Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: If you have your Bible while you're standing, go to the book of Luke, chapter 2.
Speaker 1: Brother Ron's going to read our scripture for this morning.
Speaker 2: Beginning Luke, chapter 2 with verse 8, the Christmas story.
Speaker 2: And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear.
Speaker 2: And the angel said to them Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this will be a sign for you.
Speaker 2: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
Speaker 2: And suddenly there was, with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.
Speaker 2: When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.
Speaker 2: They went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger, and when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
Speaker 2: But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Speaker 2: This is the word of the Lord, amen.
Speaker 1: Well, peace be with you.
Speaker 1: Friends, none of my liturgical people are going to say in with you, matthew, where?
Speaker 1: Where you at All?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 1: Well, on December the 25th every year, we celebrate the birth of Christ, but not the birthday of Christ.
Speaker 1: Some of you look a little confused right now.
Speaker 1: Let me say it again On December the 25th every year, we celebrate the birth of Christ, but not the birthday of Christ, and that's an important distinction, because actually we do not know when you know the exact day of Jesus' birth as a matter of fact.
Speaker 1: Interestingly, many scholars say, if anything, it's doubtful, possible, but doubtful, that he was even born in December.
Speaker 1: I don't know what that does to your Christmas, but listen, the Bible doesn't give us a date.
Speaker 1: And do you know that?
Speaker 1: There are a lot of things about the Christmas story the Bible doesn't tell us, like it tells us what's most important about how Christ came and what his mission was, but it leaves out a lot of details that our often inquisitive minds want to know.
Speaker 1: For instance, we know that Jesus was born in a manger, yes, but we don't know that that manger was in a stable or in a barn.
Speaker 1: Now, you might assume that, but you've got to go back and look at first century history.
Speaker 1: Scholars tell us that it's highly likely that this manger was inside a home Because in the first century most of the houses would have a large room with troughs in them.
Speaker 1: It would be inside their home, it would be adjacent to the main living area and they had those spaces so that at night they could bring the animals in for warmth and protection.
Speaker 1: So most scholars believe that they were actually staying, mary and Joseph, in a home.
Speaker 1: We don't know how many wise men visited Jesus.
Speaker 1: We assume that there were three, because there were three gifts gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Speaker 1: But I'm sure many of you, like me, have cheap friends who say, hey, can I just put my name on the card, like you bought the gift, right?
Speaker 1: So you know, you had that cheap wise man, right?
Speaker 1: Hey, I forgot to get something.
Speaker 1: You know frankincense guy, write my name on the card, kind of thing.
Speaker 1: The Bible doesn't specify that Mary rode into Bethhlehem on the donkey.
Speaker 1: For all we know she walked.
Speaker 1: It doesn't specify that there were other animals in, like the nativity scene, right, like we always portray.
Speaker 1: Maybe, maybe not.
Speaker 1: What do I tell you all of this?
Speaker 1: The fact that the bible leaves out some of those details that we maybe wish were in there, reminds us that what is most important about the Christmas story is not that we know every single detail.
Speaker 1: Look at me.
Speaker 1: What is most important is that we know and encounter the Christ of Christmas.
Speaker 1: That's what I want for each of you today and I know we've had a lot go on already service a little bit longer today but I would just say to you it's important that you listen, because knowledge of the Christmas story won't save you, it won't transform your life.
Speaker 1: You may say, sure, I believe in all this, well, great.
Speaker 1: But if you don't encounter the Christ of Christmas, you will not be saved, your life will not be changed.
Speaker 1: And so we find in our text these shepherds out watching their flock by night, who do not only hear about the Christmas story, but they run to that child in a manger and they encounter that first Christmas night the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: So may we learn from them.
Speaker 1: Today In our text, you have this angel who appears.
Speaker 1: Are you guys hot?
Speaker 1: I see some of you fanning.
Speaker 1: Is it warm in here?
Speaker 1: Lots of bodies in here.
Speaker 1: Okay, if you start falling asleep, I'm going to make it frigid.
Speaker 1: I'm just going to tell you hey, if it gets warm, just jump up there.
Speaker 1: They look a little sleepy, so wake them up, hunter.
Speaker 1: So in our text, this angel brings an announcement to these shepherds of the birth of this baby, and they call it good news of not just some joy, but what Great joy.
Speaker 1: Now, any birth announcement is good news generally.
Speaker 1: Like you know, I just had a little grandbaby.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you that was good news of great joy for my family.
Speaker 1: Now, many of you got excited about that too, but my point is this that in a regular birth there is great joy generally for that particular family.
