| will be reading from perhaps the most famous verse from the Bible which is John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". This is one of the verses in the Bible the gives us the basis on why we as Christians celebrate christmas. Because of God's love. Who would ever imagine, in their wildest dreams, that God who made the entire universe and holds it all together would love us so much that he would become one of us in his Son, Jesus? God's love for us is, we could say, crazy and makes no sense. We cannot properly understand or comprehend God's love doing this for us because it is out of this world. Today we are very happy to celebrate what is out of this world, God's love for us, becoming part of this world when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. What does this say about us? It means that God thinks we are out of this world although part of this world! The world might put you down, others might put you down, you might even put yourself down but that is not how God looks on you. God wants to lift you up to see yourself out of this world! Again and again we see Jesus taking people by the hand and helping them up. He raised people from the dead, healed the sick, makes the blind man see and the deaf to hear. This is God's plan for you also. Jesus is able to take you by the hand and lift you up out of your world to his world. Jesus, the light of God, wants to enlighten you, all of us, to show us what God thinks of us which is really all that matters. This is the gift of Christmas. There is really only one gift atChristmas that has any value worth talking about, the gift God gives us in Christ. The gift at Christmas for all of us is Jesus. Jesus will not force himself into your life, it is up to you to be open and receive Jesus. There was no room for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in the inn the first Christmas. Are you making room for Jesus, Mary, Joseph in the inn of your heart this Christmas? Jesus can take you by the hand and lift you up out of your world to his world. Will you open your heart more to Jesus to allow him in to lift you up to who God plans you to be? Will you make room in the inn of your heart for Jesus this Christmas and every day? God gave us the greatest gift of all that first Christmas, his Son Jesus. Jesus waits for you to give him a gift in return, the gift of your heart, the gift of you making room in the inn of your heart for him not just at Christmas or Easter but every day. Jesus has done everything for you, can you do something for Jesus? Open your heart to Jesus. May we all have a blessed Christmas. Amen.