1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,080 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:27,300 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead 4 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:32,440 pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:40,840 for the life we're searching for. We are so thrilled you're here today. Please take 6 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:46,120 your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2 and our characters of Christmas, 7 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:51,040 we are focusing today on three characters that you're very familiar with, the shepherds, 8 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:56,600 the sheep, and Mary. Let me just say this as well as we start this morning. I'm encouraging 9 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,840 us to do something very simply over these next few weeks and that is to be welcoming 10 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:06,480 and wise. Welcoming and wise. Now there's a couple of things to that first of all. In 11 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,520 being welcoming to people that are new to our congregation, we want to be able to be 12 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,840 in the room as early as you can for our worship time at 11 o'clock and we emphasize that of 13 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:19,440 course at our other service time. But get your coffee, get your things done, get in 14 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:24,840 early enough so you can meet people who are new to our congregation. You know, guests 15 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:31,200 always show up on time, almost always. Members don't always do that and so what an important 16 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:35,640 thing for you to be in the room so you can meet them, greet them, let them know why you 17 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:40,960 love Cross City and encourage them as well. Secondly, wise. And that is from the beginning 18 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:47,640 of the message to the end, try to be as stationary as possible and minimize any leaving or coming 19 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:53,320 back in. And that's not for me, that's for the folks in the congregation around you not 20 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:58,880 to be distracted from the message. You know, I've watched God over the years use a message, 21 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:04,000 even a point, even the reading of one verse, to absolutely turn a life around. We believe 22 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:09,840 that. And so we want to be welcoming and wise in how we get here and how we hang in there 23 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,320 during the course of the message and I'd appreciate if you'd help us with that. Now Luke chapter 24 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:19,600 two today, would you stand with me as we read a number of verses. Luke chapter two and you're 25 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,920 saying, haven't we been here before? And the answer is absolutely. We've been here for 26 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:31,640 three weeks in Luke chapter one and Luke chapter two. We are thoroughly covering the Christmas 27 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:37,600 story today, beginning in verse eight, we pick it up in this verse. It says in the same 28 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,640 region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their 29 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:47,440 flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord 30 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:52,080 shone around them and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid 31 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:57,920 for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For 32 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:04,080 today in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord. 33 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:09,280 This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 34 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,820 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising 35 00:03:13,820 --> 00:03:19,440 God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he's 36 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,620 pleased. And when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began 37 00:03:23,620 --> 00:03:27,960 to say to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that 38 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,960 has happened, which the Lord had made known to us. So they came in a hurry and found their 39 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:39,200 way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger. Let's bow together in 40 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,800 prayer for just a moment. Father, thank you so much for this amazing story, which we got 41 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:50,800 to revisit year after year. Father, so many points of meaning for us, so many points of 42 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:57,120 application, Lord, so many ways that you show your love, your concern and your command of 43 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:02,000 the heaven and earth in this story alone. And Father, I pray today you'll help us see 44 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:08,600 what we need to see today to trust you even more. We ask this in Jesus' mighty name, we 45 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:15,920 pray and everybody said amen. Please be seated if you would. You know, the Christmas story 46 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,460 can be told from all kinds of different angles and I'm sure you've heard it from a number 47 00:04:20,460 --> 00:04:25,560 of different angles. You can talk about it from the theological angle where you're only 48 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:32,680 looking at the incredible theological truth that God became a man. John 1 is the best 49 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,040 chapter in the Bible for that. Sometimes you hear it from a historical angle. You hear 50 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,840 all the different historical details that kind of make it make sense. We've heard the 51 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:46,720 Christmas story from a relational angle, how everything in this Christmas story points 52 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:52,000 to the fact that God wants a relationship with you. When you hear the Christmas story, 53 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,920 there's often an emotional angle to it as well because you feel this story in a big 54 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:01,080 way, especially if you've heard it year in and year out over the years. You see it on 55 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:07,200 stages, you watch it in theaters, it's in movies, and certainly in music. I think I 56 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:12,800 preach more than 100 Christmas messages in my lifetime, 40 years in ministry, usually 57 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:18,920 about three messages a year that have to do with Christmas. So at least 100 to 120 messages 58 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:23,400 that I preach on Christmas alone, just in my ministry. And I try not to repeat any of 59 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,560 them because of all you folks out there that take detailed notes in your Bible and come 60 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:33,600 up to me and say, oh, you preached that in 2010. I make sure that we are fresh every 61 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:39,400 year. But I've never preached on the characters of Christmas. I've never really taken time 62 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:44,160 to walk through each of these different characters that are in the Christmas story and look at 63 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,400 the story from their angle. So it's kind of a unique thing for me to do that. And I've 64 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:54,240 enjoyed every moment of it. And as we began a few weeks ago, looking at Zachariah and 65 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:58,520 Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist who were old and past the age of childbearing 66 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:04,240 and she was barren, we saw Gabriel the angel appeared to him and say, you're going to have 67 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:10,280 a child. You're going to name him John. And Zachariah didn't believe it and he was doubtful. 