1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,720 anything like me, but I'm the type of person who's always looking for the catch. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:09,280 So pretty much if something seems too good to be true, 3 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:12,680 then it probably is too good to be true. 4 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:20,320 And I think a lot of us today are very skeptical of good news because we've been duped so many times by supposed 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:27,900 good news, right? So for instance, a few months ago, my sweet innocent, beautiful, perfect 6 00:00:27,900 --> 00:00:29,900 Ezra 7 00:00:31,860 --> 00:00:36,500 decided to throw my phone across our hall and shattered the screen 8 00:00:37,020 --> 00:00:40,820 because it's Ezra. And so I had to try to get a new phone. 9 00:00:41,300 --> 00:00:46,820 And I saw an advertisement that they're still running today, by the way, because I saw it literally like two days ago. 10 00:00:47,340 --> 00:00:52,100 An advertisement from Verizon that said any phone in any condition. 11 00:00:52,420 --> 00:00:54,660 And I was like, well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. 12 00:00:54,660 --> 00:01:00,340 So I call them up and I'm like, hey, my two-year-old just threw my phone, but good news is I saw your ad. 13 00:01:00,340 --> 00:01:03,380 I want to take you up on that. And she goes, oh, your screen's broken? 14 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,820 I was like, well, yeah, but you said any phone in any condition. And she said, 15 00:01:09,060 --> 00:01:15,980 actually, if your screen's broken, that's gonna be an issue unless you've already paid off your your phone currently. 16 00:01:15,980 --> 00:01:20,620 And are you planning on buying the premium unlimited plan because you'll need to do that. 17 00:01:20,620 --> 00:01:25,460 And you need to add at least three other lines to this plan in order to get this deal. 18 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:29,380 So do you have I'm like, no, what kind of swindling is this? 19 00:01:29,380 --> 00:01:36,660 So it sounded like good news, but there was a catch. You had all these other things and don't even get me started on spectrum. 20 00:01:38,980 --> 00:01:40,980 Yeah, yeah, you know, 21 00:01:40,980 --> 00:01:42,980 there's a bunch of swindlers. 22 00:01:43,500 --> 00:01:48,500 You know, after the hurricane, we were without internet for a few weeks. And then when we got our internet back, 23 00:01:48,500 --> 00:01:52,860 it was like it was the first ever internet ever even created. 24 00:01:52,860 --> 00:01:55,300 I mean, you couldn't do anything on that internet. 25 00:01:55,300 --> 00:02:01,780 And so I saw that they were running this advertisement saying that basically if you were affected by the hurricane, 26 00:02:01,780 --> 00:02:03,780 they'll give you a credit towards your bill. 27 00:02:04,140 --> 00:02:10,180 So I call them up and say, hey, this sounds like really good news because we were affected by the hurricane. 28 00:02:10,180 --> 00:02:14,980 So I'd like to get that credit and she tells me, okay, we can give you ten dollars. 29 00:02:14,980 --> 00:02:21,780 And I politely informed her that she was about eighty dollars short of where she needed to be. 30 00:02:21,780 --> 00:02:26,060 And she said, well, ten dollars will cover the two weeks you were without internet. 31 00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:30,980 And I said, okay, but what about the fact that ever like every day since the hurricane, 32 00:02:30,980 --> 00:02:36,900 you have sent me a text saying, and I don't know if y'all got these, I got a text saying your internet is out. 33 00:02:36,900 --> 00:02:41,540 I said, so what about all those days? And she told me, kid, you not, she says, 34 00:02:41,540 --> 00:02:47,540 well, if you wanted a credit for those days, you would have needed to have called us and told us that your internet is out. 35 00:02:47,540 --> 00:02:50,540 And I said, hold on, I just want to make sure I'm hearing you correctly. 