Speaker 1: But the angel declares this is good news of great joy for who?
Speaker 1: All peoples, every race, tribe and tongue.
Speaker 1: This birth announcement is good news of great joy.
Speaker 1: And then the angel tells us why, tells the shepherds why, for unto you verse 11, is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ, the Lord Beloved.
Speaker 1: This was no ordinary baby, I know you know this, but the angel says to the shepher shepherd that this child is a Savior.
Speaker 1: He's a Savior.
Speaker 1: Now, what's so interesting there is that in the Old Testament it was God who was described as Savior.
Speaker 1: You go especially to the book of Isaiah and the book of Psalms and many other places in the Old Testament, and God is called the Savior of His people.
Speaker 1: In Isaiah 43, 11, the Lord says I am the Lord and besides me, hear me.
Speaker 1: There is no other Savior.
Speaker 1: And yet the angel of the Lord calls Jesus Christ a Savior of God's people, which affirms that this is not just the Son of God, this is God, the Son lying in the manger.
Speaker 1: He is fully man, fully God, and he came with a mission, matthew 121 tells us to save his people from their sins.
Speaker 1: That's why he came.
Speaker 1: That's why it's good news of great joy, because that's what you and I need more than anything.
Speaker 1: He calls him the Christ, and, by the way, christ is not Jesus' last name Surprise some of you.
Speaker 1: Right, no, christ is a messianic title.
Speaker 1: That means anointed one.
Speaker 1: In the Old Testament it can be translated Messiah and Israel, for hundreds of years, had been waiting on this great king deliverer, this prophet, priest and king, on this great king deliverer, this prophet, priest and king, the one according to Isaiah 53, who would come and bear the sins of his people, rescue his people, deliver his people.
Speaker 1: And so the angel of the Lord comes, and then with a host of angels, an army of angels, says it's good news, of great joy for all people, because this is the Christ that you've been waiting on.
Speaker 1: And then, finally, he calls this baby.
Speaker 1: The angel calls the baby Lord.
Speaker 1: It's a title of authority and power.
Speaker 1: You know, the most fundamental confession of the Christian faith is that Jesus is what Lord.
Speaker 1: See, lots of people want him as Savior, but a lot of people reject him as Lord, even though they might say the actual words with their mouth.
Speaker 1: Because to say that Jesus is Lord and believe it is to obey him.
Speaker 1: And yet some of you this morning, you're saying, oh yeah, he's Lord, but you're living your life as if he's not, and that's a dangerous thing.
Speaker 1: That's why one of the most sobering passages in the Bible is in Matthew, where Jesus says many will say to me on that day, lord, lord, and He'll say turn from you.
Speaker 1: I never knew you.
Speaker 1: I came with a message this morning to tell somebody to repent today, because he's not just come to be Savior, he's come to be Lord.
Speaker 1: My point in all of this is reminding you of the proclamation of the angels.
Speaker 1: It's simply that this message, this baby in a manger, demands a response Like you put yourself in the shoes of a first century Israelite and you hear about this angelic proclamation that unto you, in the city of David, is born the Savior Christ, who is Lord.
Speaker 1: You don't just go, oh man, that's cool, that's neat.
Speaker 1: No, this would rock your world.
Speaker 1: And it evoked a lot of different responses in the Bible, this announcement of the birth of a king in the Bible, this announcement of the birth of a king, and so I want to look at a few of those responses very quickly, and I want to start by going outside of the book of Luke to the book of Matthew, and I'll just read for you Matthew, chapter 2, verses 1 through 3.
Speaker 1: Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying when is he who has been born king of the Jews?
Speaker 1: For we saw his star when it rose and we have come to worship him.
Speaker 1: Understand the wise men.
Speaker 1: They're talking to the king and they're saying Where's this king that was born?
Speaker 1: We want to worship him.
Speaker 1: Understand the wise men.
Speaker 1: They're talking to the king and they're saying Where's this king that was born?
Speaker 1: We want to worship him.
Speaker 1: And when Herod the king heard this, the scripture says he was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him.
Speaker 1: This was Herod the great, by the way.
Speaker 1: He was the appointed king of Judea, jerusalem, under the authority of Rome.
Speaker 1: And he was troubled why?
Speaker 1: Because if Jesus is Lord, that means Herod is not.
Speaker 1: If Jesus is Lord, that means Caesar is not.
Speaker 1: And Herod was so threatened, as a matter of fact that probably know the story he had every male child, two years old and under, executed in the greater Bethlehem region.
Speaker 1: Jesus, mary and Joseph, of course, fled to Egypt.
