Tim Timberlake - The Perfect Gift (01/03/2026)
- Watch
Summary:
Drawing from Luke 2:8-14, this sermon titled «The Perfect Gift» teaches that the greatest gift we can give Jesus is our sincere worship, as seen in the responses of three groups during the first Christmas. The angels worshiped by declaring God’s glory in the highest, the shepherds by seeing the Savior and spreading the word about Him, and the wise men by bowing down and generously offering prophetic gifts of gold (His royalty), frankincense (His divinity), and myrrh (His humanity). Ultimately, true worship means yielding our lives fully to Jesus—our Emmanuel, God with us—and giving Him our complete obedience and praise.
Opening the Word
We’re going to get right into the Word of God today. If you have your Bible, go with me to Luke chapter 2, verse 8. Luke chapter 2, verse 8. I want to share with you from the subject today, «The Perfect Gift.» Everyone say, «The Perfect Gift.» I’m going to read in Luke chapter 2, verse 8, then we’re going to pray, and then we’re going to unpack this.
Luke chapter 2, verse 8 says, «There were some shepherds in that part of the country who were spending the night in the fields taking care of their flocks. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them. They were terribly afraid. But the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. This very day in David’s town, your Savior was born, Christ the Lord. And this is what will prove it to you: You will find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly a great army of heaven’s angels appeared with the angel singing praises to God: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom He is pleased.’»
Come on, let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your word. We thank You, God, that we have this opportunity to look at Your word and be transformed through it. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen.
Searching for the Perfect Gift
How many of you are in the process now of looking for the perfect gift? You’re looking for the perfect gift for your spouse, for your kids. I mean, if we’re to be honest, no one really looks forward to getting a gift that wasn’t on their list. It happens every year. Unfortunately, some of us will get a plethora of gifts that we shouldn’t have. You know those gifts where you tell people, «Oh, you shouldn’t have»? You really shouldn’t have. You think, «Oh, this is just what I needed, another tank top.» My God, ladies, let me help you out: Your husband doesn’t need another pair of socks. He doesn’t need another pair of drawers. He doesn’t need another V-neck t-shirt that doesn’t quite fit the right way. He has enough mediums in his drawer to last a lifetime.
But men, let me help you out. My brothers, let me help you out. Don’t get your wife anything that she did not put on her list. No, don’t get her anything that you think she might like because nine times out of ten, she’s not going to like it. I’m just trying to help you out. I’m just trying to look out for my boys. Don’t think to yourself, «Oh, I wonder if she won’t like it.» I’m telling you, if it’s not on her list, if it’s not what she has asked for, it’s not going to go well for you. It won’t be a good Christmas for you.
Listen to me: Don’t get shoes that you’re not sure about the size. Don’t do it! Don’t get a half size too big or a half size too small. She’s going to look at you like, «Good issues for it? Are they for you?» She’ll say, «I can’t even wear these shoes. You need to take these back.» Just get her what is on the list.
Gifts in Big Families
What about the group of people that you always run into every year in your family? I got them; I’m one of seven. I have to pick and choose which siblings I get a gift for because my money’s not set up to get all seven siblings something nice. If you come from a big family, you know what I’m talking about. I have to pick and choose, «Okay, who has been friendly to me this year?» Because all seven of them are not good; they’re on the naughty list sometimes. You may word it a different way. You may say in your household, «We’re going to do Secret Santa, ” but that’s a nice way of saying „Everybody’s not getting a gift. I’m only going to get one person in my family a gift.“
So every year, I have to go down the list, „Okay, this person was a little closer to me this year. They were a lot more important to me than this person was, so I’m going to get them a gift.“ My mom, however, every year, my parents-in-law are the same. I’m like, „Hey, what do you all want for Christmas?“ And they give me the same answer, „We don’t need anything.“ Oh, just tell me something! Don’t tell me you don’t need anything. I know you don’t need anything, but what’s something I can get you? Just help a brother out.