36 00:02:50,540 --> 00:03:02,540 You're saying that every time you text me and tell me my internet's out, you want me then to then call you and tell you that you told me that my internet's out so that I can get a credit for my internet that day. 37 00:03:02,540 --> 00:03:04,540 And she said, yes. 38 00:03:04,540 --> 00:03:10,540 Okay, so listen, all of that is to tell you two things. 39 00:03:10,540 --> 00:03:13,540 Number one, never trust spectrum. 40 00:03:15,540 --> 00:03:24,540 And number two, people today are very weary of good news because they believe there's always going to be a catch. 41 00:03:24,540 --> 00:03:30,540 And so for many people today, when you tell them that there is good news about Jesus, 42 00:03:30,540 --> 00:03:41,540 that if you will turn from your sins, repent of them, trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, you will be saved and you will get to be with God forever in glory. 43 00:03:41,540 --> 00:03:44,540 People go, okay, that sounds like good news, but what's the catch? 44 00:03:45,540 --> 00:03:50,540 You say that this is good news for all people, but is it really all people? 45 00:03:50,540 --> 00:03:54,540 I mean, what if I've lived a pretty bad life up to this point? 46 00:03:54,540 --> 00:04:02,540 In order to get this good news, do I need to have grown up in the church? Do I need to be a certain type of religious person? 47 00:04:02,540 --> 00:04:04,540 Do I need to come from a certain heritage? 48 00:04:04,540 --> 00:04:09,540 You're saying this is good news for me, but I just want to know what's the catch? 49 00:04:09,540 --> 00:04:21,540 And when you read this Christmas passage that we're all familiar with, I want you to understand the point that we're seeing here is that we can hope in the good news of Jesus because there is no catch with Christ. 50 00:04:21,540 --> 00:04:30,540 We can hope in the good news of Jesus because there is no catch with Christ. 51 00:04:30,540 --> 00:04:33,540 And praise the Lord for that, amen, church. 52 00:04:33,540 --> 00:04:42,540 Now, when the Bible says that this is good news for all people, it means that it is good news for all people and that there is no catch involved. 53 00:04:42,540 --> 00:04:46,540 This gospel, this good news, it fills us with hope. 54 00:04:46,540 --> 00:04:54,540 And so the question that I want us to consider as we're going through this passage this morning is, how does the good news give us hope? 55 00:04:54,540 --> 00:05:03,540 The angels come and tell us about the hope that's offered here in the good news, but how exactly does this good news give us hope? 56 00:05:03,540 --> 00:05:06,540 I want you to look at verse eight with me, if you will. 57 00:05:06,540 --> 00:05:14,540 The Bible says, and in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. 58 00:05:14,540 --> 00:05:16,540 Now, I'm going to pause there and know what you're thinking. 59 00:05:16,540 --> 00:05:18,540 We've only made it through one verse. You're already pausing. 60 00:05:18,540 --> 00:05:22,540 Yes, because here's what we need to understand about shepherds. 61 00:05:22,540 --> 00:05:26,540 When it comes to shepherds, we've kind of churched up the profession a little bit. 62 00:05:26,540 --> 00:05:27,540 Okay? 63 00:05:27,540 --> 00:05:35,540 Like when we see shepherds today, we tend to view them positively because of how prominent shepherds are in the Bible, how important they are in the Bible. 64 00:05:35,540 --> 00:05:39,540 I know for me personally, like if I see a shepherd, I think, man, that is awesome. 65 00:05:39,540 --> 00:05:41,540 That is such a biblical profession. 66 00:05:41,540 --> 00:05:44,540 I would love to be doing that. That is so cool. 67 00:05:44,540 --> 00:05:50,540 But what you need to understand is that no one in Jesus' day would have thought this way. 68 00:05:50,540 --> 00:05:55,540 No one in Jesus' day looked positively upon shepherds. 