Great News For Everyone

Great News for Everyone

Griffith Baptist Church – 12/21/08

A.M. Service

Text: Luke 2:8-14

Key verse: Luke 2:10 - And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

Premise: We often talk about the great news of Christ’s birth, but there was more than just a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes that night; much more!

The Introduction

Take the year 1809. The international scene was tumultuous. Napoleon was sweeping through Austria; blood was flowing freely. Nobody then cared about babies. But the world was overlooking some terribly significant births.

For example, William Gladstone was born that year. He was destined to become one of England’s finest statesman. That same year, Alfred Tennyson was born to an obscure minister and his wife. The child would one day greatly affect the literary world in a marked manner.

On the American continent, Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And not far away in Boston, Edgar Allan Poe began his eventful, albeit tragic, life. It was also in that same year that a physician named Darwin and his wife named their child Charles Robert. And that same year produced the cries of a newborn infant in a rugged log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. The baby’s name? Abraham Lincoln.

If there had been news broadcasts at that time, I’m certain these words would have been heard: “The destiny of the world is being shaped on an Austrian battlefield today.” But history was actually being shaped in the cradles of England and America. Similarly, everyone thought taxation was the big news—when Jesus was born. But a young Jewish woman cradled the biggest news of all: the birth of the Savior. Adapted from Charles Swindoll – Source unknown

Great news is rarely heard, but when it is, we love to hear it.

When praises are given, we love to hear it

Think of how the shepherds felt, after the initial shock – verse 20

Body

1. He Removes Fear – fear not – 10

A. A little girl was in bed - scared of the dark. She went into her parent’s room and told her mother she was afraid. Her mother said, "It’s OK, sweetheart. There’s nothing to be afraid of, God is in there with you." The little girl went back to her bed and as she climbed into bed she said, "God, if you’re in here, don’t you say a word, you’ll scare me to death." - Charles Lowery, "Falling Isn’t That Bad," {SBC Life, }Sept. 1997, p. 15

B. God makes a habit of removing fear:

i. The only one we are to fear in awe, admiration and respect is God

ii. The type of fear mentioned here is a debilitating fear; they were struck with terror

iii. Other instances of God removing fear from His children:

a. Mary, when told about her selection to bear Christ - Luke 1:30 – And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.

b. When Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb - Matthew 28:5 – And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

c. To John on the isle of Patmos - Revelation 1:17-18 - 17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

C. No more fear of living life

i. Because God is our helper – Hebrews 13:6 - So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

ii. No man can touch your soul – Matthew 10:28 - And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

D. No more living without hope

i. Christ is our hope (1st Tim. 1:1; Col. 1:27)

ii. Biblical hope is a certainty

iii. Because of His resurrection - 1 Peter 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

iv. Because of His return - Titus 2:13 – Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;

2. He Does Not Discriminate – to all people – 10