Have you ever run into a thing like, „What can I get you? Don’t give me nothing.“ Then you show up on Christmas and don’t give them anything, and they get an attitude with you like, „I’m just doing what you told me to do. You told me not to get you nothing!“ Then you expect something. Come on now, help me out. Just tell me what it is I can get you! They’re like, „You know what? Just wait. We don’t need nothing.“ „Okay, I understand that, but what’s something you’ve been looking at? What’s something you’ve got your eye on?“
What’s hardest is to get a gift for someone who tells you they don’t need anything. I mean, what’s the perfect gift you can give to someone who tells you, „We don’t really need anything“? And then you think about Jesus. It’s like, „Yeah, He created everything. Jesus, what can I get you? What’s the perfect gift for You, Jesus?“ And the perfect gift that we can give to Jesus is our worship.
Worship in the Christmas Story
When we look at the first Christmas, when we look at the Christmas story, when we look at the Word of God, when we look at what is intertwined throughout the gospel, we always see worship. And as we read Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 14, we see shepherds in a field tending to their flock. Out of nowhere, an angel of the Lord appears to them and says, „Do not be afraid.“ What intrigues me is what these angels might have looked like. If the first thing they tell these shepherds is „Don’t be afraid, ” when you think about having an angel, you think, „Man, this is going to be a cute little cuddly angel. It’s got some little wings with a halo.“ You know how they depict angels?
I’ve never seen one of those that startled me, though. I’ve never seen a little cute cuddly angel. I’m like, „Whoa, man, I am afraid of this thing!“ What did these angels look like for the angel to say, „Don’t be afraid“? I would imagine they did not look like the shepherds had expected them to look like. They weren’t cute cuddly little fur balls with halos over the top of them that were just flapping their wings ever so gently, singing lullabies to them. They were massive. They were big. They were bigger than these shepherds expected.
As we look in Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 14, we see something unique that begins to happen. The angels came and began to tell the shepherds, „Listen, don’t be afraid. There’s going to be something supernatural that takes place, and we want to forewarn you about what is about to happen so that you can tell other people about it.“
Three Groups That Worship
So as we look at this, we see that there are three groups of people that worship our Savior. When we think about worship, worship is giving worth back to God. One of the things that I’ve come to know is that everyone worships something, but very few people worship Jesus. Everybody worships something. Everybody has their mind made up to worship something. We give our worth to something, but in our society, in our culture, there are very few people who are actually intentional about worshiping Jesus.
As we look here in Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 14, we see the first group: the angels. They worshiped by declaring the glory of God. It says that they began to sing, „Glory to God in the highest.“ Sometimes you have to remind yourself that no matter what you are dealing with, no matter what your circumstance is, don’t be afraid, because Jesus is higher than everything you could be faced with. The angels came to tell the shepherds, „Glory to God in the highest.“ Sometimes you just have to wake up and tell yourself, „Listen, above everything, Jesus sits on the throne. So glory to God in the highest! Above how I feel. Above what I want to do. Above what I need to do. Glory to God in the highest!“
Because if we were to be honest, we don’t always feel like doing anything. Some of you got up this morning and thought to yourself, „I shouldn’t go to church. It’s really cold outside, and you know my left knee is hurting.“ And it might hurt a little more if I get out of this bed. „I might as well just go ahead and do church online. I might just go see what PT is talking about online.“ But you pressed your way! For those of you watching online, I pray your left knee is not hurting. I pray you’re doing well.
But you have to remind yourself that God is above all those things. You have to remind yourself that although my situation may not be ideal, glory to God in the highest. You have to declare those things that be not as though they were. Sometimes you have to talk yourself out of how you feel and talk yourself into how you should feel. You have to declare, „Glory to God in the highest! There is no one higher than our God!“
Worship Like the Angels
And so we should worship God like the angels worship God through our singing. Oftentimes we say to ourselves, „Man, I can’t wait to worship with the angels, ” when in reality, the angels are saying, „I can’t wait to worship with the humans.“ The angels understand that we understand Jesus differently than they do. See, the angels have come to tell the shepherds, „Here’s your sign: He’s wrapped up in swaddling clothes and is placed in a manger.“ Your Savior has now been wrapped in flesh.