69 00:05:55,540 --> 00:06:00,540 Shepherds were the lowest of the low, and they lived on the outskirts of society. 70 00:06:00,540 --> 00:06:09,540 In fact, they lived out in the fields with their flocks, which meant that shepherds were not able to keep the ceremonial law. 71 00:06:09,540 --> 00:06:15,540 And since they were not able to keep the ceremonial law, they were considered ceremonially unclean. 72 00:06:15,540 --> 00:06:24,540 There was also this idea at the time that almost everybody believed that shepherds were a bunch of liars and thieves. 73 00:06:24,540 --> 00:06:29,540 And you actually see Jesus allude to this in John 10, verses 7 through 8. 74 00:06:29,540 --> 00:06:37,540 Jesus, the Bible says so again, Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 75 00:06:37,540 --> 00:06:45,540 All who came before me. So all these other shepherds are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 76 00:06:45,540 --> 00:06:50,540 And so at the time, people believed that shepherds were thieves and liars, 77 00:06:50,540 --> 00:06:57,540 and so much so, in fact, that a shepherd's testimony was inadmissible in court. 78 00:06:57,540 --> 00:07:01,540 And so if you were actually, you know, something happened to you, 79 00:07:01,540 --> 00:07:06,540 and a shepherd witnessed something happening to you, and you were assaulted or mugged or something like that, 80 00:07:06,540 --> 00:07:11,540 and you tried to call them as a witness in court, the court would not allow their testimony to stand. 81 00:07:11,540 --> 00:07:16,540 It was inadmissible because everyone believed they were thieves and liars. 82 00:07:16,540 --> 00:07:22,540 And so with only the exception of lepers, shepherds were the lowest of the low. 83 00:07:22,540 --> 00:07:27,540 Do you see how we've kind of churched it up today? We've kind of given them this new light today, 84 00:07:27,540 --> 00:07:34,540 but at the time that was not present. And yet it is these very people, the lowest of the low, 85 00:07:34,540 --> 00:07:45,540 the liars, the thieves, the unclean, that God chooses first to reveal the news of the birth of His Son. 86 00:07:45,540 --> 00:07:51,540 It's so interesting when you read this passage that the Messiah and His birth was not first revealed 87 00:07:51,540 --> 00:07:56,540 and announced to kings, rulers, billionaires, or business owners. 88 00:07:56,540 --> 00:08:02,540 God chose to reveal the birth of Jesus to the unlikeliest of people, 89 00:08:02,540 --> 00:08:08,540 people that no one would have included. And so folks, this teaches us something very important this morning. 90 00:08:08,540 --> 00:08:15,540 It teaches us that the gospel is good news for all people without distinction. 91 00:08:15,540 --> 00:08:23,540 The gospel is good news for all people without distinction. 92 00:08:23,540 --> 00:08:27,540 Now you might be wondering, what exactly does that mean? Well, I'll tell you. 93 00:08:27,540 --> 00:08:34,540 It means that the gospel is not like a college scholarship. 94 00:08:34,540 --> 00:08:43,540 When I enrolled in college, I knew it was going to be expensive, but people said, hey, good news, you can apply for scholarships. 95 00:08:43,540 --> 00:08:48,540 And scholarships, they sound like good news. Did they not? You're having trouble paying for something? 96 00:08:48,540 --> 00:08:51,540 Good news is there's these scholarships and they're actually going to cover the calls for you. 97 00:08:51,540 --> 00:08:56,540 So that's great. But I found out there was a catch with college scholarships. 98 00:08:56,540 --> 00:09:07,540 As I start looking into them, I noticed that college scholarships were incredibly tailored to very specific people and very specific types of people. 99 00:09:07,540 --> 00:09:14,540 So I'm reading through them and I'm being asked questions like, are you Native American? 