O Come All Ye Faithful

O Come All Ye Faithful

Luke 2:1-20

Good Morning

A mother telling one of her favorite Christmas stories said, “My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant.

My daughter was playing Mary, Two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine.

My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, "We found the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths."

But he was nervous and said, "The baby was wrapped in wrinkled cloths."

My four-year-old "Mary" said, "That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten cloths."

A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd

and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost

her left wing.

I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying,

"Mama-mama."

Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up, and held it tightly as

the wise men arrived.

My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, Knelt at the manger and announced,

"We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts

of gold, common sense and fur."

The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant

got a standing ovation.

The pastor said, "I've never enjoyed a Christmas Program as much as this one", wiping tears from his eyes…

…"For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story without thinking of gold, common sense and fur."

The mother said, "My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing, as I dug through my purse for an aspirin”.

Folks, learn to count your blessings and enjoy these HOLY days; even with kids who don’t always do exactly as you think they should.

Please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke 2

Last week, we talked about the different perspectives of the Lord’s message to Mary about being with child.

Today we will fast forward a little bit within the narrative and see how a couple, with a brand new baby needs to make an 80 mile trip for a census.

I. A baby born in a barn.

Read Luke 2:1-7

Caesar decided that a census was needed, and no matter how inconvenient the timing was for this census; it was a law.

Rome controlled most of the world at this time of history and Caesar Augustus was the most powerful man on the planet.

What could possibly be more important than Caesar's decisions in Rome?

Who cared about a Jewish baby born in a Bethlehem barn? God did.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Galatians 4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. NKJV

When the fullness of time had come…God sent Jesus to redeem and adopt us.

Without realizing it, mighty Augustus was only an errand boy for the commencement of "the fullness of time" of God.

He was a pawn in the hand of Almighty God . . . Caesar was only a very small part of the pages of prophecy.

And while Rome was busy making history, God arrived on the scene.

The prophet Isaiah seemed to be impatient when he said to God…Isaiah 64:1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence NKJV

Folks…God tore open the heavens and came down to earth.

John tells us about Jesus in John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. NKJV

The Lord dwelt or tabernacled among us, in silence, on straw in a stable, under a star. John 1:1, John 1:14

Chris August has a song; Starry Night; some of the lyrics say

“From the desert sands to the place we stand; He's God of all, He is everything

I'm giving my life to the only One; Who makes the moon reflect the sun. Every starry night that was His design”

The world didn't even notice; they overlooked Jesus the baby, and the world still does.

Last week, we read about an angel speaking to Mary; and then the Angel spoke to Joseph…

But there were some men nearby, who were visited by an angel to tell them of Jesus’ birth as well.

II. The Visitation

Read Luke 2:8-12

One of the Christmas carols we love to sing at this time of year is O Come All Ye Faithful. The song closes with, “Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;