Jesus created us to give Him worship because we, too, understand what it is to go through pain. The Bible says that we have not endured or encountered anything that Jesus Himself has not already endured and encountered, so He, too, can identify with what it is that we may be faced with, and what it is that we may be going through. So then we can say, „God, You are above it all. Glory to God in the highest! I know You know how I feel, but not only do You stop there, You provide a solution.“
In Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20 says, „Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think, according to the power that works in us.“ He doesn’t just stop at exceeding; He doesn’t just stop at abundantly; He says above all that you could ask or think. Now unto Him who is able! Not only is He able, but He’s willing! And so every day that we get up, our declaration should be, „Glory to God in the highest!“ because He is above every single situation and circumstance that we may be faced with.
I don’t know what you may be dealing with today, but I know that Jesus is above it. So if you’re in here and you’re in a good season, guess what? Jesus is above your good season. And if you’re in here and you’re in a not-so-good season, Jesus is above your not-so-good season. He is still above it all because He is God all by Himself.
And so the angels worshiped by declaring the glory of God. Sometimes you should just have a tune in your spirit. I know it may not sound good, and you may not sound the greatest, but you should just sing a song to God. Sing a love song to God. When you were dating the person you were in love with, you would find yourself writing down little poems and having little jingles in your mind: „Girl, you fine. You look real good.“ You started to say stuff you never could imagine saying. You found yourself buying stuff you never thought you would be buying, like socks and underwear.
But you began to do things that were not your normal. And when you fall in love with Jesus, you begin to create songs. You begin to create poems. You begin to pour out your spirit. You begin to say, „God, I thank You for being so good to me. God, thank You for waking me up this morning. God, thank You for starting me on my way. Thank You for clothing me in my right mind.“ You begin to sing, „Glory to God in the highest.“
There’s another passage of Scripture that says that if you don’t do what you’ve been created to do, He’ll cause a rock to do it in your place. That’s pretty rough. I mean, I don’t want no rock doing what I’ve been created to do. A rock doesn’t even talk, and you mean to tell me if I’m neglecting doing what I’ve been called to do, not only will that rock cry out, but that rock will cry out on my behalf because I’m not fulfilling the purpose that God created me to fulfill?
I’m not walking out of here today looking on the ground and seeing a rock cry out for me. I’m going to do what I have been created to do. And let’s give God His breath back. Let’s give God His air back. Let’s utilize my lungs to lift up the name of Jesus and declare, „Glory to God in the highest!“ The angels worshiped by declaring the glory of God.
That’s why praise and worship is so important. That’s why when you come in, you hear the worship team praising and declaring and worshiping our Savior, because they’re praising that worship changes atmospheres, it breaks chains, it destroys yokes, it lifts heavy burdens. It begins to refocus you and align your focus back to King Jesus and take your focus off of those problems, those situations, and those relationships. It begins to fix your eyes on Him because He is above it all. That’s why we say, „Glory to God in the highest! He is above it all.“
You may not feel like it. David says, „I will bless the Lord at all times, and His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Glory to God in the highest!“ The angels worshiped by declaring the glory of God.
Worship Like the Shepherds
Number two: The shepherds worshiped by seeing and saying. The shepherds worshiped by seeing and saying. In Luke chapter 2, verses 15 through 20, it says, „When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Jesus, they spread the word concerning what had been told to them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at the shepherds and what they said. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.“
They worshipped God through what they had seen and what they had said. This is important because from a theological standpoint, shepherds weren’t the most trusted individuals in the Bible. As a matter of fact, shepherds weren’t even allowed in court to speak on behalf of the character of someone else that was standing on trial because they were not trusted. But yet and still, intertwined throughout the whole theme of the Bible, God utilized shepherds to do some great and significant things. He used the shepherd Moses to free His children from captivity. He used the shepherd David to set the presence of God in its place and built the temple of God. And He uses shepherds to declare the good things of God by what they had seen.