100 00:09:14,540 --> 00:09:24,540 No. Have you served in the military? No. Are you part of a minority group? Again. No. 101 00:09:24,540 --> 00:09:27,540 I look into more scholarships and there were some ridiculous ones. 102 00:09:27,540 --> 00:09:33,540 There was a scholarship that was willing to give you a scholarship if you were above like 6'6 or something. 103 00:09:33,540 --> 00:09:36,540 So I was like, hey, are you 6'6? And I'm like, well, I mean, I could put that on my driver's license. 104 00:09:36,540 --> 00:09:40,540 I mean, I don't know if you can tell from here. I'm just a little off from 6'6. 105 00:09:40,540 --> 00:09:43,540 So not much, but I couldn't get that scholarship. 106 00:09:43,540 --> 00:09:45,540 And there's another one for if you were really, really short. 107 00:09:45,540 --> 00:09:49,540 So if you were below like 5' tall or something, you could get a scholarship for that. 108 00:09:49,540 --> 00:09:54,540 But turns out I'm not that short either. So I'm not tall enough to get a scholarship. 109 00:09:54,540 --> 00:09:56,540 I'm not short enough to get a scholarship. 110 00:09:56,540 --> 00:10:00,540 There was in fact a scholarship for if you had red hair. So yeah. 111 00:10:00,540 --> 00:10:04,540 And it says, hey, do you have red hair? I'm like, no, but my girlfriend does. 112 00:10:04,540 --> 00:10:08,540 Turns out that gets you nothing. Nothing at all. 113 00:10:08,540 --> 00:10:12,540 So I'm looking around trying to take advantage of this good news. 114 00:10:12,540 --> 00:10:18,540 And what I found was in contrast to the ongoing narrative we hear all the time in this country, 115 00:10:18,540 --> 00:10:23,540 turns out being a white male with dark hair meant that you were entitled to nothing. 116 00:10:23,540 --> 00:10:26,540 Absolutely nothing. 117 00:10:26,540 --> 00:10:33,540 And so college scholarships sound like good news, but they're only good news for certain people. 118 00:10:33,540 --> 00:10:35,540 You see what I'm getting at here? 119 00:10:35,540 --> 00:10:42,540 And I want to just say praise the Lord this morning that the gospel is not like that. 120 00:10:42,540 --> 00:10:46,540 The gospel is not good news just for certain people. 121 00:10:46,540 --> 00:10:51,540 The Bible says the gospel is good news for all people without distinction, 122 00:10:51,540 --> 00:10:58,540 which means that it doesn't matter if you're black, white, Asian, Hispanic, American or European. 123 00:10:58,540 --> 00:11:00,540 It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. 124 00:11:00,540 --> 00:11:05,540 It doesn't matter if you've lived a moral life or a reprehensible life. 125 00:11:05,540 --> 00:11:09,540 It doesn't matter if you live in Heathwood or the backwoods. 126 00:11:09,540 --> 00:11:15,540 The gospel is good news for you wherever you are this morning. 127 00:11:15,540 --> 00:11:22,540 This is why this is such good news because it means that no matter where you are in life this morning, 128 00:11:22,540 --> 00:11:27,540 this is good news for you and there is no distinction. 129 00:11:27,540 --> 00:11:32,540 Just as God first brought the news of the gospel to the unlikeliest of people, 130 00:11:32,540 --> 00:11:37,540 He still offers that good news to unlikely people today. 131 00:11:37,540 --> 00:11:43,540 And I want to just tell you this morning, church, that the truth of this passage needs to be seen 132 00:11:43,540 --> 00:11:46,540 and needs to be evident in the church today. 133 00:11:46,540 --> 00:11:51,540 In other words, a church should not all look alike. 134 00:11:51,540 --> 00:11:53,540 They should not all dress alike. 135 00:11:53,540 --> 00:11:56,540 They should not all come from the same background. 136 00:11:56,540 --> 00:12:00,540 They should not all come from the same socioeconomic status. 