A Royal Birth

SERMON OUTLINE:

A Birth!

A Boy!

A Prince!

A King!

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• If you have just gotten into the Christmas spirit;

• Let me apologise because I want you to turn your mind back to the summer.

• To a certain date July 22nd;

• And to a certain time 4.24pm.

• For the BBC it was the biggest global news day ever;

• With 19.4 million viewers to their website.

• From all over the globe they logged on to watch live-coverage of this event.

• Outside Buckingham Palace and outside St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London;

• Crowds had queued for hours in the hope of seeing…well I’m not quite sure what?

• And in this age of technology;

• I love the fact that to the side of the front gate's,

• Behind the iron railings of Buckingham Palace.

• Somebody pinned a piece of paper to a wooden easel!

• The paper was of course palace notepaper and contained this message:

• Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son,

• At 4.24pm today.

Now to celebrate the birth of this:

• 8 pounds 6 ounce baby boy;

• Who would a few days later be named of Prince George of Cambridge.

• ill: The next day after the baby was born Britain’s biggest selling newspaper The Sun;

• Changed its name or the spelling of its name from SUN to SON!

• ill: Even the left-wing, semi-republican Guardian newspaper;

• Covered their front page with this head-line: “A Birth! A Boy! A Prince! A King!”

• Now when looking for inspiration for my Christmas Carols by Candlelight Sermon;

• I thought the Guardians headline would be spot on: “A Birth! A Boy! A Prince! A King!”

• So let’s look at those four descriptions:

(1). A Birth!

Quote: Luke chapter 2 verse 7:

“and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them”.

Ill:

• As of April 2012, almost 2,000 babies are born every day in the UK.

• This means 80 babies are born every hour.

• On average, it is estimated:

• That there are approximately 130 million babies born throughout the world each year,

• According to the CIA Factbook,

• The number of babies that are born worldwide by estimate are about 247 per minute.

• The population of the world is estimated at around 7 billion people;

• The population of the world at the time of Christ was estimated at about 200 million.

• We don’t know how many babies were born that year;

• But at a guess it was…a very large amount!

• Yet this one baby born 2000 years ago in a Palestinian town has dominated history!!!

• And even split time in two B.C. and A.D.

Ill:

• In 1859 a scientific expedition;

• Passed through the Grand Canyon in America.

• A lieutenant recorded these events in a journal and he made this entry in his report:

“This region…is…altogether valueless. It can be approached only from the south, and after leaving it, there is nothing to do but leave it…shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed”

• Today the Grand Canyon is one of the most visited places in the USA!

• TRANSITION: A birth, quite unremarkable in many ways.

• Unlike Prince George of Cambridge in every way!

• Yet today that unexceptional birth will be celebrated all over the world!

Ill:

• Prince George of Cambridge was delivered at the Lindo wing,

• St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London.

• It is the most exclusive and best of private health care.

• A basic normal birth will cost you five-thousand pounds.

• A caesarean birth with cost you six and a half thousand pounds.

• But if you want to upgrade that you pay an extra nine hundred for superior treatment,

• One thousand one hundred pounds extra for de-lux treatment.

• And the prices for a suite are only available on request.

• And you will not be surprised to know that William and Kate took a suite,

• They also had the best of the royal gynaecologists;

• They had an expert team of mid-wives and nurses;

• And the latest and best medical equipment that money can buy!

Notice: By contrast Luke chapter 2 verse 7 tells us:

“…She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them”.

• So instead of a private hospital with blacked out windows for privacy;

• Mary gives birth in a stable, a cattle shed, a barn.

Ill:

• In the Midlands where I grew up;

• If anyone ever left a room and in doing so forgot to close the door;