I believe that God utilized shepherds throughout the Word of God because He was declaring what Jesus would be known as, which is the Lamb of God. The shepherds worshiped God by what they had seen and what they had said. You can’t enter into the presence of God without seeing how good God has been to you and taking your eyes off of your situation and putting your eyes on what it is that He can provide as a solution.
And then running away and telling people, „This is what God has done for me!“ We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. So if you’re still stuck in your situation, maybe you’re not talking about how good God has been to you in the middle of your situation. Because when you remind yourself of the goodness of Jesus, it gives you the courage and the strength to talk about how good He’s been in your past, knowing how good He is in your today, and declaring how good He will be in your future.
The shepherds worshiped God by seeing and saying. If you see something good, say something good! That’s why we worship God because we’ve seen Him move. We’ve seen Him move the mountains. We’ve seen Him destroy yokes. We’ve seen Him do miracles. We’ve seen Him do things that we can never imagine. So we say, „God, You are good all by Yourself. There is no one like You! God, You are all that and a bag of chips.“
Sometimes you just need to boot up on the Lord and begin to tell the Lord who He is. God is just like us. We like to get praise. When you came in here this morning, somebody complimented you on how you looked. You woke up a little bit: „Thank you!“ You took notice of me. „Those are nice shoes. Thank you! That’s a nice shirt you got. Thank you! Girl, you’re rocking that hair. Thank you! I put it on this morning.“
But when you start to talk about the goodness of God, He sticks His chest out. When you start to magnify the name of the Lord, He can’t get bigger in the heavens, and He can’t get bigger in the earth, but He gets bigger in the situation. „Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together.“ The shepherds saw something great, so they began to say something great.
The most perfect gift you could give back to Jesus is your worship, declaring the word of the glory of God.
Worship Like the Wise Men
The third group that we can find in Scripture that worship is the wise men. The wise men worshiped with their generous giving. In Matthew chapter 2, verses 1 through 11, the NIV version says, „After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, the Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’ When King Herod heard this, he was greatly disturbed, and all of Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the peoples’ chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ‘In Bethlehem in Judea, ’ they replied. The wise men went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.“
It says that the wise men traveled and presented their gifts to Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. As we’re talking about the perfect gift, when I think of the perfect gift for Jesus, these don’t really ring true to what I would give Jesus. I mean, when you had your baby on your target registry, you didn’t ask for gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You needed some clothes for that baby. You needed some baby things for that baby. You needed something that would keep that baby busy when you had to do things. You needed a rock for that baby. You needed all types of things for that baby! Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are not on that list of things to get for that baby.
The wise men, however, brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When I was looking at this, it dawned on me that these were the perfect gifts for Jesus because they were prophetic, and they were declaring not only who Jesus was, but what Jesus would do. When we look at gold, they presented gold to Jesus, and it says that they opened up their treasure chests. Now, I want you to imagine this because oftentimes when we look at nativity scenes, we see three wise men, Mary, Joseph, some sheep around, and baby Jesus swaddled up in clothes laid in a manger. But in reality, there were many more than three wise men that came to see and experience the Savior and understand the significance of the Savior that had been born.
We attempt to fathom what it may have been like by the three gifts, and so we naturally assumed that there were three wise men because it identifies with three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So we think, „Yeah, of course, three wise men—one for the gold, one for the frankincense, one for the myrrh.“ But historically speaking, there were many more than three. So I just want you to imagine this. Each of the wise men had chests of the gifts that they had brought to Jesus. These were costly things; these were things of value. They did something out of the norm because they understood that this Savior that had been born had never been born before, and no one after Him would ever be born to do what He has come to do.