137 00:12:00,540 --> 00:12:06,540 The church needs to have the diversity that is evident in the gospel, 138 00:12:06,540 --> 00:12:12,540 which is just one reason why I love our church so much is because even though we might all look very similar, 139 00:12:12,540 --> 00:12:17,540 we come from very diverse backgrounds and it is beautiful to see. 140 00:12:17,540 --> 00:12:22,540 I mean, we've got people who have spent their entire life in church 141 00:12:22,540 --> 00:12:25,540 and we've got people who spent time behind bars. 142 00:12:25,540 --> 00:12:28,540 We've got people who own their own businesses. 143 00:12:28,540 --> 00:12:31,540 We've got some other people who work retail. 144 00:12:31,540 --> 00:12:34,540 We've got some people with deep pockets. 145 00:12:34,540 --> 00:12:37,540 We've got some people with no pockets. 146 00:12:37,540 --> 00:12:44,540 We've got people who I'm pretty sure they were born in the church like their mom gave birth in the baptismal. 147 00:12:44,540 --> 00:12:48,540 They've been here ever since and they're not going anywhere anytime soon. 148 00:12:48,540 --> 00:12:52,540 We've got that here at this church and then we've got other people who came to faith as an adult. 149 00:12:52,540 --> 00:12:56,540 And the first time they ever stepped foot into a church service is when they were a grown adult. 150 00:12:56,540 --> 00:13:02,540 We've got people who barely graduated high school and went on to work a factory job or a trade job. 151 00:13:02,540 --> 00:13:04,540 We've got people with master's degrees. 152 00:13:04,540 --> 00:13:09,540 We've got married people, single people, divorced people, and I want you to understand this church is 153 00:13:09,540 --> 00:13:16,540 when we see this in the church today, we are seeing the truth of this passage in action 154 00:13:16,540 --> 00:13:22,540 that Jesus came to seek and save the lost without distinction. 155 00:13:22,540 --> 00:13:26,540 And so no matter where you are, no matter what your background is, 156 00:13:26,540 --> 00:13:29,540 no matter your level of education or your financial situation, 157 00:13:29,540 --> 00:13:37,540 I can promise you this morning on the authority of God's word that the gospel is good news for you. 158 00:13:37,540 --> 00:13:41,540 In this gospel, I want you to notice what happens in this announcement. 159 00:13:41,540 --> 00:13:43,540 Look at verse nine. 160 00:13:43,540 --> 00:13:50,540 In an angel, the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear. 161 00:13:50,540 --> 00:13:57,540 And the angel said to them, fear not for behold, I bring you good news of great joy. 162 00:13:57,540 --> 00:14:07,540 That will be for what church? All the people for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. 163 00:14:07,540 --> 00:14:09,540 And this will be a sign for you. 164 00:14:09,540 --> 00:14:15,540 You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. 165 00:14:15,540 --> 00:14:22,540 Now I know that everybody in here this morning is very familiar with this passage because it's the Christmas passage, right? 166 00:14:22,540 --> 00:14:34,540 You're all familiar with it, but can we just take a moment to appreciate how much the sovereignty of God and the wisdom of God are on display in this passage? 167 00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:42,540 I don't know if you've ever taken time to appreciate this, but think about how much the sovereignty of God is on display here. 168 00:14:42,540 --> 00:14:56,540 Because after all, the whole reason that Joseph and Mary are in Bethlehem is because Caesar Augustus called for a census so that everyone would have to return to their hometown to be counted. 169 00:14:56,540 --> 00:15:00,540 And since Joseph was from Bethlehem, he has to go to Bethlehem. 170 00:15:00,540 --> 00:15:08,540 And you need to understand that God sovereignly orchestrated this in order to fulfill his prophecy in Micah 5-2. 171 00:15:08,540 --> 00:15:25,540 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler in Israel, who's coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. 172 00:15:25,540 --> 00:15:29,540 So God revealed to Micah the plan about the Messiah. 173 00:15:29,540 --> 00:15:33,540 And he says, Micah, tell the people that the Messiah is going to be born in Bethlehem. 