Some of you have been asking for these notes from our Women's Advent Brunch here in KC. Here they are. I pray that the Lord uses them for HIS glory! God bless!


Women’s Advent Brunch
Kansas City 2011
What return can I make to the Lord for all His goodness to me? Psalm 116:12

I. Introduction
a. Gift giving
i. This is a VERY busy season for us as women. We have so much on our plates. I want to honor you all for making the sacrifice to be here this morning, when you could be shopping, cleaning, decorating, taking care of the thousand and one things you need to take care of in this season. The Lord will bless your sacrifice, for He is a generous God.
ii. One of the key parts of this season for us is gift giving. We have our lists, our budget for each gift. We carry it all around with us while we fly in and out of each store. We are looking for the best gift, for the best price.
iii. Why do we give gifts?
1. Sometimes it’s because we have to, it’s expected of us.
2. Sometimes it’s because we really want to give someone a gift.
iv. We buy different kinds of gifts.
1. Sometimes we buy generic gifts simply because it’s a good price and it will do for a gift.
2. Sometimes we take time to think about something the person and a gift that would really be special.
v. A gift can really be something that expresses our relationship with a person and that deepens our relationship with a particular person.
vi. The deeper the relationship, the more the gift means to us to give and to receive.
vii. It’s easy in our fast paced, consumeristic culture to forget the why behind our gift giving.
viii. We easily forget the ONE who has given US the GREATEST GIFT already. We forget the One who has given us His Son, our savior and redeemer. He has come and become one of us. He comes to us each and every day. And He will come again with the gift of a new Heaven and a new Earth.
ix. This is the gift already given to us. The perfect gift that we are celebrating in this season.
II. What gift are we going to give to the give to the Giver of the One TRUE and PERFECT gift?
a. Are we going to forget Him?
b. Or is Christ going to make it on our list?
c. Is Christ at the top of our list? At the center of our Christmas preparations or at the bottom?
d. Has he even made the list or opps… did we forget Him??
III. We are going to take some time this morning to look at 3 women in the scripture who have given gifts to Jesus.
a. They are all different and they gave Jesus different gifts, but the heart of their gift is the same. The heart of their gift is love. Their gift is borne of love, it flows from their love. It comes because they were first loved by God.
b. All of us here this morning are at different places in our walk with the Lord and in our lives. We come with different needs, different wounds, different sufferings, different longings, different joys.
c. Jesus knows your heart and mine, he knows your circumstances and mine, he knows the hidden sufferings in your life and mine.
d. He knows us intimately and loves us infinitely.
e. He is inviting us to make a response to His personal and deep love for us.
f. He is asking us to give Him a gift this Christmas. He is asking something different of each of us. I pray that as we look more deeply at the lives of these women, that you will be able to identify with one of them. Some of us might identify with all of them on some level. But I pray that the Lord speaks to your heart of the one thing he really wants you to focus on this Advent.
IV. Listen with me as we meet our first gift- giving woman in the scriptures.
a. Luke 7: 38-39 “And behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee’s house, came and stood behind Jesus weeping. She began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet.”
i. Wow! What a gift she has given to Jesus. She forgets herself completely. She looks the fool in front of very important men of her times. She humbles herself completely and repents of her sins.
ii. Maybe this is the gift some of us need to give to Jesus this year for Christmas. The gift of humility and true, deep heartfelt repentance.
1. Maybe we’ve let the anxieties and busyness of this season take over our lives and we’ve neglected our relationship with Christ.
2. Maybe we need to repent of our greediness in letting materialism/ consumerism blind us to what is truly important in life- relationship with God and others. Maybe we’ve started to believe that “stuff” is what will make us happy and we’ve forgotten those who are poor and needy in our world.
3. Maybe we need to repent of our selfishness. Maybe we’re getting resentful of the service the Lord is asking of us in our vocations and we are consistently coveting “my time”, “my space,” “my caramel macciato” my dark chocolate truffle.” Maybe our internal mantra has turned from Yes Lord, to What about ME?????
4. Maybe it’s pride that we need to repent of. Has my focus become clouded with trying to prove myself to the world. That I’m good, worthy, beautiful. Am I seeking to appear better than others? Have I forgotten that I need God? Am I operating out of self-suffiency instead of realizing that I can do nothing without Christ?
5. Do I have a secret sin that I need to repent of this Christmas? Drinking too much? Sexual Sin? Over spending?
iii. There are many idols we can put before the Lord… ourselves, our stuff, our busyness, our comfort, our reputation.
iv. Is Christ asking you for the gift of humbling yourself and washing His feet with your tears and sincere repentance?
v. If so, then give him the gift of repentance and then rejoice for in Zephaniah we hear: “Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgements against you, he has cast out all your enemies!”
V. Let’s meet our second gift- giving woman. The poor widow in Luke 21:1-4
a. “He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. And he said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had.”
i. I think we have a lot that we could learn from this woman. She is poor. She has little. She has great suffering- she has lost her husband, her future, her dreams, her hopes have all been taken from her in the loss of her husband.
ii. Some of us here have deep sorrow, the loss of hopes and dreams. The loss of someone or something very dear to us.
iii. Some of us are emotionally, physically or spiritually truly poor in this season of life. You might feel that you have very little left in you. When you hear that Jesus is asking for a gift from you, you think, Lord, I have nothing to give you!
iv. I think this widow probably felt that way too, and she gives the gift of acceptance of her life as it is, and of trust that the Lord will provide for her. She gives the gift of hope to Christ.
v. Instead of saying, “I don’t trust you, you have taken everything from me,” and holding on tightly to her resources and her life… Instead of being cynical and skeptical of the goodness of the Lord, she says, “I trust you. I give you ALL I have. The little that I have I surrender to you and believe that you will provide for all I need.”
vi. Her poverty of resources, her poverty of spirit, her emotional poverty have not left her selfish, greedy, fearful and distrustful, but has made her selfless, generous, and trusting.
vii. Is Christ asking you for the gift of embracing a suffering in your life? Is he asking you to let go of your life, your dreams and hopes, and trust Him more? Is he asking you to let go of control?
viii. If so, rejoice. There is freedom and grace when we surrender our lives to Him. He will give the grace for deeper trust.