68 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:16,580 And so the angel struck him mute. And that message teaches us that faith is important. 69 00:06:16,580 --> 00:06:23,400 If you want to be able to talk, faith is important. And eventually Zachariah saw what the Lord 70 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:28,120 wanted him to do and said his name should be John and everything worked out really good. 71 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:33,960 And John the Baptist was there. Then we took a few moments and look that next week about 72 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,880 angels. Everything the Bible says about angels. It's not just about Gabriel appearing to Mary 73 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,800 and Gabriel appearing to Joseph and the angel appearing to the shepherds that we'll look 74 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:47,400 at today for just a few moments, but it's about the fact there are angels, about the 75 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:53,040 fact that God created angels before he created Adam and Eve and there will be angels all 76 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,760 into eternity. And we looked at the whole realm of angels and we came to the conclusion 77 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:03,240 that God is awesome and angels are awesome. That there's a whole world out there that 78 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:08,440 we really don't think much about or talk much about. And these angels exploded on the scene 79 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:15,800 in the book of Luke. Last week we looked at a number of different characters, including 80 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:21,440 Augustus Caesar and Quirinius in Luke chapter two. And we learned the fact that God controls 81 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:27,360 outcomes that we don't always have people in the play that we like so much. We don't 82 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,840 like Caesar Augustus so much. He was a pretty wicked ruler. We don't like Quirinius, but 83 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:37,240 everything that they did was God orchestrating them in such a way to bring Joseph and Mary 84 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:42,400 to a place called Bethlehem. That's why they're in this place at this time because God uses 85 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:48,840 pagan leaders to bring about godly causes. So God orchestrates conclusions and aren't 86 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:54,800 you glad God orchestrates conclusions? Because otherwise everything's at chance, everything's 87 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,840 at risk. Everything just happens in a random way, but we know that nothing happens in a 88 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:04,840 random way because God is on the throne. And today we're going to be looking at the major 89 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,480 scene for just a few moments. We're going to look at shepherd sheep and we're going 90 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,280 to look at Mary again. And of course we look at Mary a whole lot. And then of course we're 91 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:16,080 going to talk a little bit about the center of that major scene whose name is, help me 92 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:22,040 out here, Jesus. We're going to talk about Jesus for a few moments today. I want to put 93 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:26,720 a caricature on the screen. This is something I had an artist draw. And this is a major 94 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,200 scene and this is a major scene that pretty much depicts what we're looking at right here 95 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:37,120 in Luke chapter two, verse 16 and 17. So you've got Joseph and Mary over there on the right. 96 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:42,800 You've got the baby Jesus and this manger that has hay in it. It is a place where animals 97 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:50,160 literally ate. And then you've got the shepherds all around him beholding Jesus. Now this obviously 98 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:55,680 is a picture that's kind of humorous. Children would see a picture like this and have these 99 00:08:55,680 --> 00:09:01,080 warm, enduring feelings about the Christmas story and they ought to have. The Christmas 100 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:07,680 story is warm. It is endearing. It is nostalgic. We love pictures like this. We love scenes 101 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:12,680 like this. You may have an activity scene in your house somewhere, in your yard somewhere. 102 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:19,260 And all that points to the amazing historical event of Christ coming. But beneath all the 103 00:09:19,260 --> 00:09:27,320 details and all the characters of Christmas are incredible and deep truths that literally 104 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:32,480 change our lives. And I want you to come away with a sense of depth from some of these things 105 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,200 today, the shepherds, the sheep, and some of the things that we see Mary doing here 106 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:41,040 in this text today. So I'm going to ask a few questions, try to give a few answers today. 107 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:46,520 First of all, why the shepherds? Why the shepherds? Have you ever wondered why the angels came 108 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:52,280 to the shepherds first? There's a reason for that. And if you look in your text in verse 109 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:58,200 eight, it says in the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and 110 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:04,240 watching over their flock by night, keeping watch over their flock. And interestingly, 111 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,640 some shepherds, there's kind of an unusual rendering of that. It's not just shepherds 112 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:13,120 watching flocks, it's some shepherds watching their flock singular on that particular night 113 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:18,240 at that particular time. Does you know that shepherding is one of the oldest professions 114 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:26,360 in history? I mean, shepherds have been around ever since Abel, the son of Adam and Eve. 115 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:32,880 Abel was the first one we knew to be a shepherd of flocks. Moses was a shepherd during a big 116 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,460 portion of his life, at least the last, the middle of 40 years of his life on the backside 117 00:10:37,460 --> 00:10:42,640 of the desert, he was a shepherd. You know in the Old Testament, David, who eventually 118 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:47,680 became king, was a great shepherd of the sheep. In fact, God taught him what it meant to have 119 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:53,320 courage and what it meant to trust God while he was a shepherd over the flock. The prophet 120 00:10:53,320 --> 00:11:00,200 Amos was a shepherd. Zephaniah and Zechariah were all shepherds. But shepherding was a 121 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:09,320 common job. It wasn't an elite job. Shepherding was a tough job because it required courage, 122 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:15,240 it required patience because sheep are not easy to herd. It's like herding cats, sheep 123 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:20,040 don't like to go in a certain direction just because you want them to go there. It's also 124 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:26,040 a 24-7 job. You can't just take off from herding sheep. You've got to be with them all the 125 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:31,480 way around the clock 24-7. And you've got to shepherd some of the dumbest creatures 126 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:36,720 on the planet. I don't know how much you know about sheep, but they don't know much. And 127 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:43,720 it's not a compliment that the Bible often calls a sheep without a shepherd. I've seen 128 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:49,760 this YouTube video a number of times where a modern day shepherd is pulling a sheep out 129 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:54,880 of what looks like a very steep drainage ditch. And he gets him out of the ditch and he works 130 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:59,240 a great effort to get him out of this ditch. Finally he pulls his hind two legs and pulls 131 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:03,240 him out. It looks like the sheep is trying to stay in the ditch for whatever reason. 