{"id":2335,"date":"2023-12-25T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/?p=2335"},"modified":"2023-12-24T01:34:01","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T07:34:01","slug":"day-25-the-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 25: The Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Read: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Luke 1:30\u201334\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><sup>30<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><strong><em>And the angel said to her, \u201cDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. <\/em><\/strong><strong><em><sup>31<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><strong><em>And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. <\/em><\/strong><strong><em><sup>32<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><strong><em>He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, <\/em><\/strong><strong><em><sup>33<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><strong><em>and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><sup>34<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><strong><em>And Mary said to the angel, \u201cHow will this be, since I am a virgin?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>John 3:16 &#8211; For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ponder:<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The story of the birth of Christ has, from the very beginning, been a story of a faithful, steadfast love. True, steadfast love gives. And giving costs the giver. The more costly the gift, the greater the sacrifice. And to give your Son, well, any parent knows that is the ultimate sacrifice.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The virgin birth is the real-world example of this. It is grounded in the love of God. Jesus was born of a virgin so He could die for our sins. Scripture emphasizes the intensity of God\u2019s love for us (see Hosea 11). The words in John 3:16 stress the greatness of this gift, highlighting Jesus was, \u201chis <em>only <\/em>Son\u201d (emphasis mine). The Father gave his best. The Father gives His unique and beloved Son. His <em>only <\/em>Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, in the midst of the presents and the food and the family and friends, don\u2019t forget to spend some time alone with God. Thank Him for Jesus. He is a good, good Father.&nbsp;<strong>Respond:<\/strong> Listen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2R2NnN7mO5w\">\u201cGod Is So Good (You Are Worthy)\u201d by Pat Barrett.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today in the midst of the presents and the food and the family and friends, don&#8217;t forget to spend some time alone with God.  Thank Him for Jesus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,245],"tags":[267,268],"nelio_content":{"isAutoShareEnabled":true,"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"followers":[16,9],"suggestedReferences":[],"efiUrl":"","efiAlt":"","highlights":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Day 25: The Gift - Collegiate Disciple Maker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Day 25: The Gift - Collegiate Disciple Maker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today in the midst of the presents and the food and the family and friends, don&#039;t forget to spend some time alone with God. Thank Him for Jesus.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Collegiate Disciple Maker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-25T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-24T07:34:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jerome Stockert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jerome Stockert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jerome Stockert\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87790f2209cd295dc1c122302ceec813\"},\"headline\":\"Day 25: The Gift\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-25T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-24T07:34:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/\"},\"wordCount\":310,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Advent\",\"Advent 2023\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Christian Living\",\"Spiritual Disciplines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/\",\"name\":\"Day 25: The Gift - Collegiate Disciple Maker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-25T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-24T07:34:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png\",\"width\":750,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Gift\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Day 25: The Gift\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/\",\"name\":\"Collegiate Disciple Maker\",\"description\":\"Theologically grounded, practically applicable articles to equip today&#039;s campus ministers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Collegiate DiscipleMaker\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Collegiate-DiscipleMaker-Logo-without-MBCollegiate.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Collegiate-DiscipleMaker-Logo-without-MBCollegiate.png\",\"width\":8333,\"height\":3333,\"caption\":\"The Collegiate DiscipleMaker\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87790f2209cd295dc1c122302ceec813\",\"name\":\"Jerome Stockert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Jerome-Stockert-thumbnail-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Jerome-Stockert-thumbnail-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Jerome Stockert\"},\"description\":\"Jerome is the Campus Missionary for Central BSU at University of Central Missouri. Since his life-transforming encounter with Jesus as a young adult, Jerome has spent his adult life doing vocational ministry, serving in various roles as a college minister, pastor, and church planter. He has been married to Andrea for over three decades and has three grown children. He loves coffee and is a passionate fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mbcollegiate.org\/college-ministry\/?smid=63\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/author\/jstock\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Day 25: The Gift - Collegiate Disciple Maker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Day 25: The Gift - Collegiate Disciple Maker","og_description":"Today in the midst of the presents and the food and the family and friends, don't forget to spend some time alone with God. Thank Him for Jesus.","og_url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/","og_site_name":"Collegiate Disciple Maker","article_published_time":"2023-12-25T14:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-24T07:34:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jerome Stockert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jerome Stockert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/"},"author":{"name":"Jerome Stockert","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87790f2209cd295dc1c122302ceec813"},"headline":"Day 25: The Gift","datePublished":"2023-12-25T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-24T07:34:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/"},"wordCount":310,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png","keywords":["Advent","Advent 2023"],"articleSection":["Christian Living","Spiritual Disciplines"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/","url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/","name":"Day 25: The Gift - Collegiate Disciple Maker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png","datePublished":"2023-12-25T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-24T07:34:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Day-25-The-Gift-CDM-Blog.png","width":750,"height":250,"caption":"Gift"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/day-25-the-gift\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Day 25: The Gift"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/","name":"Collegiate Disciple Maker","description":"Theologically grounded, practically applicable articles to equip today&#039;s campus ministers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#organization","name":"The Collegiate DiscipleMaker","url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Collegiate-DiscipleMaker-Logo-without-MBCollegiate.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Collegiate-DiscipleMaker-Logo-without-MBCollegiate.png","width":8333,"height":3333,"caption":"The Collegiate DiscipleMaker"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87790f2209cd295dc1c122302ceec813","name":"Jerome Stockert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Jerome-Stockert-thumbnail-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Jerome-Stockert-thumbnail-96x96.jpg","caption":"Jerome Stockert"},"description":"Jerome is the Campus Missionary for Central BSU at University of Central Missouri. Since his life-transforming encounter with Jesus as a young adult, Jerome has spent his adult life doing vocational ministry, serving in various roles as a college minister, pastor, and church planter. He has been married to Andrea for over three decades and has three grown children. He loves coffee and is a passionate fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins.","sameAs":["https:\/\/mbcollegiate.org\/college-ministry\/?smid=63"],"url":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/author\/jstock\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2337,"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions\/2337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegiatedisciplemaker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}