Speaker 1: That's how threatened he was.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because he didn't want to give up his kingship to a greater authority.
Speaker 1: Isn't that the story of the Garden of Eden, adam and Eve?
Speaker 1: Why did they sin?
Speaker 1: Because they didn't want to get up his kingship to a greater authority.
Speaker 1: Isn't that the story of the Garden of Eden, adam and Eve?
Speaker 1: Why did they sin?
Speaker 1: Because they didn't want to get off the throne and obey God.
Speaker 1: You say well, what's that have to do with us today?
Speaker 1: I just would say to you it has everything to do with you, because some of you again, you're threatened by the Lord, Jesus Christ, not as Savior, but as Lord, because if Jesus is in charge of your life, that means you're not.
Speaker 1: I'll just say that's not an easy thing to relinquish, because everything within us wants to call the shots, but if Jesus is Lord, that means we don't get to be Lord of our lives anymore.
Speaker 1: And some of you again, man, I just feel the Holy Spirit today just prophetically saying that some of you today you're still on the throne of your life.
Speaker 1: You need to not just call on Him as Savior, but you need to get off the throne and say Lord, I give my life to you, I give my life to you, you're in charge.
Speaker 1: John 1, 11 and 12, john said he came to His own and His own people didn't receive Him.
Speaker 1: But to all who did receive Him, what's that mean?
Speaker 1: It's to receive Him as Lord.
Speaker 1: To all who did receive Him he gave the right to become children of God.
Speaker 1: It's a great, glorious truth.
Speaker 1: So that's King Herod.
Speaker 1: Let's consider.
Speaker 1: I'm going to skip the shepherds and come back to them.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Mary for a second.
Speaker 1: In verse 16, it says and they went with haste and found Mary and the baby lying in a manger, and when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
Speaker 1: And listen to this.
Speaker 1: But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Speaker 1: Think about that, if you notice.
Speaker 1: There are other people in the story who heard the same proclamation of the good news of the gospel and the birth of Christ and they were amazed by it.
Speaker 1: But Mary, she wasn't just like oh man, this is great, what did she do?
Speaker 1: She took the message of Christ and she pondered it in her heart.
Speaker 1: And they were amazed by it.
Speaker 1: But Mary, she wasn't just like oh man, this is great, what did she do?
Speaker 1: She took the message of Christ and she pondered it in her heart.
Speaker 1: She treasured it.
Speaker 1: That's what it is to receive Christ.
Speaker 1: It's to treasure Him above all things, amen.
Speaker 1: It is to take the message and to treasure it in your heart.
Speaker 1: How many of you grew up or maybe you do this now with your children?
Speaker 1: You read the Christmas story, like on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, anybody, okay, so that's a good thing to do.
Speaker 1: So, growing up, we had a rule.
Speaker 1: We opened our presents with my immediate family on Christmas Eve, but we had a rule before we could open presents.
Speaker 1: You know what we had to do Read the Christmas story.
Speaker 1: And so, as a child, I complied.
Speaker 1: But the whole time I was reading the story I was thinking about what's in that box and man, I just wanted to get through it.
Speaker 1: And you know, maybe that's how you approach devotions, you know it's just to check off a box and you're thinking about what you've got to do next.
Speaker 1: But you know what?
Speaker 1: The Christmas story that we've heard over and over and over.
Speaker 1: Here's what I hope for you today that you saw it demonstrated in the play we sang about the Christmas story and you're hearing the text this morning from God's word.
Speaker 1: I hope you'll treasure it in your heart, like Mary.
Speaker 1: That's a great response to this message.
Speaker 1: But I want to finally talk about the shepherds.
Speaker 1: Talk about the shepherds.
Speaker 1: The shepherds respond wonderfully to the news.
Speaker 1: I mean, imagine this you're a shepherd and you're in the field and all of a sudden the glory of the Lord appears and an angel right, and they're scared to death, like some of you are.
Speaker 1: Like you pray for these encounters with God and they're great, but, man, it's scary.
Speaker 1: It's scary.
Speaker 1: I mean you read throughout the Bible these encounters with angels and the throne room of God Isaiah just came undone in chapter 6 of his book.
Speaker 1: But I want you to notice how the shepherds respond.
Speaker 1: Look at verses 15 through 17.
Speaker 1: When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another let us go over to Bethlehem and see the thing that happened, which the Lord has made known to us.
Speaker 1: So we heard it, but I want to see it for myself.
Speaker 1: Listen to what the text says.
Speaker 1: And they went with what.
Speaker 1: They went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger, and when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning the child.
