Sermon from 2005:
At the end of this week, and beginning of the next some of us will be fixated on those annual Bowl Games.
I will be watching the Clemson Tigers on Tuesday. I will watch them be victorious over the Colorado Buffalos and watch 100,000 fans enjoy the excitement of the game.
What are you exited about?
Are you excited about Football?
Are you excited about the book that you are reading?
Are you excited about the video game you are playing?
What are you excited about?
Luke chapter 2:8-20 tells the story of some very excited shepherds. They were excited about Christmas.
I pray that tonight all of us will be excited about Christmas and begin to share that excitement with others.
Look with me at Luke 2:8-20
8 That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God:
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to all whom God favors.??”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said. (Luke 2:8-20, NLT)
Let us pray.
In a field outside of Bethlehem were shepherds who
I. Heard the Message
Throughout the gospels there is no other reference to others being visited by angels declaring the Birth of the Messiah.
The Gospel of Mathew describes that the Wiseman discovered a star that led them to the messiah.
We know that Herod heard about the messiah through the Wiseman.
But it was only the shepherds that were visited by angels declaring the birth of Jesus.
This shows that God’s agenda is much different from man’s. Any person would declare the message, with angels, to everyone in the world.
It also shows that God knows our openness to His message. The shepherds; humble, average workers, were excited to hear the message. Herod the ruler wanted to kill Jesus because he was jealous.
The shepherds were excited to hear what the angels said. They heard the message from the angels.
I’ve always had a hard time waking up in the morning. Sometimes my body will be moving, but my mind does not quite function.
When I was in college, I lived at home. I would leave several hours after my parents would leave the house. Many of these mornings, my Mother would stick her head in my bedroom and give me instruction for the day.
She would return home and none of them would be done. I may have acknowledge her speaking to me, but never listened to a word she said.
Her instruction went in one ear and out the other.
This was not the way with the shepherds. They hear God’s message and immediately followed through.
Each of us needs to listen to God’s message as well. We need to wake up, take notes, and carry out what God wants us to do.
Too many times we are caught sleeping, while we should be listening. We come to church, God speaks to us in a powerful way – yet, we never follow through.
As you pray, as you read God’s word, and as you worship, what is God saying to you this week?
Is God speaking to you?
Are you listening?
The shepherds were listening and the decided to
II. Go to the Manger
Luke 2:15-16
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. (Luke 2:15-16, NLT)
The shepherds ran to Bethlehem. This is probably the most PT they had done in a while. But, they ran to see Jesus.
When was the last time that something caught your attention so much that you ran to see it?
I remember when Mohamed Ali’s Autobiography came out. He is a resident of Louisville, KY so he had book signing at the Oxmore Mall.
I remember how the people flocked to see him, and bought his book so that “The Greatest” could sign it.
The Angels had captured the attention of the shepherds that they ran to Bethlehem. They found Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Jesus was laying in a manger. The shepherds saw the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords in his infancy.
What catches your attention? Does the word of God draw you to pay attention to what is said? Do you run to obey the Word of God?
I believe that it is time to be excited about Christmas. Not because of the family time, not because of the materialism, but because of this Great Event that took place years ago.
We can spend a lot of time fighting for the cause “Merry Christmas over Happy Holidays”. But we have enough causes out there – you would be better off trying to “save the whales” or something. What we need are people who are truly excited about baby Jesus being born!
We need true celebration about his birth, rather then a routine religious box to check.
How do we do that?
I believe we do that by approaching the manger in a new way. In stead of getting caught up in the events of Christmas – we take a moment to reflect on Christ.
We need to take time to reflect on the Baby that grew up to be our Savior. The baby who eventually paid the price of or sin. The baby who God sent to earth because he loved us so much.
When we approach the manger with this in mind, we look at Christmas in a new way.
The shepherds ran to see Jesus, and when they saw him, and then they proceeded to
III Go to the World
Luke 2:17-18
17 Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, (Luke 2:17-18, NLT)
The shepherds took the message that they heard and shared it with those around them. They were joyous about what the angels had told them, they were invited to visit the Christ – Child, now they had to tell everyone they met.
