Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest
questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search
and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead
pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth
for the life we're searching for. Please take your Bibles and turn to the second chapter
of the book of Luke today, Luke chapter 2. On our journey all the way to Christmas, we're
going to be looking at Luke 1 and Luke 2, a Christmas story that most people know best.
Luke chapter 1, Luke chapter 2, although several gospels give accounts of the different events
leading up to Christ's birth, this one is the one we know the most. And today's characters
of Christmas has to do with amazing messengers. We're going to talk about angels today. Angels
is the subject of our message. Angels is the subject of the text. Luke chapter 2, beginning
in verse 8, and we're going to find these supernatural, non-human creatures that God
has created and exactly how He uses angels and certainly how He used it in this Christmas
story. Let's stand together as we read God's word. Luke chapter 2, beginning in verse number
8. Luke chapter 2, verse 8, all this very familiar to you. The Bible says in the same
region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their
flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord
shone around them and they were terribly frightened. Have you ever paused to think what that sight
must have looked like? What those shepherds must have seen and how they must have felt?
That was a pretty powerful image we have here. Verse 10, but the angel said to them, do not
be afraid for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people.
For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the
Lord. This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in
a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts.
Now this would be myriads upon myriads more angels with him, praising God and saying,
glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. And when
the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another,
let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord
has made known to us. So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and
the baby as he lay in the manger. How many times have you heard this story and not maybe
thought through who this angel was and exactly what he looked like and exactly why they were
so afraid when they saw him. And by the way, what are angels anyway? And what does God
do with angels and are they still around? We're going to answer those questions this
morning. Father in Jesus name today we continue to ask that you illuminate the scripture,
just shine light on the truth that we might know and live by it. Father speak to us and
speak to us regarding our relationship with you. We ask this in Jesus name and everybody
said amen. Please be seated if you would. Angels. Well no matter what mental image you
may have in your mind, angels are real and powerful and supernatural beings that are
in the universe today. And as you read through the Bible, you'll notice over and over in
the Bible encounters with angel. They're more powerful than anything that you and I can
possibly imagine. This is one of those things that God has done that we don't know so much
about, but we do discover that they are exceedingly and abundantly above anything that we can ask
or think. More powerful than the Marvel or the DC comic kind of movies that are out there
of superheroes that have incredible amazing abilities and power beyond anything humans
have. These angels are above and beyond all those except they're real and everything else
is just fantasy that we make up in our minds. They existed before humans were created, before
the world was actually created and they're mentioned 300 times in the scripture. Did
you know that? 25 different people have encounters and have had conversations with angels that
are recorded in the Bible. And you read about them and learn about them. David, while he
was out in the fields, you read about this in Psalm chapter 68 verse 17 where he looked
up and he saw chariots of fire, chariots of light streaking across in the heavenlies and
he named them in the thousands and multiplied thousands. He saw these angels in these chariots.
Now I don't believe in UFOs, but I believe in angels and their chariots across the skies.
I don't believe in Superman and Batman and Spiderman or even Captain America, but I do
believe in Gabriel and Michael and all the other angels that are revealed in the Bible
as being real. And when you open the Gospel of Luke, you'll find that Luke's Gospel
explodes with the stories of angels. I mean, in the first two chapters of the Book of Luke,
you have three divine encounters detailing 14 different mentions of angels in just those
first two chapters. So I'm going to ask the question today, who are angels? What do they
look like? What do they do? Who interacts with them? How do they affect us? And you
have angels probably, how they look in your own minds and what you think they might be
like. We looked for some pictures for angels for you to be able to look at today just to
see what mankind has thought about angels based on what they know. And there are Renaissance
artists that draw about angels. There are computer generated, artificial information,
artificial intelligence that give us pictures as well. You see warrior angels, you see shepherd
kinds of angels, you see all kinds of angels out there that people have in their mind that
they think may be real. But the Bible is the only real source to help us know about angels
today. And I want you to see something about angels because angels are a big part of the
Christmas story. That's why Luke is so adamant about including them in the encounters that
you have in Luke chapter one, Mary and the angel Gabriel, Zacharias and Elizabeth and
the encounter with the angel. Now these shepherds who have this encounter with the angel, the
will of the Lord, why are we supposed to make of that? And so we need to know something
about angels today. If you're taking notes, I'm going to give you five things about angels
that are unforgettable. Are you ready for them? Number one, angels are the creation
of an infinite God. That is angels have not always been around. They are not gods, they
are not eternal in that sense of eternity path, but they are creations of an infinite
God. In verse nine, we are introduced to this angel that comes to the shepherd and it says,
and specifies an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them. Now we know from the scripture
that everything that exists was created by God, except God who is eternal in every way.