Speaker 1: Here's what I want you to glean from this If God is calling you, if you feel something in your heart today, don't wait to respond.
Speaker 1: If you feel something in your heart today, don't wait to respond.
Speaker 1: Don't wait to respond.
Speaker 1: I love that the shepherds.
Speaker 1: I mean it's work for them, like it's the work hour, right, these are blue collar workers and they're on the clock and they don't say you know what?
Speaker 1: I get off in a few hours and we'll go.
Speaker 1: Then you know what, I promised so and so I'd do this.
Speaker 1: Or you know I haven't eaten, we'll go, then you know what I promised so-and-so I'd do this.
Speaker 1: Or you know, I haven't eaten yet, so I'm going to grab some food and then, you know, if Chick-fil-A's open, it'd be great and we'll stop and get something to eat and then we'll eventually make our way there.
Speaker 1: No, they went with haste.
Speaker 1: They went with haste.
Speaker 1: And you know, there are people who I've talked to.
Speaker 1: They say oh, pastor, one day I'm going to get my life right.
Speaker 1: One day I'm going to get my life right with God.
Speaker 1: Who told you you'd get tomorrow?
Speaker 1: First of all, and let me ask you this If the Christmas story is true and I believe it is if it is good news of great joy, why would you want to wait anyways?
Speaker 1: If it is good news of great joy, why would you want to wait anyways?
Speaker 1: Because what you're saying is my sin is more pleasurable than the truth.
Speaker 1: Really, listen, if I were to give you a check this morning for $1 million or more, whatever, I hand you a check for $1 million, I promise you, I don't care how busy your week was, you would find a way to get that money in your bank this week.
Speaker 1: You're not going to say you know what Busy season of life right now, sowing my oats.
Speaker 1: I'm going to put it in.
Speaker 1: I'm not real responsible with money.
Speaker 1: Yet One day, few months, few years, I'm going to put that money in.
Speaker 1: No, you get that check in the bank tomorrow, as soon as it opens.
Speaker 1: You'd be there, man.
Speaker 1: It'd be like you might camp out there tonight.
Speaker 1: And yet today you've got a greater invitation.
Speaker 1: You've got something worth more than all the money in the world, worth more than all the money in the world.
Speaker 1: And yet you'll say, oh, one day I'll put the money in the world.
Speaker 1: And yet you'll say, oh, one day I'll put the money in the bank.
Speaker 1: One day I'll respond, oh, I've come with an urgent message today to say this is the day of salvation.
Speaker 1: Don't wait.
Speaker 1: The shepherds then share the good news, verse 17,.
Speaker 1: When they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them.
Speaker 1: Beloved, we have a mandate.
Speaker 1: There are people out there right now, on this street, in this neighborhood, throughout Richmond and Kentucky and the United States and throughout the world, that are still walking in darkness because they don't know, as Isaiah said, that a light has dawned, that a light has dawned upon the darkness.
Speaker 1: They are hopeless and they need hope, and so I'll just leave that there, to say today that you and I need to share the message of Christ, the message of Christmas, with those who are in darkness, and that's what I'm trying to do today.
Speaker 1: Finally, they glorify and praise God, and the shepherds said verse 20,.
Speaker 1: The shepherds returned glorifying and praise God, and the shepherds said verse 20,.
Speaker 1: The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen and had been told to them.
Speaker 1: You know, why do we sing?
Speaker 1: Why sing?
Speaker 1: The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Speaker 1: Why sing joy to the world and all the songs that we sang this morning?
Speaker 1: Why take time and do that?
Speaker 1: Because if God is who he says he is and Jesus is who he says he is and the spirit is present, the only logical response Is to praise him with everything we have.
Speaker 1: I don't care what you've been through this week, he's still worthy to be praised.
Speaker 1: And the joy of the Lord is still your strength.
Speaker 1: The psalmist said it like this he said I will bless the Lord is still your strength.
Speaker 1: The psalmist said it like this he said I will bless the Lord.
Speaker 1: Sometimes he said I will bless the Lord.
Speaker 1: What All times, his praise shall what Continually be in my mouth, beloved.
Speaker 1: That's why we sing, that's why we gather, that's why we praise him, because we have received good news of great joy A savior has come, and that savior lived the perfect life, and that savior gave his life for you, and that savior hallelujah is risen and, even better, that savior is coming again to consummate his kingdom.
Speaker 1: So, in closing, I think we can learn something from the shepherds.
Speaker 1: I hope that you have responded like that, and I was thinking about this theme, and here's what I want you to remember.
Speaker 1: Think about this God, listen to me.