132 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:08,600 And it pulls him out and gets him over to the side and kind of sets him loose. And then 133 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:15,120 within a second or two, the sheep starts hopping up and down right back into the same ditch. 134 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,360 And I've watched that over and over. I can't quit watching that because it looks so much 135 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:28,240 like me and you sometimes. Our shepherd delivers us and we hop right back into the ditch. David 136 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:36,080 as a shepherd said that he fought off the lions and bears and of course the wolves in 137 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:40,040 the hills of Israel. And if you didn't grow up around bears, then you don't really know 138 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:46,360 how big of a statement that is. I didn't. But those bears and those lions are some of 139 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:51,600 the most powerful creatures on the planet. Yet a shepherd was out there and between those 140 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:56,440 vicious animals and the sheep, he was devoted to do the job. He had to be somewhat of a 141 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:01,600 survivalist expert to stay out there 24-7, to stay alive from all the things that were 142 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:07,120 happening in those fields protecting those sheep. And in that wilderness where the sheep 143 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:13,360 most often were herded. So you got this picture here of shepherds that were courageous, kind 144 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:19,400 of dirty, kind of stinky, 24-7. But during the time of Jesus, shepherds had kind of a 145 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:25,240 low esteem. In other words, not everybody respected shepherds in spite of what all they 146 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:30,320 had to do. They had a bad reputation because rabbis considered them to be law breakers. 147 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:35,200 He wouldn't keep the Sabbath. Of course they couldn't keep the Sabbath if they were going 148 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,760 to be shepherds during that time. They had to stay out in the fields. They had to move 149 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:44,400 around with the sheep. A Jewish sage named Phido made this statement. He said, shepherds 150 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:53,040 are mean and glorious creatures. They're not among the elite. They're not sophisticated. 151 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,240 They're not found in the temple. They're not found in the synagogue. These are guys that 152 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:02,120 are outside in the dark all the time. And I think it's really interesting that God comes 153 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:07,520 and announced us to the shepherds just after he announced us to Joseph and Mary who obviously 154 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,160 need to be forewarned a little bit about what's about to happen. He goes out and tells the 155 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:19,120 shepherds first about the good news of the Messiah who's coming to save the son of the 156 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:26,840 whole world. Why did he pick the shepherds to be the very first messengers of this great, 157 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,000 great news? And I want you to know today, and I'm going to say it several different 158 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:35,760 ways several different times, he's coming to show us that God is revealing himself to 159 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:43,760 the everyday ordinary man and woman. He's getting real with us. This God with us, this 160 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:48,800 Emmanuel is not just for the religious community at all. In fact, the religious community had 161 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:54,120 to come to the place of humility and willingness to repent before Jesus would actually reveal 162 00:14:54,120 --> 00:15:01,240 himself to them. He came first to the outcast, to the lowly, to the dark, to those that might 163 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:06,760 smell a little bit, to those who know they're in danger constantly, to those who are always 164 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:12,520 in need. That's who first gets to know. And I think one reason he does that is because 165 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:17,160 they know they have needs. They know they need a savior. They know they need help. And 166 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:23,920 so the Messiah was revealed first of all, the shepherds. Notice the angel did not first 167 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:30,620 approach the religious leaders, the self righteous or the self sufficient. Instead he came and 168 00:15:30,620 --> 00:15:35,540 approached the humble and the lowly everyday people. That ought to make you feel pretty 169 00:15:35,540 --> 00:15:40,880 good that your God would want to be near you and reveal himself first to a group of people 170 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:47,240 that are most like you. God loves you. He knows where you are. So important. So the 171 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:53,120 shepherds were there for a really, really big reason and they were in the fields at 172 00:15:53,120 --> 00:16:00,760 night. Now there's only about five miles between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. And if you're in 173 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:05,280 the middle between those two, if you look towards Jerusalem you see the lights of a 174 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,800 city even at night. You hear the music coming out of that city. You're not that far away 175 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:14,860 that you can't hear it. You can tell that the city of Jerusalem is filled with celebration 176 00:16:14,860 --> 00:16:19,880 and filled with all kinds of festivals and feasts. You can know the traffic's going 177 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:24,600 in and out of there. You hear the sounds of music and you see the lights of a populous 178 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:29,240 city. It's a religious capital of the world. It still is considered the religious capital 179 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:35,120 of the world in many different perspectives. But if you look to the other side, to Bethlehem, 180 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:39,160 you see the exact opposite. You're not going to see lights and you're not going to hear 181 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:43,840 music. You're going to find a little town. And even though the song, Oh Little Town of 182 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:50,920 Bethlehem, sounds quiet and soft and gentle, it is a dark, dangerous, and wicked city. 183 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:55,560 Recently someone who's a tour guide in Israel said, because it's still the same way it was 184 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:01,840 back then, I'll take a busload of people to Bethlehem but I'm not getting off the bus. 185 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:08,200 It's still a dark place. It's still a dark place. And there's these shepherds in these 186 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,600 fields. We're not beckoned to go to Jerusalem where the lights are, where the religious 187 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:17,600 celebrations are. They were beckoned to go to Bethlehem where it's dark, where it's dank, 188 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:24,800 where it's dangerous because that's where this baby is going to be born. And in part, 189 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,720 the angels are saying go there because they're going to fulfill and they're going to see 190 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:33,320 scripture prophecy fulfilled when they get there. And that Messiah is in that little 191 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:39,720 manger that we've talked about before in the city of Bethlehem. Here's a prophecy in Isaiah 192 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:44,820 chapter nine verse two. It says the people who walk in darkness will see a great light. 