's Word and when we're preaching is to call people to Jesus and to share the gospel.

It is to elevate the Word of God and to encourage you in your daily walk with Jesus where you ponder all these things in your heart.

You must be invested in the Word of God.

You must be invested in spending time with Jesus.

You must.

Because here's the deal.

If you're just depending on me, number one, that's not enough.

You need more than whatever amount of time we spend on a Sunday morning.

You need more than that.

But second of all, you are missing the value because you have not invested in the intrinsic value of God's word and his promises for yourself in your own life.

You are literally getting nothing but leftovers in that sense.

Instead, when you sit down with the word of God and you begin to read and you begin to breuther those scriptures or you process them or whatever way that you do it, when you sit down and you get in God's word and you value God's word, you are receiving and benefiting from and connecting to the very intrinsic value of God's word as God's holy word and encapsulating all of his promises and everything that he has made and done.

When you consider them and you see who God is and what he's done and all of that, you are worshiping him and you are valuing and treasuring those intrinsically holy, eternal values that are in God's word.

And that will impact your life and change your life in ways you cannot imagine.

The most important thing that we do in church is we encourage each other to be in God's word and to be walking individually with Jesus.

And so as we start this journey, that's one reason we're doing this journey as a church, because I'm just trying to find as many different ways as I can to create and deepen and strengthen that walk.

If you're having a daily quiet time, praise God.

I want to encourage you to keep going and go deeper.

If you're not, I want to encourage you to have it.

And we want you to be in a setting where other people are encouraging you to have it, where you are pondering God's word because of the eternal value and power in God's word and what he's done when he created salvation through Jesus.

And he deserves our all, our attention and our worship for what he has done.

I've been out of practice, whatever it is, here's what I want you to think about.

Jesus said, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Sometimes we start with our heart.

We've been in a service, we've been in a time, we've had a quiet time, whatever it is, and God inhabits that moment, and we are moved and we are engaged fully.

But sometimes it is a matter of faith.

And so what happens is your whole heart, your soul, your mind, your body.

Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Sometimes it begins with your mind, and you make a choice of faith where you commit, I am going to value God's word even if I don't feel it yet.

I'm going to choose to value God's word.

I'm going to choose to consider that.

If I have to make notes or lists about why it's valuable and what it means, and I'm going to make a choice to get in front of God's word, and I'm going to make a choice of faith to do that.

I'm going to start with my mind, and you're going to make a choice to treasure God's word.

Jesus validates that process.

Where your treasure is, the choice to do that, where you are grabbing a hold of it and you are setting a value by treasuring it, where your treasure is, your heart will follow.

And I promise you, if you'll dig in and begin that journey and make a commitment of faith to go with it, I'm telling you, your heart will follow, and God will engage you in all of who you are, with all of who He is, and your life will never be the same.

So I want to encourage you this week, whether it's through our chronological study or whether it's whatever study pattern that you have in front of you, ponder all these things in your heart.

Now that journey begins with the first decision to make Jesus your Lord and Savior.

If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, He came, we've been telling you the whole month, he came at Christmas.

He was born of a virgin, so he would not have sin attached to his life.

He lived as a man, he went through everything we go through.

He did it without sin.

He went to the cross.

He would never have to die as a man because he was never under judgment, because he never sinned.

And yet he went to the cross and he voluntarily laid down his life for us.

And he took on the sins of the world and he took the full wrath and punishment of God on the cross, and he rose again, conquering death and sin, to create and accomplish a plan and a path of salvation.

It is not automatic in your life, like any gift, you have to receive it.

The Bible says, for by God's grace, that was God's grace that he did all that through us, for by grace are you saved through faith.

And if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, I want to encourage you this morning.

Give your life to Jesus because he gave his life for you.

What does that mean, Pastor Greg?

It means you take everything you've been, you are, and you ever will be, and you give it all to Jesus.

You invest all of who you are.

You love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

It is not your life anymore, it is his.

But when you begin to treasure the intrinsic value of what God did when he made salvation, what he did when he reached out into your life to tell you that he loves you and he wants to save you.

If you think about the intrinsic value of the great and precious promises of God and what they would mean in your life, you make the choice to give your life to Jesus.

And he'll do more in and through your life than you could ever imagine.

I want you to bow your heads.

As we close this morning, I'm going to pray.

Casey and the praise team are going to lead us, and the church is going to sing a testimony of what it means to be saved.

That's why they're singing.

Because they want you to know it's true.

And if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, I'm going to invite you to come.

We'll be here.

Pastors will be at the head of the aisles here.

We're here.

Nobody's going to manipulate you or make you make a decision in this moment.

If you're ready, come and make it.

If you need more information and you want to ask questions and you want to talk through it, then just come and set an appointment.

Man, we'll sit down with you.

We'll drink coffee until we have coffee coming out our ears with you if we need to.

We just want to be here and encourage you in your journey.

We'll answer questions, we'll pray with you, we'll give you scripture to stand on.

We want you to recognize that Jesus died for you because he loves you and give your life to him.

If you're already a brother and sister in Christ, you need a church home, just come.

It's easy to join a church.

You come, we'll sit down with you, meet with you during the week, just walk through your salvation testimony, let you answer any questions about the church.

You come.

Church family, I want to encourage you, however you're going to do your quiet time, make a commitment, treasure to ponder these things in your heart.

Lord, we love you and we thank you so much.

We have to thank you for.

In Jesus' name we pray.

And everyone said, We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.

Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.

Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.

Thank you for listening to chapter and first, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith at the First Baptist Church.