A Savior Has Been Born!

MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

(REVISED: 2019)

(PowerPoints used with this message are available for free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request PP#247)

TEXT: Luke 2:1-20

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world….And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem …, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared … praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

The story you’ve just heard is very familiar to most of us here this morning. And I realize that there is a danger when hearing a familiar story of thinking, "I've heard that before. There’s no need to listen to it again."

Would you please bow your heads for just a few moments as I pray?

PRAYER: “Father, how kind & merciful you are. We have come to you in prayer for many different reasons, & you have always been gracious in hearing & answering them.

I pray right now in particular that as we focus our thoughts this morning upon the old, old story of your love for us as seen in Jesus Christ, that it will ring fresh & new in our hearts as we consider it once again. Please, Father, may your Spirit be in us today, I pray, in Christ’s name. Amen”

I. CONSIDER THE ELEMENTS OF THE STORY

A. The story actually begins before the beginning of time. The Bible says that even before the foundation of the world was laid, God planned that His Son would give Himself for the sins of mankind.

In the 3rd chapter of Genesis, & all the way through the O.T., prophecy after prophecy proclaimed that the Messiah would come, He would be born & live among us, & He would be the Lamb of God that takes away our sins. Then there is a silence of 400 years when no prophet from God speaks. But finally the silence is broken, the angels speak, & Jesus is born.

B. Mary & Joseph had been handpicked by God Mary, to be the mother of God's Son, & Joseph to be the one commissioned to take care of them.

So the story begins to unfold, but there were complications. Rumor & gossip flow through the streets of Nazareth because Mary is expecting a child even before she & Joseph had become husband & wife.

Then there is the complication of the order of Caesar Augustus that every family must return to their home town for a census of the Roman world. So even though the baby is due at any time, Mary & Joseph must make the journey all the way to Bethlehem from Nazareth, & that trip is about 90 miles long.

Three times Ethel & I have made that same trip & saw the rugged countryside through the windows of air conditioned tourist buses. But Mary & Joseph traveled those 90 miles with no Holiday Inns at night, no clean sheets to sleep between, no TV programs to entertain them.