193 00:17:44,820 --> 00:17:49,480 Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. And I hope you can see the 194 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:56,480 contrast today. The shepherds out in the fields where it's dark, not looking towards Jerusalem 195 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:00,080 where a little bit of light's coming but looking up and all of a sudden the brilliance of angels 196 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:07,960 points them to a place still darker and saying to them, go there. Go to the darkest place 197 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:15,280 you know of, that little place called Bethlehem because that's where my Messiah is going to 198 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:22,880 be born. And the shepherds went because they were told to go look for this Messiah. You 199 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,880 know, I think God came to shepherds first to make this announcement, made them the first 200 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:34,640 messenger because God himself is a shepherd. Did you know that? God himself is a shepherd. 201 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:42,280 He describes himself as a shepherd. In Ezekiel chapter 34, God is describing his role with 202 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:48,160 Israel, what he calls the sheep and the flock of his pasture. He says, for thus says the 203 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:53,680 Lord God, behold, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out as a shepherd cares 204 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:58,640 for his herd in the day when he is among the scattered sheep. So I will care for my sheep 205 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:04,040 and will deliver them from all of the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and 206 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:13,480 gloomy day. I love that prophecy because this reminds us of what shepherds do. Isaiah chapter 207 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:18,840 40 verse 11, like a shepherd, he will tend his flock and his arms, he will gather the 208 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:25,440 lambs and carry them in his bosom. He would gently lead the nursing ewes. That's a beautiful 209 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:30,240 picture of our God, isn't it? Now these shepherds were doing this exact thing when the angels 210 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:37,280 came. They were doing all the things that symbolize what God says he is to his people. 211 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:42,040 These shepherds were being as faithful as they could be. And the prophecy says, I'm 212 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:47,980 going to come to them in a gloomy world. I'm going to kind of build on that word gloomy 213 00:19:47,980 --> 00:19:52,960 for just a moment. I was reading a very interesting article the other day, and it was a secular 214 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:58,880 article, and it was writing about the condition of the world and the condition of our country 215 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:04,000 as well. It was an American writing about the world and about America. And he said if 216 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:14,600 America had a national mood, it would be gloomy. Because we look around at war, the Ukraine 217 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:21,640 war in Israel, we look around at things that are not going well. And we don't see as much 218 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:27,480 hope, don't see as much light, all kinds of division, all kinds of angry people everywhere, 219 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:33,440 and the world is in gloom. The Messiah came to the world just like that. By the way, wherever 220 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:40,000 there is not a Messiah being elevated, it will always be gloomy. Always. And when the 221 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:45,520 Messiah comes, there will always be light. It's a shepherd with a light who says, I'm 222 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,920 the answer to all this gloom. And I'm going to come meet you right in the middle of that 223 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:54,680 gloom to show you how I can transform your life in the middle of the darkest, darkest 224 00:20:54,680 --> 00:21:01,080 mood. Sin is still real, darkness is still real. The Savior who meets us in the darkness 225 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:07,600 is still real. And it's important for us to keep that in mind. So these angels coming 226 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,720 to these shepherds, watching these sheep to bring this good news, it's a powerful reminder 227 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:17,600 and I don't want you to forget it. Our Savior is a shepherd. Aren't you glad our Savior 228 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:24,320 is a shepherd? Aren't you glad our God is a shepherd? I was in a funeral yesterday and 229 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:30,640 it seemed like at the end of the year, it seems funerals are more frequent. And in that 230 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:37,880 funeral, I didn't take much time to talk, but I did open up Psalm 23. And although the 231 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:42,280 person that passed away is a full believer, we know to be absent from body is to be present 232 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:50,720 with Christ. Everybody in that room when they heard Psalm 23 was lifted. The Lord is my 233 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:58,280 shepherd. I shall not want. How powerful is that? That even though I walk through the 234 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:03,480 valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. You're with 235 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,640 me God. And you're with me because you're a shepherd. You're with me because that's 236 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:15,240 who you are because I'm a sheep in your flock and because you have come after me. So the 237 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:21,720 first announcement of this Messiah outside Joseph and Mary was to this group of people 238 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:27,000 called shepherds. And that's one reason why he came with them first to remind us that 239 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,920 our God is a shepherd. But why the sheep? What about these sheep? Notice first aid. 240 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:41,000 It says shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock. I have 241 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,640 all kinds of questions here. For example, if these shepherds were rough, dark men, why 242 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:50,560 did they become so excited about the announcement of a Messiah? How did they even understand 243 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:57,960 what was going on? And most to write about these shepherds and these fields say that 244 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:04,680 these shepherds were looking for more than just sheep. They were aware of the need for 245 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:09,760 a Messiah. They were aware that God was going to visit them at some point. John MacArthur 246 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,040 in his commentary says the fact that they were singled out for this announcement suggested 247 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,720 that they were devout men, even though they were shepherds who believed in the true and 248 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:27,560 living God. It could be like Simon and Luke 2 25 and Luke 2 38. They were looking for 249 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:33,960 the constellation of Israel. They were looking for the redemption of Israel. These, some 250 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:39,920 shepherds are interesting figures. Some even suggest that they might have been priestly 251 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:45,000 shepherd. Now we have no way of really knowing that apart from the location where they're 252 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:53,600 at. They're watching a special flock of sheep, not flocks plural, but flock singular, a special 253 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:58,720 group of sheep. Now I want you to notice the phrase in the field there. Now in the field 254 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:03,040 sounds very natural to us if you're not a shepherd in Israel, but if you're a shepherd 255 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:09,520 in Israel, it's most likely that sheep were being herded out in the fringes of the wilderness. 