Speaker 1: God shows up to unexpected people at unexpected times, in unexpected places.
Speaker 1: That's what we see here.
Speaker 1: God shows up.
Speaker 1: Shake your head if you're listening to me, because this is important.
Speaker 1: God shows up to unexpected people at unexpected times, in unexpected places.
Speaker 1: Think about this the angel could have shown, and then the host of angels could have shown up to anybody, and you would think, man.
Speaker 1: Who would they show up to to announce the birth?
Speaker 1: Well, surely the religious leaders?
Speaker 1: Surely the preacher, the priest, the prophet, or at least somebody who has some clout.
Speaker 1: But instead, who did the angel show up to with this proclamation?
Speaker 1: Shepherds, blue-collar workers, smelly in the field dealing with sheep, unexpected people.
Speaker 1: Isn't that just like the Lord, that he comes to the humble and the lowly of heart?
Speaker 1: Shepherds were considered extremely insignificant in that culture.
Speaker 1: But God shows up to unexpected people and if you're here today and you think, well, he would never call me to an encounter with him.
Speaker 1: You don't know what I've done or where I've been.
Speaker 1: God shows up to unexpected people.
Speaker 1: I believe he's going to show up to somebody that didn't expect it today.
Speaker 1: God shows up in unexpected places at unexpected times.
Speaker 1: This is again.
Speaker 1: This is not in the temple, it's in a field and it's night shift.
Speaker 1: Any night shift workers in here.
Speaker 1: God bless you.
Speaker 1: He shows up in a field at night.
Speaker 1: I love a country song by an artist, larry Fleet.
Speaker 1: That's where I found God.
Speaker 1: Anybody familiar with that song?
Speaker 1: When this comes up on YouTube it's, by the way, not perfect theology, but I hear the heart behind it.
Speaker 1: I want to read you some of the words.
Speaker 1: The night I hit rock bottom sitting on an old bar stool.
Speaker 1: He paid my tab and put me in a cab, but he didn't have to, but he could see I was hurting.
Speaker 1: Oh, I wish I'd got his name because I didn't feel worth saving, but he saved me just the same.
Speaker 1: The day out, on the water, when the fish just wouldn't bite, I put my pole down, I floated around.
Speaker 1: It was just so quiet and I could hear my old man saying son, just be still, because you can't find peace like this in a bottle or a pill, and I love the chorus From a bar stool to that ebb and rude Sunday morning in a church pew, in a deer stand or a hay field, an interstate back to Nashville, a Chevrolet with the windows down, me and him just riding around.
Speaker 1: Sometimes, listen, whether I'm looking for him or not.
Speaker 1: That's where I found God.
Speaker 1: I could go through testimony after testimony.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking right now of two people who are in this church One a little bit older, middle-aged, one younger One an atheist One, someone who was running from the Lord.
Speaker 1: I was praying for both these young men and both of them, in their home, were brought to their knees by the power of the Holy Spirit and looked up to God and said and they came to me and said that's where I found God.
Speaker 1: And, by the way, it's not so much that's where they found God, it's that's where God found them.
Speaker 1: It's that's where God found them.
Speaker 1: It's the message of Christmas.
Speaker 1: So this message is prophetic in a sense today because, I'll just be honest with you I had another message planned up until Thursday.
Speaker 1: It's been a busy week.
Speaker 1: I'm responsible for all the Christmas music, getting the Christmas Eve service together.
Speaker 1: We just had the banquet and I was sad and happy with what I was going to preach and I started reading Luke 2, and the Lord just wouldn't relent.
Speaker 1: I felt like the Spirit was telling me to preach this text and I saw it in a new light.
Speaker 1: And I got to this part about God shows up to unexpected people in unexpected places at unexpected times.
Speaker 1: And the Lord reminded me that there would be people here today that maybe you just came to see a kid perform.
Speaker 1: Maybe a lot of people just come to church Christmas and Easter and if that's you man, I'm glad you're here.
Speaker 1: Maybe this is just what you do on Sundays and you're just kind of going through the motions, but maybe you never expected To encounter Jesus today Like this.
Speaker 1: But I Worked Friday and Saturday on this message and most of Thursday Because somebody here needs an encounter Heard from the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: I strongly believe that there were nominal name name-only Christians.
Speaker 1: You've confessed Jesus as Savior, but you're not living for Him as Lord, and today is your day of repentance.
Speaker 1: Look at me today.
Speaker 1: Today is the day of repentance.
Speaker 1: Some of you, you've never known the Lord and there's just an invitation for you today.
Speaker 1: There's an invitation for you today, it's time to come to the Lord Jesus.