HCC Weekly - December 1st, 2025

December 1, 2025

Pastor Ken

The National Retail Federation predicts that, this year, holiday spending will surpass $1 trillion. That said, I’ve always felt that gift-giving was more than just spending money; there’s a diplomacy to it because through the gift you’re revealing yourself to the recipient.

In the book of I Samuel there are two young men, David, and Jonathan. Despite being on opposite ends of the social spectrum (David is a shepherd and Jonathan is a prince), they develop a close friendship. Jonathan seals his relationship with David through three carefully chosen gifts: his robe, his weapons, and his belt.

In those days, a man’s robe was his status symbol. Therefore, through the giving of his robe, Jonathan raised David’s status from commoner to royalty. Through the giving of his weapons, Jonathan made a life-long covenant of peace with David. And through the giving of his belt, Jonathan offered up a life-long commitment of support and allegiance to David.

Jonathan’s gifts reflect the gift of the Gospel, the relationship we enter into with Christ when we come to Him in repentance and faith.

• Christ makes us equals.

John 15:15

I no longer call you servants…I have called you friends…

• Christ enters into a peace agreement with us.

Isaiah 53:5

…the punishment that brought us peace was on him…

• Christ commits His support and allegiance to us.

Romans 8:37-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What is to be our response to the generosity of Christ?

• Value people. Jonathan chose to ignore the differences between himself and David. Instead he focused on the similarities. In like manner, look for similarities with people rather than differences. You may be surprised to discover you have more in common with others than you initially realized.

• Be at peace with people. Jonathan’s peace covenant with David came at a price; it meant losing the throne. But Jonathan’s path of peace earned him something far more valuable; an eternal legacy of uprightness. Nobody likes injustice, but you should never want justice so much that you’re willing to lose your integrity.

• Commit to faithfulness. Jonathan’s gifts reflected his word to David. Similarly, the gift of the manger, and the cross, and the empty tomb reflect God’s Word to us. May we, as God’s people, always be true to our word. The days of a man’s word should never be extinct as long as the church remains in the world.

Have a great Monday!