The Angel’s Song – How Did God Come?

SERMON OUTLINE:

Requirement #1: The story should UNUSUAL (vs 9).

Requirement #2: The story should VITAL (vs 10).

Requirement #3: The story should PROMINENT (vs 17-18).

Requirement #4: The story should PERSONAL (vs 12).

Requirement #5: The story should TIMELY (vs 11).

SERMON BODY:

The Carol, "Angels from the Realms of Glory,"

• Was penned by James Montgomery,

• Who would go on to write over 400 hymns.

• This carol celebrates the birth of Christ,

• And is structured to address different groups:

• Angels, shepherds, sages (wise men), and saints,

• Each called to worship the newborn King.

Question: But did you know that “Angels from the Realms of Glory,”

• Was not an original Christmas carol?

• It was an adaptation of the old French hymn,

• ‘Les Anges dans nos campagnes.’

• And Montgomery’s adaptation was not a song,

• But rather it was published as a poem.

• On Christmas Eve, in 1816.

• The readers of newspaper called, ‘The Iris,’

• (previously the Sheffield Register),

• Opened the paper to find a Christmas poem entitled The Nativity.

• In the original carol,

• He composed five stanzas,

• But then for a publication later that year,

• He dropped stanza #5 and later wrote a new stanza #4,

• And that's how we usually sing it.

• But earlier on, we had read to us all 5 stanzas,

• Once this poem was set to music,

• The rest as they say is…

• Now not a lot of people know this, but by 1916,

• The hymn had been set to more than 50 different tunes!

• And became a firm Christmas favourite.

• TRANSITION:

• From the different groups mentioned in the carol

• We are going to concentrate on the Angels song.

• In Luke chapter 2 verse 10 we read,

• “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Ill:

• NEWS is sometimes said to be acrostic.

• N = north, E = east, W = west & S = south.

• That sounds good and fits the letters,

• But alas it’s not true.

• TRANSITION:

• It all started in the 14th century,

• When the English word ‘news,’

• Developed as a special use of the plural form of ‘new.’

• In fact, it derived from the French word "nouvelles,"

• Meaning "new things."

Ill:

• Those who teach journalism,

• Tell us that the best news stories have 5 characteristics,

• 5 things that make a story great.

• FIRST:

• The story should be UNUSUAL:

• e.g. Dog bites man is not unusual, but man bites dog is.

• SECOND.

• The story should be VITAL:

• e.g. Who cares if you started a diet yesterday!

• e.g. But we all care if you started chemotherapy for cancer.

• THIRD.

• The story should be PROMINENT:

• e.g. If the Prime Minister breaks a leg, it’s news!

• But if I break my leg, then I should have been more careful!

• FOURTH.

• The story should PERSONAL:

• e.g. If the government puts a penny on income tax,

• We are all involved,

• If they just tax the rich, then only Mr ????? is affected!

• FIFTH:

• The story should TIMELY:

• Quote: “Yesterdays newspaper is only good for fish & chips.”

• TRANSITION: now with all that as a backdrop,

• Let’s look at Luke chapter 2 verses 8-20,

• And see if it meets those requirements.

Requirement #1: The story should UNUSUAL (vs9).

• Verse 9:

• “An angel of the Lord appeared to them.”

Now I would say that encountering angelic beings is unusual!

• Question: Have you ever seen an angel?

• Answer: Me neither!

• But in case you do,

• I can almost guarantee the first words,

• That an angel will speak to you are, “Do not be afraid.”

Ill:

• Seven bits of Angel trivia.

• #1: Angels are mentioned 273 times in the Bible.

• The New Testament, ancient Greek word for Angel,

• Angelos, is the same word for messenger.

• Angels are God's messengers.

• And in today's reading,

• These angels brought the single most important piece of news,

• That was ever communicated from God to man.

• #2: Angels are spiritual beings.

• Therefore, angels do not have a physical body.

• (Psalm 104 verse 4)

• #3: Angels are too numerous to count.

• The Bible indicates that an incalculable number of angels exist.

• (Psalm 68 verse 17)

• #4: Only three angels are mentioned by name in the Bible.

• They are, Gabriel, Michael, and the fallen angel Lucifer, or Satan.

• (Daniel chapter 8 verse 16, Luke chapter 1 verse 19, Luke chapter 1 verse 26)