174 00:15:33,540 --> 00:15:34,540 Now let's pause, all right? 175 00:15:34,540 --> 00:15:37,540 Here's what God did not do. 176 00:15:37,540 --> 00:15:55,540 God did not look down the corridors of time and see that one day there was going to be a man named Caesar Augustus, who would one day become emperor, who would one day call for a census, which meant that Joseph and Mary would then one day have to go to Bethlehem. 177 00:15:55,540 --> 00:15:58,540 And it would be at the time for her to give birth. 178 00:15:58,540 --> 00:16:00,540 And so Jesus was going to be born in Bethlehem. 179 00:16:00,540 --> 00:16:05,540 God did not look forward in time and see that and then go, all right, Micah, the plan is Bethlehem. 180 00:16:05,540 --> 00:16:09,540 I see it, I'm looking down ahead and he is going to be in Bethlehem at the time. 181 00:16:09,540 --> 00:16:12,540 So I need you to tell people that's where he's going to be born. 182 00:16:12,540 --> 00:16:14,540 That is not how it happened. 183 00:16:14,540 --> 00:16:29,540 From the foundation of the earth and even before the foundation of the earth, God sovereignly determined that Jesus was going to be born in Bethlehem before Bethlehem ever even existed. 184 00:16:29,540 --> 00:16:33,540 He sovereignly determined that Mary was going to be the virgin to give birth to Jesus. 185 00:16:33,540 --> 00:16:37,540 He sovereignly determined that Joseph was going to be Mary's husband. 186 00:16:37,540 --> 00:16:57,540 He sovereignly raised up Caesar Augustus and put him in place and worked in his heart to call this census in order to bring Joseph and Mary all the way to Bethlehem in order to fulfill what he had already determined that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. 187 00:16:57,540 --> 00:16:59,540 Do you see the sovereignty of God here, church? 188 00:16:59,540 --> 00:17:01,540 This is not an accident. 189 00:17:01,540 --> 00:17:04,540 This is not God just getting it right. 190 00:17:04,540 --> 00:17:10,540 This is God sovereignly orchestrating the events of the world to fulfill his plan. 191 00:17:10,540 --> 00:17:13,540 So God does not act after humans. 192 00:17:13,540 --> 00:17:19,540 God acts before humans and makes them adjust their plans to fall in accordance with his will. 193 00:17:19,540 --> 00:17:21,540 That's the sovereignty of God on display here. 194 00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:25,540 And I want you to think about the wisdom of God on display here. 195 00:17:25,540 --> 00:17:33,540 I mean, God could have chosen anyone on earth to be the first people to hear the news of the birth of the Messiah. 196 00:17:33,540 --> 00:17:36,540 And yet, who does he choose? 197 00:17:36,540 --> 00:17:39,540 Shepherds. 198 00:17:39,540 --> 00:17:42,540 And honestly, who better to choose than shepherds? 199 00:17:42,540 --> 00:17:53,540 Because even though no one at the time really looked well upon shepherds, you have to remember that Jesus was not just going to be born the king of kings. 200 00:17:53,540 --> 00:18:02,540 And he was not just going to be born the Messiah, but the Bible says that Jesus was going to be born to be our good shepherd. 201 00:18:02,540 --> 00:18:05,540 You see, there's a problem in Israel. 202 00:18:05,540 --> 00:18:12,540 And the problem was all the religious leaders of Israel who were called their shepherds were all corrupt. 203 00:18:12,540 --> 00:18:18,540 And it's painfully ironic that the religious shepherds looked down upon common shepherds and said, 204 00:18:18,540 --> 00:18:24,540 they were liars and thieves and unclean when the religious shepherds were a bunch of hypocrites. 205 00:18:24,540 --> 00:18:26,540 And so God had a plan. 206 00:18:26,540 --> 00:18:29,540 He even said in Ezekiel 34, verses two through four, 207 00:18:29,540 --> 00:18:34,540 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. 208 00:18:34,540 --> 00:18:38,540 Prophecy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God, 209 00:18:38,540 --> 00:18:43,540 Oh, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding yourselves. 