{"id":6288,"date":"2016-12-12T14:33:08","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T19:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/?p=6288"},"modified":"2016-12-12T14:33:08","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T19:33:08","slug":"the-essential-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/2016\/12\/the-essential-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"The Essential Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\"godsgiftofchristmas\"<\/a>THEME: It Is Written<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Series: God\u2019s Gift of Christmas
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

TITLE:\u00a0 The Essential Gift
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Scripture: Isaiah 7:14; Lk.1:26-38
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 WHY SO IMPORTANT? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cNo other fact in the Christmas story is more important than the virgin birth. The virgin birth must have happened exactly the way Scripture says. Otherwise, Christmas has no point at all. If Jesus is simply the illegitimate child of Mary\u2019s infidelity, or even if He is the child of Joseph\u2019s natural marital union with Mary, He is not God. If He is not God, His claims are lies. If His claims are lies, His salvation is a hoax. And if His salvation is a hoax, we are all doomed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe supreme mystery the gospel confronts us with is not the Good Friday message of atonement, nor in the Easter message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of incarnation.\u201d J.I.Packer<\/p>\n

\n

The virgin birth is an underlying assumption in everything the Bible says (about Jesus<\/strong><\/span>).<\/p>\n

\n

Plainly put: if we deny Jesus is God, we have denied the very essence of Christianity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

II.\u00a0\u00a0 WHY SO IMPACTFUL? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Why does it matter that Jesus was born of a virgin?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The (identity and mission<\/strong><\/span>) of Jesus is very clear.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Only (someone perfect<\/strong><\/span>) would be able to offer his life as a sacrifice; any other life would be just another human one.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The virgin birth shows the (master plan<\/strong><\/span>) of God from the very beginning.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The virgin birth is a (miracle<\/strong><\/span>).<\/p>\n

\n

The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity-hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Packer<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SERIES: God\u2019s Gift of Christmas<\/p>\n

NEXT WEEK:\u00a0 What the Birth Tells Us-Matthew 1: 1-17<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0THEME: It Is Written Series: God\u2019s Gift of Christmas TITLE:\u00a0 The Essential Gift Scripture: Isaiah 7:14; Lk.1:26-38   I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 WHY SO IMPORTANT? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNo other fact in the Christmas story is more important than the virgin birth. The virgin birth must have happened exactly the way Scripture says. Otherwise, Christmas has no point at all. … <\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon-notes","nodate","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6289,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6288\/revisions\/6289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}