This is what evangelism is about. Evangelism is not about forcing someone to go to change, or to behave themselves because they don’t see things our way.
Evangelism is not walking around telling people they are going to hell.
The Bible says the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing. (I CO 1:18)
And I believe in many ways it is offensive. But that doesn’t mean that we try to be foolish or offensive. We love to hear ourselves, “really give it to the lost filthy, no good sinners”. We don’t need to be offensive the gospel already is. Our job is to love those around us so they will be open to hear the gospel—not beat them up so much that all they do is run away.
True evangelism is being so excited about what has happened in your life, that you can’t help to share the message of Jesus with others.
We are to be like the Blind man in John 9:25.
Or the leper in Mark 1:40.
Or the crippled man in Luke 5:25.
They couldn’t help but share the message, because of what happened to them. They had had a personal experience so life changing that they could not keep it quiet.
We are to share with the world the message “that I was lost in my sin and now I am saved!”
That is true evangelism.
These shepherds were so excited to tell their story with anybody who would listen.
Many of you are the next couple of months will go on Mid-Tour. I was talking to a soldier the other day who told me four times that he was going on mid-tour. He was genuinely excited.
I had another soldier who brought me the picture of his wife’s ultrasound. I always enjoy seeing those, along with baby pictures. But he was happy just to show anyone these pictures.
We don’t have a problem sharing these things. So, why should we have a problem sharing the best thing that has ever happen to you?
You were lost and now you are saved!
The shepherds left telling their story. But, they didn’t give up their day jobs. They returned to the fields with the sheep.
As they returned, they had one thing on their mind, and that was to
IV Worship the Savior
Luke 2:20
20 The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said. (Luke 2:20, NLT)
These shepherds understood what was going on. They knew who they should give glory to. They knew who they should praise. They praised and gave glory to God!
Worship is a response to what God has done.
And this is exactly what we see happening here.
The shepherds hear the message and go to the manger. They see with their very eyes what the angels spoke about. They saw the Baby Jesus. The messiah.
And they shepherds worshipped.
There are many times that we approach worship with the wrong arrogant attitude. We approach with emotionalism. We approach with hype. We approach worship with an attitude of the focus on ourselves and our enjoyment.
But true worship is a response to what God had alone to us.
I finished a book recently by Mary Higgins Clark. The book was her latest No Place Like Home. When I finished the book I thought to myself how much I enjoy her writing an how she is one of my favorite fiction writers.
I praise her as I tell others about the great book that she has written.
The illustration is weak compared to giving praise to God.
In fact, the praise and worship we give to God is forbidden to give to man.
However, the concept is these. We praise God for the works that He does in our lives.
But we also praise God for who he is. It doesn’t matter what he has done, because it is in no way about us.
And the shepherds returned to their flocks praising God.
What are you going to do?
Tomorrow, after Christmas, we will all return to our jobs. We will take the Christmas tree down. We will take the Wrapping paper of the doors. We will return to work.
But will we return to work praising God for Christmas? Will it make a difference on Monday morning?
For those of you that have accepted Christ, you can return to work remembering what God had done for you. You can praise him, because you remember how you were once lost and now you are saved.
But there are those here tonight, that for the very first time have come face to face with the message of the manger.
That from the beginning of times all of us are sinners. We are sinners by nature and by choice.
Sin is anything we think, say, or do that makes God unhappy. And all of us have sinned.
But, God sent Jesus, the baby boy in the manger, to pay our penalty. To pay that death for us.
Our requirement is that we accept this payment. It is simply as that. When someone gives you a gift, you always have a choice whether to accept it or reject.
You can accept this payment tonight.
Tonight you can have a reason to praise God for Christmas.
Let us pray.
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This sermon was preached at FOB Speicher, Iraq on 25 December 2005. All Scripture marked NLT: Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.