It says that they opened their treasure boxes. Today, it is my prayer that you think outside of the box as you worship Jesus. It’s my prayer that you do something differently than what you’ve done in times past. When you get to this point and when you get to this place, it’s my prayer that you break the box of the norm and do something different than what you have presently done. It says that the wise men opened up their treasures, and they pulled out gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Meaning of the Gifts
The gold represents the royalty of Jesus. The gold represents the royalty of Jesus. They were declaring, „Jesus, You are royal! You are worthy! You are of high value. You are priceless.“ So they brought gold to represent the royalty of God. And sometimes we have to remind ourselves that although Jesus was a man, He was also God, and He is in control over every situation. He is a royal king.
The wise men brought to Jesus gold to represent His royalty. Then it says that they brought Him frankincense. Frankincense is an odd one because frankincense was used in the Old Testament as an incense by the priests to go to the nostrils of God whenever they went to God on behalf of the people. As a matter of fact, the word frank in the Bible represents the priest in this particular passage—the high priest. Jesus is being declared as the high priest over every situation, over every problem, over every circumstance in your life. Not just a priest that would go to God once a year on behalf of the people, but a high priest that goes to God every single day, every single moment, every single opportunity He can get for you and for me because He is the high priest.
And so the frankincense represents the high priest going to God on behalf of the people, and the incense flows to God’s nostrils as a sweet-smelling savor for the sacrifice that Jesus would soon make thirty-three years later. So the gold represents the royalty, the frankincense represents the divinity, and the myrrh represents the humanity. Myrrh was used as embalming fluid in this day and time. Can you imagine giving birth to your baby, and someone gives you embalming fluid? Can you imagine they come in and they’re like, „I got you something!“ You’re like, „Okay, what did you get me?“ „Oh, just some embalming fluid.“
It wasn’t a popular gift to give to a baby, but these wise men, being used by God, were declaring that Jesus was very much human. And so the myrrh represents the humanity of Jesus, understanding that not only was Jesus royal, not only was Jesus divine, but Jesus was also human—who would take on pain, sickness, disease, your issues, and your circumstances, and nail them to the cross and bury them in the grave, but not only stay there; be resurrected and raised to life again.
The Word of God says that when He arose, you arose with Him. Because not only was He human, but He was divine and He was royal, and there is no one like Jesus. Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14 says that the Lord your God will give you a sign, and there will be a virgin that gives birth to a son, and you shall call Him Emmanuel, which means „God with us.“ I want you to get that in your spirit today because sometimes you feel like you are alone. Sometimes you feel like you’re doing this thing all by yourself.
But I want you to remember that no matter what you may be going through, God is with you because He sent His Son Jesus to be in you.
God With Us
Growing up, man, oh man, Christmas was one of those mixed bags for me because sometimes I would get good gifts; other times I would get some hand-me-downs. Hand-me-downs are great when they’re from your brothers, but I had two older sisters, man! I’m telling you, it was always a joy to get their clothes. I was the only boy in school who had teachers’ assistants to go to the bathroom. My zipper was in the back of my pants. I had to go up to the teacher every year and say, „Hey, can you help me?“
Or I would go to my dad saying, „Man, hey, look out for your boy, man! I’m unzipping my pants from the back!“ It’s just somewhere on a budget—we’re going to work it out. I said, „What is a budget? What in the world is a budget? I’ve got ruffles on my shirt! What’s going on with that?“ „Bear with us; we’re trying to eliminate some debt.“ „I’m like, ‘Coo, coo, coo.’ What does it have to do with the blouse I’m wearing right now?“ Hand-me-downs, man.
But the great thing about the greatest hand-me-down is that God handed down His Son so that we could live a life better than we could ever live in our own strength and in our own power. And God wants you to know today that His greatest hand-me-down is not only royal, not only divine, but also human.
There are some of you in here who feel like you’re walking through this life by yourself, and the reality is that Jesus is walking this life out with you, but some of you just don’t know it yet. He is Emmanuel, God with us.