210 00:18:43,540 --> 00:18:47,540 Should not shepherds feed sheep? 211 00:18:47,540 --> 00:18:54,540 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 212 00:18:54,540 --> 00:18:59,540 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, 213 00:18:59,540 --> 00:19:02,540 the strage you have not brought back, the lost you have not salt. 214 00:19:02,540 --> 00:19:06,540 And with force and harshness, you have ruled them. 215 00:19:06,540 --> 00:19:08,540 And so this was the problem. 216 00:19:08,540 --> 00:19:09,540 And so God had a plan. 217 00:19:09,540 --> 00:19:10,540 He said, here's what I'm going to do. 218 00:19:10,540 --> 00:19:16,540 I'm going to get rid of all of Israel's corrupt, hypocritical religious shepherds. 219 00:19:16,540 --> 00:19:20,540 And I'm going to replace them with my own son, the good shepherd. 220 00:19:20,540 --> 00:19:25,540 And this is what he even prophesied back in Ezekiel 34, verses 15 through 16. 221 00:19:25,540 --> 00:19:29,540 God's solution, he says, I myself. 222 00:19:29,540 --> 00:19:33,540 If you have your Bibles out and you want to circle some things, go through this passage. 223 00:19:33,540 --> 00:19:36,540 Circle every time it says, I myself, you'll see the emphasis. 224 00:19:36,540 --> 00:19:39,540 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. 225 00:19:39,540 --> 00:19:43,540 And I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord. 226 00:19:43,540 --> 00:19:46,540 I will seek the loss. I will bring back the straight. 227 00:19:46,540 --> 00:19:52,540 I will bind up the injured and I will strengthen the weak and the fat and the strong. 228 00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:56,540 I will destroy and I will feed them injustice. 229 00:19:56,540 --> 00:20:07,540 And so then it was fitting that the birth of the good shepherd was first announced to some lowly unsuspecting shepherds in Israel. 230 00:20:07,540 --> 00:20:09,540 And here's what you need to keep in mind. 231 00:20:09,540 --> 00:20:16,540 It was pretty clear to everyone in Israel at the time that the shepherds needed saving. 232 00:20:16,540 --> 00:20:20,540 If anyone needed salvation, it was the shepherds. 233 00:20:20,540 --> 00:20:26,540 If you're looking on this scene and you're here in 1st century Israel, you would have thought, well, yeah, that makes sense. 234 00:20:26,540 --> 00:20:32,540 It makes sense that the angels would say to them, hey, guess what? God's got good news for you. 235 00:20:32,540 --> 00:20:34,540 God's going to send you a savior. 236 00:20:34,540 --> 00:20:37,540 He's going to do something about your uncleanness and your sin. 237 00:20:37,540 --> 00:20:42,540 He's going to bring about redemption and atonement. That would have made sense to them. 238 00:20:42,540 --> 00:20:49,540 But I want you to notice this church. The angels did not say this was just good news for the shepherds, did they? 239 00:20:49,540 --> 00:20:54,540 They said this was going to be good news for all people. 240 00:20:54,540 --> 00:20:56,540 And that teaches us something very important this morning. 241 00:20:56,540 --> 00:21:06,540 It teaches us that the gospel is good news for all people because all people need the gospel. 242 00:21:06,540 --> 00:21:15,540 The gospel is good news for all people because all people need the gospel. 243 00:21:15,540 --> 00:21:20,540 If y'all let me chase a rabbit here for a moment, I'm going to. 244 00:21:20,540 --> 00:21:25,540 You see, there is a problem in the church today and it's been a problem for a very long time. 245 00:21:25,540 --> 00:21:28,540 At least the past hundred or so years. 246 00:21:28,540 --> 00:21:44,540 The church has been preaching morality as the gospel for so long that people in the church today think that the only people who need the gospel are the quote unquote bad people. 247 00:21:44,540 --> 00:21:48,540 You'll see what I'm saying. 