VI. Lastly, let us look at a woman who gave a different, beautiful gift to the Lord.
a. Mark 14:3 “And while he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head. … She has done a beautiful thing for me.”
b. This woman has taken her most precious, expensive possession and broke it open, she poured out every last drop of her perfumed oil to anoint the head of Jesus.
c. She is not a modern woman… she didn’t save anything for herself!! She didn’t find the gift that would give her a gift card in return…
d. She BROKE open the vase. Broke it. It will never be used by her again. She could have poured out a little oil and anointed Jesus. I think I would have done that, saved the rest for another occasion.
e. But she gave ALL! She saved nothing for herself.
f. She gave the gift of extravagant love and GRATITUDE to Jesus. She had experienced His great love for her.
g. This isn’t a woman who knew just in her head that she was loved by Jesus. She was a woman who opened her heart fully and let Jesus love her. She was then filled to overflowing with Love and THANKSGIVING to her God, her Jesus, Her Beloved.
h. She pushed past her shame, her unworthiness, her pride and let herself be loved.
i. Then she didn’t hold anything back for herself, she gave all to Jesus. She broke open her heart and filled the room with the fragrance of thanksgiving.
j. Thanksgiving is not an easy thing to give to Christ. It requires us to get out of ourselves. It takes believing we are loved even with our sin, weakness, ugliness...Not because of our greatness or anything we’ve done, but because of HIS greatness and what HE has done.
k. This takes great humility to recognize that all is from Him because of His goodness.
l. Is Christ asking you for the gift of humility and the sacrifice of praise? Is he asking you to let him love you and to love him back- to break open your heart and anoint him with your love and thanksgiving? Is he asking you to break open your heart and hold nothing back for yourself? To give all to Him?
m. If he is, rejoice! Let the fragrance of His love and your thanksgiving fill your life, your home and the lives of those around you this Christmas!
VII. Conclusion
a. Christ is asking us to take some time this morning to not forget His gift to us. The gift of Himself 2000 years ago, the gift of Himself each and every day, and the gift of His coming again.
b. He is inviting us to make a return to Him for all the gifts He has given us. The amazing thing about our God is that He is not outdone in generosity. What we give to Him he will give back to us 100 times over.
c. What return are we going to make this Christmas to the one who has given us everything? What gift are you going to give Jesus this Advent/ Christmas?