As we look throughout the entire story of the first Christmas, we can find and relate to the humanity of each person that we read about in the narrative. Some women in here, you feel like you don’t qualify to be used by God. You better understand that this woman, Mary, she felt unqualified to do what it was that God called her to do, but she is a vital part of the narrative! God desires to use you in a great and mighty way. God desires to use you to carry what it is that He’s placed on the inside of you. God desires to use you in a supernatural way.
I know how you may feel. I know what society is shouting. I know what you may think, but God wants to use you to be a part of this story. Listen to me, ladies: You are valuable to God, and you are a value to the history that God is writing out for mankind.
Then there are men in here: You feel like you’re not significant enough. You feel like you’re just going along for the ride. And as we read the story of Jesus, you have to understand that Joseph had every right to feel this way. He had every right to look at his situation and say, „Man, these people are going to judge me. They’re going to think I’m crazy for sticking this thing out with Mary. She’s pregnant; we’re not married yet. I could get killed for this.“ But yet and still, he was obedient to the assignment that God had called him to carry out.
I came to tell you today, men, listen to me: No matter how hard it is, be faithful to the thing that God has called you to be faithful in. Be faithful to your family; be faithful to your spouse; be faithful to God. Because if you can be faithful over a few things, He says, „I will allow you to be rulers over many.“ You have value in the scenario.
And then every child in here, every son, every daughter, you may think, „Man, what is my purpose? What can I add to this?“ And I’m telling you, look at the child Jesus being in this manger. Understanding that He was sent from heaven to earth to take the sins, the sickness, the disease for all mankind, He was completely and totally yielded to His father.
And I’m telling you, if you can just obey your parents, God says, „I will make your days long.“ He desires to do great things in and through you for your generation. If you listen to what your parents are telling you to do, I know you may not understand it. I know you may not even like it, but guess what? They know more than you.
I know you may think you know more than them—sure, you know how to work a cell phone more than they do—absolutely. But they know a little bit better than you do. Listen to your parents!
True Worship
And all of us, it’s my prayer that we understand the greatest gift that we can give to Jesus is our worship—breaking the treasure box and opening up our lives to God and saying, „God, use me however You want to use me. You want it, God? I’ll give You my yes before I know what it looks like. God, I’ll be totally, totally and completely obedient to what You’ve called me to do before I know the details of how You want me to do it.“
That’s what true worship is. Scripture says He desires people who worship Him in spirit and in truth. He is royal, He is divine, He is human, and He is with you.
Closing Prayer
I want to pray for you. Come on, all over this place. If you’re watching me at all of our locations, stretch those hands toward your Father. Here’s our King, and He is our living hope. I love the song that we sung before we dove into the word because He’s not just our hope sometimes; He is our hope all the time. He is our living hope.
There are many of us in here today and watching across all of our locations that feel hopeless because of your situation. And Jesus wants you to know that He’s with you. Not only is He with you, but He’s for you.
The thing that’s unique about what the wise men did is it says that they first bowed down to Jesus and they gave Jesus themselves, and then they gave Jesus their gifts. Today, it’s my prayer that first we give our lives back to Him. He has great plans for us. He has a desired destiny for us, and He desires to use us in a mighty way.
So today, I just want to pray with those that may feel distant from Jesus. You may not know Him as your Lord and your personal Savior, or you may have known Him at one time, but for some reason, life has gotten in the way and you feel disconnected. You feel distant from Him, and you want to re-establish that relationship today.
All heads bowed, all eyes closed. If that’s you and you want to reconnect, you want to realign, you want to re-establish yourself with Him, I just want you to throw your hands up right now. Those hands up. I see those hands all over this place.
He is royal, He is divine, He is human. He understands! He sees! And the great thing about our Savior is He has a solution. If you have your hand raised here or at one of our locations, I just want you to repeat this prayer after me:
„Lord Jesus, I thank You for giving me this opportunity to return to You today. I offer my life to You, and God, I know that You can do more with my life than I could ever do in my own power and my own strength. Today, I confess that You are my risen Savior, and I believe that You are my Lord. So I turn away from my sin, and I turn towards You. In Jesus' name, amen.“