Below is Rev Ruemu's sermon of Dec 14th, 2025

Introduction: The Problem of Gifts
We live in a world of gifts—some extravagant, some practical, some forgotten in drawers. But there's one gift that stands above all others, so profound that it redefines the very meaning of giving. Not a gift wrapped in paper, but one wrapped in flesh. Not a gift presented on a special occasion, but one that makes every moment sacred.

Today, we consider God's greatest provision: the cross of Christ.

I. The Context of the Gift: Our Deepest Need
Before we appreciate the gift, we must understand our need:
· The Human Condition
· The Divine Dilemma

II. The Nature of the Gift: Costly Grace
The cross is no afterthought or plan B. It is the centerpiece of redemptive history:
· A Personal Gift
· A Costly Gift
· A Complete Gift

III. What the Gift Provides
The cross is not merely a historical event but a present provision:
1. Reconciliation: How and any relevant Bible verses?
3. Forgiveness: How and any relevant Bible verses?
4. Victory: How and any relevant Bible verses?

IV. Our Response to the Gift
How do we receive such an extraordinary provision?
· Acceptance: How and any relevant Bible verses?
· Transformation: How and any relevant Bible verses?
· Proclamation: How and any relevant Bible verses?

V. Living in Light of the Gift
The cross isn't just something we look back to, but something we live from:
· Daily Dependence: How and any relevant bible verses?
· Sacrificial Love: How and any relevant Bible verses?
· Eternal Perspective: How and any relevant Bible verse?

Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we stand in awe before the cross—that instrument of suffering that became the means of our salvation. Help us to never grow casual about this astonishing gift. May the reality of what it cost You fill us with gratitude, and may the reality of what it accomplished fill us with hope. Teach us to live as people of the cross, for Your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

This blog is a follow-up to the sermon "Our Greatest Need: The Reality of Sin and Separation", preached by Rev Susan Salo on Sunday, December 7th, 2025.

READ Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-13, 3:22-24
1. If someone tells us to do something, why then do we want to not do it?  For instance, if our doctor tells us to cut down on cholesterol, why do we want to eat French fries?
2. How does sin appeal to our lower human nature, the “flesh”? What leads us to rebel against God’s authority over us? Why do we want our own way, even when we know the consequences are bad?

READ Matthew 18:1-9
3. Why is it a blessing that the Gospel writers portray the disciples in all their messiness? They are not “plaster saints.”  Why is that a help to us?
4. Why did Jesus put a little child among them after they argued about who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God?  Why does Jesus tell us to change and be like children?
5. Child rearing was much, much stricter then than nowadays.  Obedience to parents was unquestioned.  Was that part of what Jesus meant by becoming like children?
6. There is a myth in some people’s minds that once one becomes a Christian, we become obedient and stop sinning.  But if we fall into sin, as even wonderful Christians do, we can then hide our sin both from God and ourselves, with drastic consequences.  What are some of the steps to turning this around? READ I John 2:1-2