Join The Potter’s House and Bishop T.D. Jakes for a special Christmas-season message: “Don’t Be Afraid of the Gifts God Gives.”
T.D. Jakes centers this sermon on the story of Joseph and his struggles before the birth of Jesus. He first sets the dynamic between the Christmas of today and the very first Christmas in Bethlehem.
Today, we celebrate and feel the wonder of Christmas. The miracle of Christmas is that God stepped down “from eternity into time” and dwelled among men. We celebrate Christ’s entrance into the world, the gift of eternal life, and our deliverance from the chains of humanity.
The first Christmas, however, was much different. The beauty and joy we experience today are in contrast to the experience of those living it over 2000 years ago. Bishop Jakes’ point is that the gifts God gives don’t always immediately evoke joy. It’s often later, as we look back, that we realize His plan - and that it was better than ours.
Joseph was worried about Mary and her pregnancy. He couldn’t see the blessing we understand today. God’s gifts are often wrapped up in adverse circumstances and challenges. Fear can limit your perspective and make you give up before you come into the blessing.
T.D. Jakes lays out three different types of fear about God’s gifts:
1. Fear of perception: Fear of what people will think or say or do.
2. Fear for provision: Fear of the cost or having what it takes.
3. Fear for providence: Fear for God’s guidance - wondering if He will be with you every step of the way.
Bishop Jakes encourages us that God may bless in unlikely places - open your gifts by faith. If God sets before you an open door, no man can shut it. Where God leads you, He will provide, and He will cover you.
Watch more sermons from The Potter’s Touch and T.D. Jakes at / thepotterstube .
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