256 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:17,520 In fact, in the Mishnah, the rabbinical code actually specifies that the shepherds were 257 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:23,600 to take the sheep outside, away from the fields and on the fringes where the wilderness is. 258 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:27,680 That's where they were supposed to go. I think you probably know that sheep, when they graze, 259 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,360 pull the whole grass up, all the grass, the roots and everything, right? So there's nothing 260 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:35,440 left when sheep come through. That's why sometimes ranchers don't like sheep, and that's just 261 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:40,520 the way it is. So they send the sheep to the fringe of the wilderness where it meets at 262 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:46,520 the fields, but they don't put them normally, typically, in the fields themselves unless 263 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:53,280 they are a specific group of sheep that are designated for a specific cause. And that's 264 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:58,880 what I'm suggesting, and I think that Christopher is suggesting that here. It's highly likely 265 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,520 that these sheep in the fields and not in the wilderness are being prepared for sacrifice 266 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:10,480 in the temple. You do know in the Old Testament temple that sacrificial lambs were selected, 267 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:17,040 groomed for, picked out because of their imperfections and brought into the temple to be sacrificed 268 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:23,880 for sin. It's highly likely that that's what's going on in this particular picture. If this 269 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:29,440 is true, we don't really have any way of exactly knowing it, but it could be that both the 270 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:34,840 shepherds and the sheep are symbols of what's going on and has been going on for many years 271 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:39,760 in the temple and is about to be completely fulfilled. It's just like our God to take 272 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:46,640 care of every detail just like that. Now I want to take it a step further. The prophet 273 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:52,600 Micah prophesied about Bethlehem being the place where the Messiah is born, and in Micah 274 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:57,720 chapter four verse eight refers to a certain place near Bethlehem. It says, as for you, 275 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:05,200 tower of the flock, and in Hebrew that's the word, mcdawad, ador. Hill of the daughters 276 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:10,160 Zion to you will come, even the former dominion will come, the kingdom of the daughter of 277 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:16,200 Jerusalem. In other words, this was a well-known prophecy, and the shepherds may well have 278 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:21,000 known this prophecy in this location, and that's why they didn't need a star, like 279 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:26,400 the wise men needed to guide them to go. The Bible simply says they went very rapidly, 280 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:33,800 the space of only a couple of miles, to find immediately the place where this baby was. 281 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:39,000 And it causes me to wonder if these were not the sheep that were destined for temple sacrifice, 282 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:43,040 if these were not the shepherds that were going to be the ones that watched them until 283 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:48,080 they were sacrificed. And it would be very appropriate for our Lord to have said to these 284 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:53,000 shepherds and to these sheep that I want you to go find the one, lamb of God that's being 285 00:26:53,000 --> 00:27:00,640 born that will take away the sins of the whole world. Think of the significance of that. 286 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:06,040 Notice what it says in Isaiah chapter 53. I consider Isaiah 53 one of the greatest chapters 287 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:12,120 of prophecy about the crucifixion of the Messiah and the reasons for his crucifixion. Notice 288 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:18,600 what it says in Isaiah 53, six. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us through 289 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:26,560 his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. Now regarding the 290 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:32,640 Messiah's actual crucifixion, notice what it says in verse seven. He was oppressed and 291 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:37,520 afflicted yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb he is led to slaughter and like a sheep 292 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:43,120 that is silent before his cheerer so he did not open his mouth. Everything in the Christmas 293 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:49,640 story points back to the Old Testament sacrificial system and then points forward to the ultimate 294 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:55,320 sacrifice Jesus Christ gave on the cross. When you think about sheep and those shepherds, 295 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,200 you think about the sacrifice for sin. And when you think about that baby, you think 296 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,880 about the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And you're getting the gospel 297 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:10,760 in the middle of your Christmas story, which is exactly what it's designed to be for. And 298 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:16,000 in that manger, in that manger scene, and those shepherds looking at that baby with 299 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:24,600 Mary and Joseph, we see the one, the one person who takes away the sin of the world. He takes 300 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:30,880 your sin away from you. He takes all of our sin away. We put our faith and trust in him. 301 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:36,440 That's this Jesus. That's what is happening here as all this unfolds. Our Savior is a 302 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:41,640 shepherd, but he's also a lamb, a sacrificial lamb who gives his life for us. Then I want 303 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:46,280 you to notice the third thing. I want to ask the question, what about Mary? What about 304 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:51,800 Mary? If you jump down to verse 19, the Bible tells us that all this conversation is going 305 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:57,920 on with these shepherds and with Joseph and Mary as the shepherds arrived there. In verse 306 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:05,640 19 it says, but Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. I don't know 307 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:14,800 about you, but birth scenes inspire questions. When you are a witness to a birth of a baby, 308 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,720 you have all kinds of emotions going on inside of you. I was one of the first generations 309 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:24,040 of dads that got to go into the birthing room with moms. 42 years ago or whatever it was, 310 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,640 my oldest daughter, my first child was born. I got to go in the birthing room. I take you 311 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:33,040 through all kinds of classes to get you ready, breathing exercises that you're supposed to 312 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:37,040 