So angels are created beings. If you read the Bible in the book of Colossians, you'll
find the statement that is really comprehensive when it comes to God and his creative powers
and how we know whatever is here, God here. In Colossians chapter one, verse 16, you'll
read this. It says, for by him, all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dimensions or rulers or authorities, all things
have been created through him and for him. That's in the book of Colossians. Actually,
we place the creation of angels by God at a time before Adam and Eve were created and
at a time before the heavens and the earth were actually defined in the way we see in
Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two. If you read the book of Job, you're going
to find an incredible conversations between God and Job. Most of you know that Job is
the man that went through so much affliction. The first chapter of Job talks about why in
the last few chapters of Job, containing encounters between God and Job where God is revealing
himself and he gives us lots of information about angels. I want you to notice what it
says in Job chapter 38, verse four and then verse seven, where God says to Job, where
were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? When the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God, a reference to angels, shouted for joy. Now when you first look at
this idea of God creating the universe and then creating angels before he created the
heavens and the earth, before he created man and woman, you got this idea that before you
know that, that we are really the center of the universe. We think we are the center of
all of the universe, that everything exists for us. But in reality, God has a whole universe,
a whole existence, including angels, including the solar system and everything else before
he placed man and woman, after the creation of man and woman, placed them into his world.
We're not the big deal on this world. He is the big deal on this world. And when I read
about angels and I read about all of God's creation, it helps me remind myself that this
world does not revolve around me, it revolves around him. And it reminds me that I am privileged,
just like you are, to be placed into this amazing world that God created, filled with
angels and humans and everything else. We are privileged to be in this place. First
of all, angels are created by an infinite God. Secondly, you need to know that angels
are supernatural, powerful, spiritual beings. While they can take on the form of a man,
they are spiritual beings. We know this from a number of different passages, but just notice
what we see here in Luke chapter two, verse nine. It says, and an angel of the Lord suddenly
stood before them. Now, Luke is a very technical writer. The Gospel of Luke and the Book of
Acts written by this doctor, Luke, this medical physician, Luke, is written with incredible
detail. He pays lots of attention to sequences and timeframes and lots of attention to individual
words to help us know the most we can possibly know about what he's writing. And he lets
us know that the angel wasn't there at one moment and then suddenly stood before them
the next. In other words, he simply appeared at that moment where he wasn't before. These
angels are doing things that no human can do. One moment the angel is not present, the
next he stood beside them. And he didn't walk in, he didn't come from a distance that they
saw him, but he simply moved supernaturally to be right in the spot where the shepherds
were and they were stunned by what they saw. Now I want you to think of the others in this
picture, in this scene, the shepherds who stay awake watchfully protecting their flocks
at night. These guys have not been roused out of a deep sleep. No one has knocked on
the door to their tent. They don't just suddenly just look around and they haven't been looking
around. They are always vigilant, always watching, always aware of danger. And all of a sudden
this angel supernaturally appears in front of them and they are stunned by what they
saw. One of the best books on angels was written by Billy Graham a long time ago. But in this
book it details so many different aspects of angels. And one of the statements that
Billy Graham writes is this one. He says, angels speak, they appear and reappear. They
are emotional creatures. In other words, they feel. They become visible by choice when they
want to reveal themselves to others. I began to ask the question of myself and of the scriptures,
what else can angels do? I mean if angels can appear suddenly, what else can they do?
If there are these supernatural, powerful, spiritual beings that God in His infinite
wisdom created, what can they do? And I want to tell you a few things that I learned. First
of all, they have knowledge that mankind doesn't have. They have knowledge that you and I don't
have. They have knowledge that the shepherds didn't have. They have knowledge that Zacharias
and Elizabeth didn't have. They have knowledge that Joseph didn't have, that Mary didn't
have. They know things that God has shown them and they often appear in order to give
guidance in order to shed light on whatever situation or whatever person's life needs
to be enlightened. Not only this, but they warn us and guide us about the things to come.
