This is the audio from the sermon “Small Christmas” that I preached for Christmas at Friend Church this past Christmas (December 12, 2010). HERE ARE THE NOTES: 1. Small people demonstrate God’s _________________ John 1:46 “Can anything good come from (Nazareth)?” 2. Small _________________ Demonstrates Big Devotion 1 Samuel 15:22 “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice.” 3. ________

What’s the best gift you ever received at Christmas? Bet you some money it’s not the most expensive one. Bet it’s not the largest. Small gifts matter. Never underestimate the small. Christmas is a story of God using small gifts as He writes His BIG story.  Most of us assume that God wants BIG gifts, but as I read through the scripture I see God taking small gifts and doing GREAT things through them. God uses small gifts; the smallness of the gift reflects how BIG God is. J

In June of 2006 one of the richest men in the world gave away His money.  Most of it. Forty billion dollars worth of it. Thats a lot of money. In the lineage of good deeds: this one has to place pretty high up the list. Take a step back and gander at it. The gift is HUGE. It’s an idea most of can’t even conceive of – to give away billions of dollars. We are attracted to the HUGE details in life, but I’m convinced God may very well be in the small details in profound ways th

As I’ve worked with people who are struggling to embrace this new life they’ve been given in Jesus one of the biggest obstacles they’ve faced is putting their past behind them. For some reason it’s hard for us to receive the large gift of Jesus when we realize that we are coming from such small places. The story of Christmas is a story of a big God using people who came from small places.  Small places aren’t where we always think of God coming from, but as you reencounter

It’s unfortunate that our world is captivated by the big. I’m pretty sure God isn’t. Christmas is a story of God doing big things through small people. I think there are lots of people who think God only uses big folks: those with big personalities, with big gifts, and big pocketbooks.  As I read scripture I see a different pattern emerging: that God uses small people who trust in a big God. God uses small people because their smallness demonstrates His power. Some of the f