coach your wife through. I got to say, you don't want to get on her nerves while she's 313 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:41,000 in that room giving birth to that baby. I've learned that. You need to be really, really 314 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,600 subtle in what you do. You're supposed to help her and encourage her. I got so into 315 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:50,480 that role that once my daughter was born and we were assured that she was safe and all 316 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,920 that was wonderful. I actually asked the nurse, does any other woman in this hospital need 317 00:29:54,920 --> 00:30:00,160 a coach because I enjoyed that experience. At which point my wife grabbed my collar and 318 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:06,240 said, be quiet, shut up. I don't blame her at all, but I was so moved by emotion. The 319 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:14,000 emotion of the moment was off the charts. Birth moments inspire questions. I know one 320 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:19,720 of the questions that came to my mind when our first child was born was, did my wife 321 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:26,720 and I really create this beautiful child? Two years later we had another child and one 322 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:31,360 of the first questions I had after that baby was born is, how are we going to afford all 323 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:38,360 these kids? When our fourth child was born, he was really big, 10 pounds, eight ounces 324 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:45,360 at birth. I asked the question, how did a grown man get inside my wife's womb? He was 325 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:52,360 a man child. We don't call that a baby, we call that a man child. Wow. That inspires 326 00:30:55,560 --> 00:31:02,000 all kinds of questions, don't they? Well this question comes about in this verse where Mary 327 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:08,120 pondered these things. She's treasured all these things in her heart. Don't you know 328 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:14,600 that this young virgin mom had all kinds of questions about what the future was going 329 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:21,600 to be for her, for this child? I mean it inspires so much. Mark Lowry is a songwriter who wrote 330 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:29,560 the song Mary Did You Know? Everybody knows the song Mary Did You Know? 13 questions. 331 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:34,320 She asked 13 questions in that song and I'm going to go through some of the lyrics so 332 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,680 that I don't worry I'm not going to sing these lyrics and you can thank Jesus for that but 333 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:42,040 nonetheless I'm going to tell you some of the lyrics because they're great lyrics. Did 334 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:46,720 he walk on water? Did you know he would save sons and daughters? Did you know he came to 335 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:52,280 make you new? That he would soon deliver you? Did you know he would give sight to the blind, 336 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:57,800 calm the storm, walk where angels trod, kiss the face of God, help the deaf to hear, the 337 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:02,520 dead to live, the lame to leap and the dumb to speak? Did you know he was Lord of all 338 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:07,120 creation? Did you know he was real nation? Did you know he was heaven's perfect lamb? 339 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:14,120 Did you know he was the great I Am? It's a great song. 13 questions though. And I walk 340 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:21,320 through these 13 questions and I have an answer for every single one of them. So I'm going 341 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:26,200 to give you the answer to these 13 questions if you're taking notes have your pen ready. 342 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:33,200 And the answer is maybe, yes, yes, yes, maybe, maybe, no, no, yes, yes, no, and yes. I'm 343 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:40,200 being humorous obviously. Okay. So correct. She had these questions. She pondered all 344 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:50,520 this in her heart. But here's what I want you to see about this passage. In this passage 345 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:56,360 is a conversation between the shepherds and Joseph and Mary. The only three groups of 346 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:03,360 people that for 500 years have seen or heard from an angel, the three groups of people 347 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:08,120 in the planet that could have this conversation were centered around the manger. Now, now 348 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:13,000 when you read these verses 17, 18 and 19, it looked like the shepherds go everywhere 349 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,640 and tell everything they know. And they did do that after the manger scene. But at the 350 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:23,240 manger scene, only those three groups of people, Mary, Joseph and the shepherds are having 351 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:28,840 this conversation. Can you imagine what that conversation must have been like? The shepherds 352 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:35,840 are coming in and they say, is this the baby? Is this the baby the angels told us about? 353 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:43,000 I can imagine Joseph saying, who are you? And what angels? You saw angels. And I can 354 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:49,240 imagine the shepherds saying, yes, we saw angels. They told us the child would be born 355 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:54,120 in the city of David. And here we are. We're here to see this child. And as Joseph turned 356 00:33:54,120 --> 00:34:01,120 to say, well, we saw an angel too. And the angel told me that I was going to have a son, 357 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:05,240 but it was going to be the son of the most high and we should call his name Jesus. And 358 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:10,360 at that point, Mary would have to have piped up. The angel came to me first and told me 359 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:16,840 I would be with child without having known a man at all. And he also told me to name 360 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:21,760 him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sadness. And maybe the shepherds were 361 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:26,600 well versed enough to say, do you know the name Jesus? Do you know that it means, in 362 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:32,760 the original language, it means Jehovah saves. Is this going to be the savior of the world? 363 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:36,840 Mary, is this baby going to be the one that takes away the sin of the world? Is this our 364 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:41,800 Messiah? Is this our King of Kings? Can you imagine that conversation over those few moments 365 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:47,360 there where the three people, three groups who had seen the angels are talking together? 