Part of the Christmas story is Matthew chapter 2 and verse 13. And I want you to look at
what the angel said to Joseph. The old the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in his
dream and said, get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there
until I tell you for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him. So here is a
supernatural powerful spiritual being that God created coming and giving this message
of guidance to Joseph in order to protect Mary and to protect the baby from this murderous
intent of Herod. They have knowledge that we don't have. They also have power that mankind
doesn't have. When Jesus returns for the battle of Armageddon, if you read the book of Revelation,
how many of you read the book of Revelation very often at all? If you read the book of
Revelation, there's a great battle that's going to take place and it's called the battle
of Armageddon. Now at the battle of Armageddon, this vast valley in Israel is going to be
covered in blood. In fact, up to the bridle of horses, how deep the blood will be. But
the Bible says that Jesus, when he comes back, will be followed by armies of angels who bring
about all the destruction that needs to happen in this last great battle. The Bible also
shows us the picture of one angel who slew all the first born Egyptians that led to the
release of the Israelites in the book of Exodus. Maybe you remember that, the angel of death.
Angels protect Israel from the armies that did come out of Egypt, chasing them once they
were set free. And as a approach to sea before it parted, the angel of the Lord protected
all of the soldiers, protected the Israelites from all the soldiers coming their way. If
you look in the book of second Kings, one angel slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers who were
intent on killing the Israelites. That's pretty powerful. There was an angel that struck with
blindness the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah when they wanted to give ill treatment and
violate the visitors in that city. It was an angel that struck and made Zacharias mute
when he did not believe the angels word. Angels are more powerful than military weapons and
missiles and bombs and all kinds of speed and all kinds of brilliance. They defy explanation
when you begin to look at all the things that angels have done. But angels not only have
knowledge and not only do they have power, they fight battles we can't fight. Read the
book of Daniel. Where there is war in the heavenly places, Daniel is awaiting an answer
of a prayer that he has prayed to God that he needs the answer to. And Michael is doing
battle in the heavenly places against the demons that would keep that answer from coming.
Daniel was in the lion's den and the Bible says that even though those hungry lions would
normally have eaten him alive literally the next morning after being placed in the lion's
den, the king comes out and calls out and there's Daniel in the lion's den just fine.
Someone asked how did this happen? Daniel gave this answer, my God sent his angel and
shut the lion's mouths and they have not harmed me. Now that's sensational stuff. Amen? That's
sensational stuff. I mean I normally wouldn't want to sign up for the lion's den shift,
but I would do that if I knew the angel was in there. Daniel could have said a lot of
different things in answer to the king. The lions weren't hungry, they just didn't touch
me. I don't know why, but he said no, the angels shut the mouths of the lions. For people
that have encounters with angels, and people that write about them, there's no doubt in
their mind the existence of these angels that are there fighting battles we can't fight.
Imagine the battles that you cannot fight that angels actually fight on your behalf
and you may never know about them. But God said we're protecting you in some way just
like he did Daniel. Angels also show up when we're not aware. Have you ever heard of entertaining
angels unawares? Well since they can take on the appearance of a human they often surprise
us. They look like another person and in reality they're an angel in disguise. The book of
Hebrews tells us that they come without us realizing who they are sometimes. It says
in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 2, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by this
some have entertained angels without knowing it. Billy Graham tells the story of a missionary
in the Hebride Islands near Great Britain and the United Kingdom. And at the time the
Hebrides were filled with the savages that were murderers. They didn't want anybody other
than themselves to be in this place they lived in, these jungles that they lived in, these
missionaries named Patton. John Patton and his wife were there. And he told them how
difficult the ministry, he talked about how difficult the ministry of sharing the gospel
was with those natives and how angry they were that they were even there. And one night
John Patton and his wife were in their hut in their place that they built there to live
in and they were surrounded by the natives who clearly had intent to kill them. They
had their spears, they had their swords all at the ready and they were talking in a murderous
way. So John Patton and his wife simply kneeled down in prayer and said you know if our lives
are going to have to be spent bringing the gospel to these people we're going to spend
it right here but we're trusting God to protect us and so they prayed all night long. If your
life was threatened by a tribe of people with spears and swords you'd pray all night long
too. And when they woke up the next morning or looked out the next morning rather there
was no one there. And they rejoiced in the fact that God had somehow protected them.