We are going to take some time to worship the Lord for His Goodness and His love for us. Then we are going to take some time to sit with the Lord and His personal word to us. There are some reflection questions there for you, if you are interested.

Word of caution: There are a lot of questions. Start with the first one. Then take a moment to consider which woman from the scriptures you relate to most this morning. Go to that set of questions and reflect with one or two of those questions.

I encourage you to use the questions if they are helpful and ignore them if they aren’t. Also, feel free to bring them home and continue to pray through them during this Advent season!

God bless you!
Women’s Advent Retreat 2011
What return can I make the Lord who has given so much to me?
Psalm 116:12

Reflection questions:
1. Make a list of the blessings/gifts the Lord has given you. (Feel free to use the back and sides of the pages too!



2. Read these passages again of the women that we heard about this morning:
Luke 7: 38-39 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee’s house, stood behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

Luke 21: 1-4 He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. And he said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had.”

Mark 14:3 “And while he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head. … She has done a beautiful thing for me.”

Which woman/women do you identify with most in this season of your life? What gift is Jesus asking you to give Him this Christmas?



Humility/Repentance: (Luke 7: 38-39- the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears)
1. Is there a sin that has kept me from living in the fullness of what Christ has for me? What is that sin?



2. What practical things can I do to turn away from that sin? How can I avoid temptation?



3. When can I get to confession? Put it in your calendar so you don’t forget!


4. Do I truly believe that the blood of Jesus can save me from my sin?


5. “The Lord is patient toward you, not wishing anyone to perish, but that all would be brought to repentance.” 1 Peter 2:9

Take time to rejoice and praise God for His gift of forgiveness and reconciliation! He is our Savior come into the world for our sakes!





Acceptance/Trust: Luke 21:1-4
The poor widow
1. Is there an area/cross/suffering in my life that I am not embracing, but fighting? What is it?



2. What is Jesus asking me to let go of in my life? Where am I holding too tightly to MY plan, MY hopes, My treasures…?






3. Do I truly trust God with this area of my life? What keeps me from trusting in Him, from giving ALL to Him?



4. Take some time to entrust your life to the Lord in a deeper way. Place your special need inside His heart and entrust it to Him. Give Him your gift of trust.



5. Do I feel like I am living in poverty of spirit? Am I tired, weary, empty? Take some time to offer your poverty to the Lord as a gift. He wants to give you the gift of hope in return.
“Those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not grow faint.” Isaiah 40:31



Love/Thanksgiving : Mark 14:3
The woman who anointed Christ with oil
1. Is the Lord asking me to give Him the gift of thanksgiving this Christmas season?



2. What keeps me from thanksgiving? Unworthiness? Selfishness? Blindness to the goodness of the Lord?



3. What are some practical ways that I can increase my thanksgiving on my day?



When we are living in the perspective of thankfulness, our love for the Lord and others increases. Reflect on how generously you are living with the Lord and others.
4. Have I broken open the alabaster jar of my heart to the Lord or am I measuring out my love and keeping some for me? In what ways am I holding back my love for the Lord and for others?



5. How is the Lord asking me to break open my heart and life to Him and others more?



7. Take some time to give the Lord the gift of your heart, broken open for Him and His people. Give him the parts of you that you are holding back for yourself. The Lord is never outdone in generosity. The more we give to Him, the more He gives to us.