366 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:53,080 What a moment. If you'd seen an angel and I'd seen an angel, you better believe we'd 367 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:57,800 be comparing notes about what the angel said to us. And you can bank on the fact that we're 368 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:02,240 going to be writing this down and pondering this and cherishing this in our heart because 369 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:09,240 this is really, really big stuff. What a conversation that they had. 370 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:16,240 Let me set a couple of things in front of you today. Let me say first of all, like Mary, 371 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:27,840 you and I need to be treasuring and considering these things in our hearts. I know Mary's 372 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:36,000 the one that had the baby and Mary's the first one that saw. Emmanuel. But you need to be 373 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,840 having that thought in your heart. You need to be asking the question, what does this 374 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:46,560 mean for me? Not what does it mean for the Christmas story, not what does it mean for 375 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:53,560 the world, what does it mean for you? That God became flesh first and now to the lowly 376 00:35:54,120 --> 00:36:01,120 shepherds, birth and given into a manger to hold, be held by, who came to take away the 377 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:06,120 sins of the world, the lamb of God. What does that mean to you? You need to be comparing 378 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:11,680 notes. You need to be thinking through what this Savior means to you. And for Luke to 379 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:16,680 word it this way, Mary treasured all these pondering those things in her heart, Luke's 380 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:21,920 way of saying, you ought to be thinking more about this yourself. You ought to be cherishing 381 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:26,760 this in your life. Are you making room to do that? I know this is the wildest time of 382 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:32,320 the year. I know it's the hardest time of the year to come aside and create margin and 383 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:36,400 find a quiet spot and think through everything that this means, but I will tell you, you 384 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:41,840 will never regret the few moments that you spend thinking about what this Savior means 385 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:48,840 to your life and being grateful for the fact that He's here. You will never regret that. 386 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:55,700 And then, like the shepherds, we should make this story known to everybody. Everybody needs 387 00:36:55,700 --> 00:37:00,360 to hear this. The shepherds went out wildly going everywhere, telling everybody what they 388 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:04,840 had seen and heard and probably talking about the conversation around the manger and all 389 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:09,520 they'd seen about this baby in that manger. They just wouldn't shut up. They went everywhere. 390 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,360 They were fearless. They were courageous anyway, but they went everywhere telling the good 391 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:19,720 news. Let me ask you, is this news any less today than it was then? Is this baby any less 392 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:26,720 powerful today than he was then? Absolutely not. You still need to tell the good news. 393 00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:32,200 There was a guy in my life years ago when I was first pastoring. His name was Golam Obathi. 394 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:38,840 He was from Iran. And when I was first pastoring, we lived not far, or our church was not far 395 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,880 from an apartment complex, and one day we went and knocked on every door in that apartment 396 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:48,520 complex to invite people to services. And I knocked on his door, and he opened the door. 397 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:53,840 And I introduced myself, and there was a little short man about this tall looking up at me. 398 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:58,520 I'm sure he was wondering, what's this guy doing here? And I said, I'm the pastor of 399 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:03,080 a church down the street. I'd like to invite you to our services. He said, it's the Christian 400 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:07,720 church? I said, yes. He said, do you preach Jesus? I said, yes. He said, what took you 401 00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:15,040 so long? I said, what do you mean? What took you so long to find me? And he invited me 402 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:19,200 into the house, and we had this conversation where I learned of his conversion to Christ 403 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:27,000 while in a prison in Iran. He was under the suppression after the shawl of Iran was deposed, 404 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:32,040 if you know your history, and the Ayatollah community came in and ushered in a whole new 405 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:38,240 era there of repression and oppression, and he was in prison. He escaped. But while in 406 00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:43,380 prison, he was given a translation of the scriptures. He came to faith in Christ all 407 00:38:43,380 --> 00:38:48,040 by himself in that cell room, and when he escaped, he came to America. He said, the 408 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:51,760 scriptures tell me that there are people like me who believe in Jesus Christ the Messiah, 409 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:58,600 but I just never met any of them yet. What took you so long to come find me? Wow. I'll 410 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:04,960 never forget that because there are people everywhere waiting to hear good news. There 411 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:12,160 are people everywhere waiting to hear about a God who cares about them, a God who is real, 412 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:18,080 authentic, down to earth, who meets us where we are. And you know his name. His name is 413 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:24,400 Jesus, for it's he who will save his people from their sins. My dear friend, ponder those 414 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:30,600 facts and share those facts as frequently as you can these days. I want to leave you 415 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:35,240 with one verse that's so important, so important. By the way, in the end of everything, all 416 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:42,120 these truths point to one truth, and that one truth is that God has come to us and that 417 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:51,120 God has come for us. That's a big deal. That's a really big deal. In John chapter 10, Jesus 418 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:56,240 as an adult, before he goes to the cross says, I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd 419 00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:03,160 lays down his life with his sheep. Nobody will do that for you and him, and he has. 420 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:08,960 In just a few moments, I'm going to lead us in prayer, and then I won't dismiss this just 421 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:14,720 yet. I have a couple of things I want to share with you before we end, but join me in a word 422 00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:22,160 of prayer. And as we pray, I want to ask you to think through this pondering, this amazing 423 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:28,560 miracle in your heart, asking what does that mean for me? It may be that you've never put 424 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:34,480 your faith and trust in this Jesus, who is clearly, clearly God's Messiah, and you need 425 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:38,880 to do that today. I'll invite you to go to the decision stations in just a few moments. 426 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:45,320 Talk to somebody about that. We want you to know Jesus personally. Father, I thank you 427 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:51,720 so much that in Jesus' name we can be here today. We can talk about all these different 428 00:40:51,720 --> 00:40:56,620 characters of Christmas, and we can be encouraged by the fact that you put all these characters 429 00:40:56,620 --> 00:41:02,900 on the stage of the world so that we can see all of who Jesus is. And Lord, we never grow 430 00:41:02,900 --> 00:41:07,520 tired of knowing more and more about Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us. Thank you 431 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:12,960 so much that you came to meet us. You came for us. You came to us. And today I pray, 432 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:17,240 Father, that you would allow us to know you personally, that no one will leave this room 433 00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:22,840 today without making the decision to trust you as Lord and Savior. And I thank you for 434 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:29,120 all you've done for us and I ask this in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. A couple of things 435 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:33,880 before we dismiss. First of all, this is a day, we do this every year, by the way, where 436 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:40,600 we have proposed a budget for 2024. It's so hard to walk through a worship service and 437 00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:44,080 go through a message and an invitation and then bring up a budget vote, but we still 438 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:49,880 do that as a church. And so we'll ask you to join us with that. Then we'll get to something 439 00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:54,440 else in just a moment that's more fun. But bottom line is, the reason we present this 440 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:58,560 and the reason we share this with all of our congregation is because it takes all of us 441 00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:03,000 to move the church forward week by week and year by year. And God has been so faithful 442 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:07,480 and so of you as a congregation. It's been amazing. But every year we form a budget. 