Within a few months they had led the chief of that tribe, that village to Christ and
they began a relationship with him. They began to converse with him about all that was going
on in his life and one day they ventured the question you know some time back your village,
your people surrounded us with swords and spears and we knew our lives were being threatened.
What happened? Why did you never attack? And I quote this out of Billy Graham's book in
this description of what was said. The chief said who were all those men you had there
with you? We saw hundreds of big men in shining armor with swords drawn and we were afraid
to attack. Angels. Angels were there protecting John Patton and later the Hebrew gods became
known as a great place of revival as the gospel had great inroads there. Angels exist today.
Some of you may have had encounters with angels that you cannot explain. I realize when I
tell this story it's easy for someone else to write off the story but I can remember
an encounter with someone more than 20 years ago that left my wife and I wondering did
we just meet an angel? We were coming back on vacation with our six kids in the back
of our suburban and all of a sudden I heard an explosion as I was going down the highway
and smoke was coming outside the hood and so we pulled over to an abandoned gas station
and I opened the hood and all of a sudden the flames just began to blow up in a huge
way and all my thoughts were getting the kids out of the car so I began to call out to Kim
get the kids out as fast as you can and we were working to get the kids out of the car
and all of a sudden a man drove up in an old white and I know this is true Ford pickup
truck and he got out he was a bearded man kind of heavy set never said a word reached
into the back of his pickup bed got two large one gallon jugs full of water came and poured
the jugs on the fire in the engine bay put them back in the back of his truck and I just
walked around the side of the car to tell Kim I think the fire is out and I came back
around and there was no one there at all. Now I have a Ford pickup truck I know they
don't go that fast. Just enough of maybe to make me think I saw an angel and I was
unaware. God often visits His people in various ways clearly 300 different accounts in the
scripture of angels 25 conversations of people who are otherwise reputable in every way regarding
angels and they often show up when we're not aware. Well if you could see what angels
did what would you see? If you could see what you can't see what would it look like? Might
you be able to see angelic answers when you pray and God sends an answer by an angel might
you see extraordinary encouragement and strength like the angel gave Elijah strength and the
angel gave Jesus encouragement while he was in the wilderness during the 40 days of fasting
and prayer. You might see demonic attacks that stopped and they're tracked because of
the power of an angel that stands between you and yourself and the demonic world just
like he did in Daniel's life. You might see messages sent by God and delivered by angels
just like Gabriel delivered the message to Mary and to Zacharias and ultimately to Joseph.
You might see angels stopping you at times from doing things that you otherwise would
do that would complicate and mess up your life but for some unexplainable reason you
couldn't bring it about maybe angels have stepped in in that case as well. It's possible
that physical rescue operations that defy any explanation have happened in your life
because of angelic beings. Now that makes me think this I love the fact that God is
not limited as to how he can rescue us how he can help us how he can encourage us all
of creation is at his disposal including the creative supernatural powerful spiritual beings
that we know as angels. I want you to notice the third thing about this text that tells
us angels reflect the glory and the majesty of God. Look at what the words say as the
angel appeared it said and the glory of the Lord shone around them that's in verse nine.
Now everything that an angel does ultimately will continuously bring glory and honor to
God they frequently travel according to the scripture from heaven's throne room to earth
the dirt of earth to do whatever work they need to to minister to those of us who are
the saints of God. They're able to mask their brilliance so that they can appear in human
form but in this case they were brilliantly glorious lit up with the glory of God. That's
what the text says the glory of the Lord not their glory but the glory of God himself was
all around them. This angel was reflecting God's brilliance God's brightness to this
very dark corner of the earth where these shepherds were there in the middle of the
night and that's what angels do. As a matter of fact the purpose of and the mission of
angels is always to serve and to worship God always to reflect God's character and God's
glory. If you read the book of Revelation some of the greatest scenes of worship in
the heaven are found in Revelation chapter four and chapter five and in chapter four
of Revelation verse eight the Bible talks about living creatures surrounding the throne.
If you've ever read that before you know that throne room worship is what we call it. Those
great moments where God is in every uninhibited way being worshiped by those that are there.
