• El Camino Baptist Church - 2805 El Camino Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95821
  • Deacon of The Week - Click on the graphic for more information
  • Click on the graphic to volunteer to lead a team to prepare our Wednesday Nigit Dinner
  • Wednesday Night Dinner - Click on the graphic for this week's Menu
  • Have a Happy Thanksgiving with your family! No Wednesday Night Activities - Wednesday, November 27th!
  • Youth Christmas Party - Contact Jafet Estevez for more information
  • Youth Movie Night/Sleepover Text Jafet Estevez to RSVP - 916 223-6524
  • Join us for the Lord's Supper on Sunday, December 1st, during our Worship Service
  • Christmas Eve Service - Click on the graphic for more information
  • Receive the Gift - Dr. Jim Meek's December Sermon Series
  • Wednesday Night Adult Bible Study - Behold Your King - Studies in Matthew
  • Live Nativity! Register NOW by click on the graphic!
  • Bring a toy to our Live Nativity to be donted to the Grace House Toy Drive
  • Men's Prayer Breakfast - 1st Saturday of the Month - Fellowship Hall - 8 am - Join us!
  • Women's Ministry Breakfast - Second Saturday of the Month - 9 am - Fellowship Hall
  • Heart of Ukraine Ministries - Click on the graphic for more information
  • Check Out Our Spiritual Growth Seminars - Click on the graphic for more information and to register!

SEE THE GIFT AND THE NEED

December 1, 2024

O. Henry wrote a short story called “The Gift of the Magi.”  It opens with Della crying because even though she’s saved money to buy a Christmas gift for her husband, Jim, the money isn’t enough to get him what she thinks he deserves.  She and her husband are very poor, but as she looks in the mirror she realizes that she could sell her long, beautiful hair, and by combining the money with what she’s saved, she could get Jim a perfect platinum chain for the pocket watch that’s been passed down to him through the generations. 

When Jim came home that Christmas Eve, he looked at her strangely.  She thought that it was because without her long hair, he no longer thought she was attractive.  She quickly explained that she sold her hair so she could get him a special present.  He opened the present and gently laughed.  “What’s so funny?” she asked.  He said, “I sold my watch in order to buy you these jeweled tortoise shell combs to hold your long hair in place, and now you’ve cut your hair.”  Della cried again.  “Don’t worry,” Jim said.  “Your hair will grow back quickly.  What we’ve given each other we’ve given out of love.”

The story’s narrator states at the end that their gifts were even wiser than the ones given by the magi that first Christmas.

God has sacrificially given us gifts that aren’t simply signs of his love, but they are gifts that perfectly meet our needs.  Sunday I’m preaching on “See the Gift and the Need” from Genesis 3:14-21.  It’s about the curses that came upon the serpent, Adam and Eve, but also about the gift that overcomes the curse.  Please come and celebrate this gift with us this Sunday.

Love,

Jim Meek

 

 

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