(Open with A Charlie Brown Christmas where Linus is reading the account of the birth of Jesus.)
Slide 1
Do you ever feel that we miss what Christmas is all about?
I mean, there are so many things going on during this time of year, it is easy to lose focus and perspective and to miss out on what this is all about.
Now there are many good things that go on from a human perspective.
Families get together
People give gifts to one another
Friends and co-workers gather together at parties
These things are not bad at all. But when so much time is taken with
Pondering what to get
Preparing what to make
Purchasing the things you will give
We tend to lose our sense of Wonder and Awe of why it is we celebrate Christmas.
Christmas is a celebration about Jesus.
It is a celebration of the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ
We should be awed at how much God loves us
Have you ever had a human relationship where you were just blown away by a demonstration of how much that person loved you?
O. Henry Story – the Gift of the Magi
There is the story by O. Henry of a husband and wife who are lacking in financial means at Christmas. The two things that are most prized of there earthly possessions are her hair and his gold watch that he had received from his grandfather.
At Christmas, there was not enough money for them to buy presents for one another. So she ended up selling her hair to buy a present for her husband and he sold his watch, the 2 things that had meant the most to them in this earthly realm.
Their love for one another was greater than any sacrifice of material they could make so they did it.
She bought him a beautiful chain to replace the old leather strap that held his magnificent watch.
And he bought her beautiful combs to go into her lovely flowing locks of hair.
There love for one another caused them each to sacrifice the one thing that they held dearest. And they sacrificed so the other might accentuate the one thing they held dearest.
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It’s not too often that we experience that type of human to human sacrifice.
A love that is
so extreme, that was
so sacrificial,
it took your breath away
But we can still experience the wonder and Awe of that type of love for us.
It is that type of love for us that caused the Creator of
Every star in heaven,
Every drop of water in the oceans
Every bird in the sky
Every fish in the ocean
Every animal on the planet
To send His One and Only Son into this world
to be born as a baby,
to grow up and
to suffer as He withstood all temptation to sin, and then
to die a brutal death
so that He might give you the gift of salvation.
We should be Awed by that kind of love.
I want to try and capture that sense of Awe tonight as we look at the Shepherds and what they experienced and how they responded.
Turn with me to
Slide 2
Luke 2:8-20
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15 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."
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
As we read this account, it is my hope that we can see anew some wonderful things about God that we may not have known, or may just have forgotten that may help us recapture that sense of wonder and amazement in the Lord.
The first thing we see in this account is that…
The Good News is for Everyone
Slide 3
This is truly an amazing proclamation that the Angels make.
Luke 2:10
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Good news of great joy for all the people.
Good news for the poor
Good news for the rich
Good for the weak
Good for the strong
Good for the healthy
Good for the sick
Good for women
Good for men
Good for the old
Good for the young
I think there are people who think sometimes that the gospel, the good news is for white Americans. The gospel is not just for white Americans, it is for everyone, just like the angels said
This is awesome news.
Maybe you are here on this Christmas because
that is what you do on Christmas,
you go to church,
but have found that Christianity,
or church
or religion
has never really mattered for you. It was boring, or irrelevant to your life.
It became that going to church wasn’t really good news at all.
In fact, you may have thought of it
As bad news.
As a waste of time.
Well, I want to tell you something. The gospel really does have good news for you.
I also want to apologize for any Christian you may have had contact with who made the gospel seem boring or irrelevant. It is far from that.
In fact it is
amazing and
Awesome and
very relevant
to your life today.
The gospel message matters for eternity and it matters for right now in your life.
But we must also realize that
Our Response to the Good News Matters
Slide 4
It is in our response that we are going to experience that Awe and Wonder of Christmas.
We see the Shepherds experiencing this Awe and wonder.
Luke 2:17-18
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
That word amazed is “ethaumasan” and it means to wonder at or marvel.
The shepherds were amazed and they were able to share that wonder and amazement with the people they were telling these events to.
And as they responded to the good news, they got to experience this Awe and wonder anew through those that they told.
So I want to take a look at the various responses that the Shepherds had so that we might respond similarly to experience the awe and Wonder of Christ at Christmas.
What was the Shepherds response to the Good News?
The first way they responded,
The Shepherds Went to the New Born King
Slide 5
Luke 2:15-16
15 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."