The scripture says in day and night they do not cease to say holy holy holy is the Lord
God the Almighty who was and who is and who is to come. Angels always reflect the glory
and the majesty of God. What a picture of that and here in the darkness of the hill
country of Israel in the middle of the night these shepherds are brought to the light of
the glory of God. These are tough men these shepherds. They could not be afraid of the
lions and the bears and the wolves and the thieves they'd seen it all. Read the stories
of David the young shepherd boy how he and his slingshot were always prepared against
lions and bears. You and I don't think about that often in the fields of Israel being lions
and bears but that's what David dealt with that's what shepherds dealt with. And that's
seen it all they were courageous men but here the Bible says they were so terribly frightened
that the angel had to say do not be afraid. Well that must be a pretty powerful sighting
if you're not afraid of a bear and you're not afraid of a lion you're not afraid of
a wolf the angel has to say calm down don't run off I know what you've seen. It's something
bigger than you've ever seen before. I was digging into the original language of this
this line here in verse 9 here about them being terribly frightened and it's really
interesting there are three words to describe terribly frightened. One is a verb it means
to be fearful the other is a noun which is the fear itself and the last word is an adjective
that describes them both that's the word mega in the Greek in other words phobos and mega
which means frightened with mega fear. It's not enough just to say they were afraid they
were frightened with mega fear they were paralyzed what they saw was so mesmerizing so overwhelming
that they did not know what to do these strong fearless men had to do everything they could
to keep from running and hiding so great was this visitation and the angel said do not
be afraid. Matter of fact that's what angels usually say when they reveal themselves to
mankind don't run away I'm here for you I've been sent by God for you. These shepherds
are looking at the glory and the majesty of God as we are and these shepherds knew at
some point they were going to see something amazing because God has sent his angels and
that brings us to point number four about angels. That's maybe one of the clearest
points of this whole text and that is that angels are messengers as well as ministers
to us. I've talked to you about how angels have ministered to God's people but angels
are messengers look at what it says in verse 10 it says for behold I bring you good news
of great joy. Obviously the Christmas message is that Christ coming but the angel says I
bring you good news of great joy it's the angel of the Lord who brings the most important
news of Jesus to us the most important news of all. He's not even leaving that to prophets
he's leaving that to angels who are coming straight from heaven's throne room and saying
I'm bringing you good news of great joy which is for everyone. Max Lucado in his book called
an angel story creatively thinks through what those scenes must have looked like when God
commissioned the angels to go with this message and I love thinking about what that must have
looked like. Can you imagine those angels who were called by God to bring the message
of good news to a very quiet dark sinful broken confused hopeless world. Can you imagine how
excited those angels were to be able to say you're going to ask me to bring this message
to this dark cold world. Unlike mankind angels are ageless that is they see mankind they
see us committing the same sin over and over making the same mistakes over and over and
over unlike us they see the outcomes of our decisions the outcomes of our desires and
our governments and our theories and our lies and our temptation they've watched mankind
for years and years and millennium after millennium they know how badly we need a savior how badly
we need someone to intervene on our behalf they know we desperately need a solution and
that's why I'm sure the angels were thrilled to come and bring God's answer. Emmanuel
is coming a savior is coming an anointed one I'm sending you to announce this good news
to dark mankind. It's a big moment huge moment. So the angel comes and in verse 10 and 11
in your text do not be afraid for behold which is a word that means stop look behold I bring
you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people for today in the city of
David there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord and those shepherds
did not wait according to the text immediately they went to Bethlehem the message that the
savior was so important that God sent these amazing created beings to make a clear impression
on the shepherds only this kind of thing would make them leave their flocks at night out
in the field but they did because the angel said go. God is amazing and that he brings
the right messenger for the right moment at the right time. Gabriel spoke to Zechariah
about John the Baptist he spoke with Mary and even explained how she as a virgin would
conceive it was the angel that actually said these words some of the greatest words in
the Bible in Luke chapter 1 verse 35 when she said how can this be how can I have a
child because I have never known a man and the angel said to her the Holy Spirit will
come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you and for that reason the
holy child shall be called the son of God. Can you imagine this mighty angel coming to
earth with such an incredible message so there would be no doubt so no one would wonder if
this was an imposter that was coming there would be no mistake there is no other explanation
this was announced by angels. In Hebrews chapter 2 verses 2 and 3 there is a verse of scripture
that is very interesting it says for if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable
and every transgression and disobedience received is just a penalty how will we escape if we
neglect so great a salvation? How could we miss out on the Messiah? It was prophesied
then announced by angels in unmistakable ways how should we escape if we neglect such a great
salvation? These are the messages of the greatest news telling us of the greatest savior and
the greatest salvation you and I can possibly imagine how can we ignore this? I want you
to know finally angels rejoice in revealing their creator. You see what we don't fully
know the angels fully know and that is this Messiah and our God is a creator and the one
that we all need to bow to. Notice what it says in verse 13 and 14 of the same text that
we were working with suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts
that would be many many angels praising God and saying glory to God in the highest. Their
greatest joy their greatest mission is to reveal their creator to the rest of the universe.
