Romans 1:16-17; 3:21-31; Matthew 7:21-29

Has anybody ever given you a free gift? It's always a bit dodgy when something comes through the door saying: "Debbie Gaston, (they always use your name to personalise it don't they?), you have won a free gift!" I have yet to read one of these adverts that does not have a catch in it.

It either means you have won the chance to enter a free draw, along with millions of others, so there is about as much chance of winning as there is the lottery; or it means you might win something if you go to a meeting in another part of the country to listen to a talk about time-share flats in Spain, or something like it, and it is always at a time when it is most inconvenient.

Then if you decide to go, you can only win the prize if you buy something, and the cheapest thing they've got costs £1000 anyway! Somebody tell me what's free about this and is it what we class as a gift?

Even when someone I know gives me something at a time when I don't expect it, there is usually some doubt in my mind as to what they really want - I find it very hard to believe that certain people would give me something free, without expecting something in return!

It's a bit like our son, Nick, sometimes, not always: he may come home at weekends when he is off from the army, and at a meal together he clears the plates away without being asked! We say thank you out of sheer shock, only to realise that he is either trying to impress his girlfriend or he wants to borrow a couple of hundred pounds for alloy wheels on his car! As soon as something is out of the ordinary, it can make you very suspicious because society is the type of place where you never seem to get something for nothing!

I'm here this morning to say: "This is not the case with Jesus!"

God was fed up with people trying to keep the laws that had been set with Moses - the Ten Commandments - because no-one could ever keep them all the time. So the Jewish Nation had to keep offering the sacrifice of a new lamb to receive forgiveness. The shedding of the blood symbolised a pure life given for each person's sins. God was saying: "I love you all so much and yet you cannot see it. I don't want you to feel bad all the time because you cannot keep the law that has been set. I want you to know that you can live life to the full, and that I will be with you at all times - through thick and thin, when you're alone and when you are with others. I don't want you to keep having to sacrifice the blood of a lamb, to feel better about yourself, I want you to know that I love you all the time.

So I am going to give you a free gift. I don't expect anything in return because I love you more than anything. You are the apple of my eye - I will always be there for you. And to prove it I am going to send my precious Son, Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice for your sins.

I know you can't get it right always and I know you don't always like yourself for it, but Jesus will only have to suffer and die once for your past, present and future sins. Oh yes, it will be an horrific death and it will break my heart to see Him go through what He has to go through, but I will do this for you because I have created you and I love you beyond words."

You see, words are not enough at times to show love are they? A friend might say to you: "You know I love you and of course I will return whatever I borrow from you. But the ultimate showing of that love is when that friend does return whatever has been borrowed in as good a condition as when it was with you, without being asked.

Actions speak louder than words and God's action of sending Jesus to die for all the wrongs we so often do, was beyond words. The life of a son was sacrificed freely with nothing expected in return. It was through God's perfect grace that we are now able to meet with the living God and have Jesus beside us all the time.

We all hear words but what we do is so much more powerful. God knew that; so instead of just saying: "I Love You," God sent Jesus, the Son that was the replica of His parent, to show us that love in action. No longer do we have to sacrifice the blood of lambs, no longer do we have to beg forgiveness, no longer do we have to fear what death holds for us, because through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we have been given the free gift of salvation: so free that God never expects anything in return. When anyone shows me love in the way that God has shown me love, I want to say: "I love you" back in words and actions.

What will you do with God's free gift? Will you tear up the offer because you think something is expected in return, or will you accept this free gift willingly and begin to enjoy all that God has to offer? The Gospel of Christ Jesus is on offer to everyone as it said in the readings - to Jew and Gentile, to all with no restrictions. Not just some people and not just sometimes, but it is for everybody, everyday. What is your decision?