443 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:12,000 We put it in front of committees who actually help form it and in front of our people. On 444 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,960 November 11th we did that. And then we have a day on Sunday morning where everybody has 445 00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:21,280 a realization that we need to affirm this budget and walk together in it. So we're doing 446 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:24,760 that right now. And here's what I'm going to ask you to do. It's a very simple question. 447 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:28,440 I know you probably anticipated this for weeks and weeks. You couldn't wait for this day 448 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:34,160 to arrive, I know. But bottom line is that everyone has got a copy of this and we'll 449 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:38,920 ask you to affirm this by a showing of a hand. So we'll ask you to raise your hand in a moment 450 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:43,400 if you can affirm this. And then I'll ask if there is someone that doesn't affirm that 451 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:49,880 or people that don't affirm that, raise your hand to vote no and to not affirm it. Alright? 452 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:54,200 So we're going to do this in our early service which we did and now we'll do it now. So if 453 00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:58,160 you're behind this budget, if you'll stand with us and pray with us about this budget 454 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:02,800 and you're rolling that, would you raise your hand right now in affirmation of the budget? 455 00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:07,080 Alright. Thank you so much. You put that down if you would. If you're opposed to this, go 456 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:11,400 ahead and raise your hand. And I believe there may be one or two that are opposed to that. 457 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:14,600 Most people look around and go, what am I supposed to do now? And I understand that 458 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:21,000 fully. Well thank you so much for affirming that. Consider that a part of how you support 459 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:25,560 this church and how you worship and serve the Lord as you give week in and week out. 460 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:28,960 Now more fun stuff. Brad, why don't you come up on the stage? Anytime I call Brad on the 461 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:35,020 stage it's always more fun stuff. And so here he comes. And we're doing something very different 462 00:43:35,020 --> 00:43:39,480 with our Christmas Eve services this year, right? Because sometimes we have a big presentation 463 00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:44,080 in the middle of December and then Christmas Eve is sometimes a little unplugged, a little 464 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:48,480 laid back. What's happening Christmas Eve this year? Christmas Eve is no longer unplugged. 465 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:55,080 We're going hard. Cool? So look, we've taken all of the energy and resources that we usually 466 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:58,600 put into Christmas together, carols and lights as it used to be called, and we've taken that 467 00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:03,720 and we've put it into Christmas Eve. And we've made that our big invite for this year and 468 00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:07,880 we're looking to do that going forward as well. You're going to see 25 minutes roughly 469 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:15,040 of strong production presentation. I'm going to be beating on a drum, of course. The choir 470 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:18,760 is going to sing. If you were here last week, you remember the number that we did. O Come 471 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:23,000 O Come, Emmanuel. We'll be doing that as well. That's a part of it. From there we'll be able 472 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:28,880 to stand together and we'll sing Christmas carols together. Of course, Carrie Bermacome, 473 00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:32,200 our children's minister, is going to be down here reading the Christmas story to all the 474 00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:36,960 kiddos who want to come and join a word from our pastor. And then as we always do, we'll 475 00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:42,040 end the night with candlelight singing whatever that song is. 476 00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:46,920 Well, you said it all. It's going to be a great service. It's going to be a great service 477 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:52,000 on Christmas Eve. Each of the three are the same, so pick one of those and come and invite 478 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:56,480 people to come with you and we'll look forward to being able to meet those friends of yours. 479 00:44:56,480 --> 00:45:00,920 Yeah, if you don't mind, really fast. So if you noticed something he said, the shepherds, 480 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:05,160 they went out and they would not shut up about telling people about Jesus, right? That's 481 00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:10,560 our job too, okay? Tell people about Jesus. Invite them here, 11, 4, and 6. That's our 482 00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:12,960 job. We have a responsibility, so do it. 483 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:19,120 There you go. Good word. All right, one last thing is three invitations that we give every 484 00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:23,200 single week. And one of those invitations is if you want to talk to somebody about a 485 00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:27,040 decision for Christ, we have our decision stations here and we would love for you to 486 00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:32,040 stop by on the way out today and let us help you make that decision for Christ. Secondly, 487 00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:36,960 I want to encourage you to invite people back to the Christmas Eve service as we've told 488 00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:41,080 you today. It's really, really important that people get an invite and bring them back. 489 00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:45,240 Thirdly, if you're a guest, and especially if you're a first time guest, we invite you 490 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:49,920 to guest reception, which is outside the center exit door and across the hallway. We'll be 491 00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:55,480 giving away copies of my book this year that I came out with. God's not done with you to 492 00:45:55,480 --> 00:46:00,680 all first time guests, so please meet me in the guest reception room and let's stand together 493 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:05,800 and I'll pray us out of here. Father, again, we thank you so much for all you've given 494 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:11,560 us in Jesus and today I pray that you'll let us leave with that thought for most, that 495 00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:18,080 you've come to us and for us in love. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless you. Have a wonderful 496 00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:31,600 Lord's Day.