They have seen God in all his glory. They watched as he created the heavens and the
earth. They saw him create Adam and Eve. They saw the fall. They saw death come into the
world. They saw the futility of mankind. The futility of religion. They see the senselessness
of death and cruelty in humanity one against the other. They see all the problems and all
the pain and all the heartbreak. They were overjoyed to come and say we have the answer
is Christ the Messiah. In that little book I mentioned a moment ago the book where Dr.
Cato describes from an angelic perspective what their role was. He writes this about
having seen the birth of Jesus and now making the news known to everyone. Glory to God in
the highest and I'm quoting this glory to God in the highest and gradually the chorus
grew louder and louder and faster and faster. Our praise as the angelic praise rose into
the realms of the universe and in the most distant galaxy the dust and the oldest star
danced with our praise. In the depths of the ocean the water rippled with adoration. The
tiniest microbe turned and the mightiest constellation spun around. All of nature joined with us
as we worshiped Emmanuel the God who had become flesh. I love that description because it
says rightly so, biblically so, all of creation was aware that Christ came as the Messiah
and it stands in stark contrast to humans the most stubborn species in the universe
to say but did he really? But is he real? My dear friend nobody that saw the scenes
of that day doubted. Neither did you. All of creation acknowledges and worships God.
The angels delight in revealing himself to us. When will we acknowledge and accept and
surrender to this Savior? He's a master and the Lord of the universe. Go watch your movies,
be entertained by the fantastic depictions of power but just remember those are fantasies
but our Lord and our God is not a fantasy. He's real. He demonstrates that day in and
day out. I wonder today if you've been more mesmerized by Hollywood's version of power
and might and fantastic creatures and you haven't remembered and thought of just one
little species that God has created the angelic beings who is far mightier than anything that
ever can be depicted in a book or on a screen or any other way. I wonder if maybe you've
been a little bit too distracted by everything we come up with and I wonder if maybe you've
been a little bit too neglectful of what God has come up with for you. Don't neglect so
great of a salvation. In just a few moments we're going to close in prayer. We have decision
stations that I want to invite you to. You know the only way you can neglect so great
a salvation is to refuse it. To refuse it. To say not for me. To say I'm going to find
some other way to heaven or I'm going to find some other way to God and yet God himself
has said there's no way to the Father except through me. You can neglect salvation by simply
turning it off. Tuning it out. Or you can say you know I see all the evidence for what
God has done in Jesus with the people that responded, the prophecies that came to pass,
with the angels that announced it, with the fact that there was no doubt in those that
responded and saw. I'm going to put my faith in that same one that they put their faith
in. Today we want to talk with you and help you with that decision. I invite you to our
decision station. Maybe you're here for the first time. I would love to invite you to
our guest reception room right outside the center exit doors and across the hallway.
It's a glassed in room. I'll be in that room in just a few moments. I'd love to tell you
something about our church and things coming up. We're really glad you're here today. I
also want to invite you to bring others with you next week as we continue the characters
of Christmas and as we move towards Christmas Eve. Phenomenal time of celebration that we'll
have this year. Would you stand with me for a closing word of prayer? Father, I'm so grateful
today that you have revealed yourself in so many ways, including through the angels. Father,
I would ask that you help us not neglect so great a salvation that each of us would grapple
with and ultimately decide to trust you, the divine creator and savior of all. We ask this
in Jesus name. Amen. God bless.