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
The shepherds heard what the angels had to say and they believed it which was shown in their going to see it.
They responded with a true belief.
You don’t see some of them saying,
“Wow, that was incredible. You 2 go and check it out and see if it is true. Then come back and let us know what you find.”
No, they say “let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.”
They believed it by faith and it showed in how they responded to it.
It is the same with all who respond to the Good news: it is by faith shown through actions.
Hebrews 11:8
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
Abraham believed by Faith and went.
How are you responding to the Good News?
Are you believing in your actions?
Family in Church
We have a family that goes to this church that is doing that right now. The husband has been out of work and the wife has been working, but they have sensed that God wants the wife at home. In their particular situation, they are trusting the Lord in faith by her stopping working even while her husband doesn’t have a job, because they believe that it is not showing trust in the Lord for her to continue.
That is faith in action.
Respond to the good news by believing in your actions and going where He tells you.
Secondly,
The Shepherds were Witnesses for the New Born King
Slide 6
Luke 2:17-18
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
Being a witness is telling what you have seen and know and believe.
Just as like that fact that they “went” was believing with their actions,
Their being witnesses is believing with their words
We need to believe with our words as well.
If we are going to continue to experience the Awe and Wonder of Christ in our lives, we have to tell others what we believe and know to be true, just like the Shepherds did.
If you are a Christian, you remember early on in your faith, there was that newness, that sense of Awe as you continued learning about what God had done and what He wanted to do in your life.
You could hardly wait to read the Bible and see what new thing God had for you today.
However, if you have been a Christian for very long, you know that that sense of Awe wears off. It becomes harder to be in the word.
But I want to tell you. As you share the Good News with others, and they get that sense of Awe and Wonder, it rubs off on you.
I love to be around new believers because the Spirit takes their passion and gives me that renewed sense of Wonder.
“Oh yea, I remember what it was like when God first saved me and drew me to Himself.”
And those feelings of wanting to dive back into the word and study and experience the joy of the Lord all over again come flooding back.
In the beginning of the book of Acts, we see Jesus tell His disciples to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:10). He is basically giving the great Commission again.
In the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Jesus tells us to teach people to obey the things He commanded and He goes on to say, Surely, I am with you always.
That sense of Awe, that sense of His presence, gets renewed as we teach others and be witnesses for Him telling others about the Good News.
Finally,
The Shepherds Worshipped the New Born King
Slide 7
Luke 2:20
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
They gave God glory
They gave God praise
They worshipped Him. They valued Him.
It doesn’t say how they did this, but it is my guess they did it as men.
Kind of like when guys celebrate a World Series Win.
They celebrate and honor the players.
Here they might have done the same thing to God, being the men that they were, uneducated, not very religious.
God you are great.
Wooo Hooo, You did it.
Maybe a little chant they made up
I don’t know, but I know that they felt the emotions of all of that and it welled up in a sense of Awe and Wonder and Amazement.
Now I am sure that that feeling was not always there with them. The still had sheep to shepherd and work to do.
But as they recounted their story
As they told others about the Christ Child.
As they recounted what the Angels told them,
They would experience a new the sense of Awe and Wonder.
You can have that too.
If you are a Christian, share that with someone else so you can experience that Awe, that Wonder that you did at the beginning.
If you have never received Jesus as Savior, Christmas time is the perfect time for that.
God has prepared a gift for you and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger.
Receive the gift, Receive Jesus tonight and experience the newness of life in Christ.
If you want to receive the gift of salvation, pray with me and acknowledge your belief to God
Pray
Candle lighting
Slide
We are going to close with our candle lighting and then sing silent night.
As we begin lighting the candles I want you to reflect on the fact that we are celebrating Jesus’ birth and that he came into this world as the one true light of the world.
John tells us in the beginning of his gospel that Jesus is the light of the world.
John 1:1-9
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Jesus is that light. And when we trust in Jesus, His light enters us.
As his creation comes into relation with Him by accepting Him as their Savior, that light spreads and grows unto the ends of the earth.
The candles we light tonight are symbolic of the light that we become through Jesus Christ. As we see the light get brighter as more candles are lit, this is how it should be in our world also as we share Jesus Christ and what He accomplished through His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection so that His light might shine brightly in our hearts.
Let your light shine before men this Christmas.
Sing with us as we close in Silent Night.
