I Have Good News For You This Christmas

I have Good News

Isaiah 9:1-7 / December 5, 2010 / Dr. Marty Baker

Good morning I am Marty Baker and I would like to welcome you to Stevens Creek Church! I am so excited to have you here today. We are beginning the new series, “Christmas with Hope.” The sermons and the drama sketches will work hand-in-hand to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ.

Speaking of that, what’s the best news that you’ve ever received? Think about it, when was a time in your life that you received some really good news? Hearing good news can make your day, and sometimes, if it’s the right news, it can even make your life.

Some of the best news I ever received came when I asked my wife Patty to marry me and she said, “Yes.”

Hopefully, I will never forget when our babies were born and the doctor said, “Mr. Baker, you have a son.” Or two years later, “You

have a daughter.” Or five years later, you have another son.” I told Patty last week that I cannot wait for grandchildren. She politely said, “Let’s get our kids married first.”

The Christmas story hinges on the words: I have some good news. The shepherds in the story belonged to a nation that was waiting for news. They were waiting for news that a promised Savior had come and delivered them from oppression and darkness.

And they’ve been waiting for a very long time – waiting and hoping for some good news in a world that was more often than not full of bad news. It was a world not so unlike the one we live in today.

Scan through the headlines of this past week and you will read news that will terrify and disappoint you. You will find news of violence and hopelessness that seems senseless and even out of control. You will find lots of news but you won’t find much good news.

But, today I want you to know that there IS good news. And it’s the sort of good news that will more than make your day, it’s good news that will make your life. You see a long time ago God made a promise that one day in the midst of darkness good news would come, that the darkness was only temporary, like fog, it wouldn’t last forever. Listen to the words of Isaiah:

Isaiah 9:2,6

2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…

That child, that son, would be the light of the world and the birth of that child would be the birth of good news for everyone. Christmas is the celebration that God’s promise was fulfilled. And that news came first to a bunch of shepherds who were literally sitting in the darkness, keeping watch and waiting when suddenly an angel appears and announces:

I’ve got good news.

The angels are declaring that God is at work, right now, right here. The One you’ve been waiting for, the One you’ve hoped for and longed for has come, tonight. The angel said that night to those shepherds, “I’ve got good news of great joy, news that will make your life. This good news is for everyone … every person who has ever waited, everyone who has ever hoped, everyone who has ever longed for good news.

Maybe that’s you this morning. Your week may have been filled with uncertainty, maybe filled with pain, maybe you are covered in fear. Whatever the case, whatever the situation, you need to know that this good news is for everyone and that includes you and me.

All of us love to hear some good news because we are surrounded by so much bad news and because at some time

or another all of us know what it is like to be waiting in darkness.

The fact that Christmas comes in the middle of winter, when the days are short, when there is more darkness than light makes sense to me. Because sometimes it’s in the contrast of night that we can best see God at work in our lives. Sometimes it’s in the midst of our waiting that we can best hear the good news that the angel proclaimed.

Maybe this Christmas Eve some of you are waiting for news. Maybe you’re even waiting in darkness, living with fear that the news won’t be good. I know this past year some of you’ve been waiting in hospital rooms and in doctor’s offices - waiting for a prognosis or for the test results to come in.

Some of you’ve been waiting to hear back from a job interview and you’re worried about how you are going to survive and provide for your family next year.