248 00:21:48,540 --> 00:21:52,540 People today, we ask, well, who needs the gospel? Who should we witness to? 249 00:21:52,540 --> 00:21:55,540 Oh, you got to go for the addicts. 250 00:21:55,540 --> 00:22:00,540 You got to go for the ones who sleep around, those who cuss, the poor, the homeless, the immoral. 251 00:22:00,540 --> 00:22:02,540 Those are the people who need the gospel. 252 00:22:02,540 --> 00:22:07,540 Those are the people who need to hear the good news of Jesus. 253 00:22:07,540 --> 00:22:10,540 And hey, listen, that's true. I'm not saying it's not true. 254 00:22:10,540 --> 00:22:17,540 But what I'm saying is the problem is because we tend to only think of bad people as the ones who need the gospel. 255 00:22:17,540 --> 00:22:23,540 The church has become completely inept at evangelism. 256 00:22:23,540 --> 00:22:30,540 We have no idea how to actually share the gospel anymore in the church today. 257 00:22:30,540 --> 00:22:36,540 Because what happens when we come across someone who's pretty well off? 258 00:22:36,540 --> 00:22:38,540 What about that? 259 00:22:38,540 --> 00:22:43,540 What happens when we come across people who are respected members of their communities? 260 00:22:43,540 --> 00:22:49,540 What happens when we come across people who love their families well and provide for them? 261 00:22:49,540 --> 00:22:54,540 I'll tell you what happens because I've had people say this to me so many times I can't even remember at this point. 262 00:22:54,540 --> 00:23:02,540 They'll come to me and they'll say, hey pastor, my co-worker, my friend, my family member, they're not a Christian. 263 00:23:02,540 --> 00:23:05,540 But they're not really a bad person. 264 00:23:05,540 --> 00:23:08,540 You know, they've got a good marriage. They make good money. 265 00:23:08,540 --> 00:23:14,540 They participate in community events. They're well liked and well respected by people all around here. 266 00:23:14,540 --> 00:23:21,540 And so I don't really see a problem in their life so I don't know how to share the gospel with them. 267 00:23:21,540 --> 00:23:30,540 And it comes from this belief that we have today that the gospel is a solution to some sort of worldly problem. 268 00:23:30,540 --> 00:23:37,540 And I want to just tell you this morning church that the gospel is not primarily a solution for poverty, addiction, 269 00:23:37,540 --> 00:23:45,540 immorality, or any other worldly problem. The gospel is the solution to sin. 270 00:23:45,540 --> 00:23:48,540 And that's a problem that everyone has. 271 00:23:48,540 --> 00:23:57,540 The Bible says that if you are not in Christ, you are dead in your sins. 272 00:23:57,540 --> 00:24:04,540 And so it doesn't matter how moral your life is. It doesn't matter how many good things you do or how good you are to those around you. 273 00:24:04,540 --> 00:24:10,540 If you do not have Jesus, none of it matters. 274 00:24:10,540 --> 00:24:17,540 And so listen to me. If you're wanting to share the gospel with someone in your life, I want to encourage you. 275 00:24:17,540 --> 00:24:25,540 Stop looking for some sort of worldly problem to address as though the gospel is primarily about solving that issue. 276 00:24:25,540 --> 00:24:31,540 And instead focus on the fact that that person needs Jesus. 277 00:24:31,540 --> 00:24:38,540 I mean, I remember having a conversation with someone I used to work with, someone that everyone liked, and he was an atheist. 278 00:24:38,540 --> 00:24:42,540 And he didn't really have any of these problems that we looked for. 279 00:24:42,540 --> 00:24:46,540 And so I was like, okay, well, let's figure out how we can have a conversation with him. 280 00:24:46,540 --> 00:24:53,540 And I remember talking with him one day at Lowe's, and I remember telling him, I said, hey, listen, everyone at this store likes you, man. 281 00:24:53,540 --> 00:24:58,540 Like, no one's got any problems with you. No one has anything bad to say about you. Your friends with everyone. 282 00:24:58,540 --> 00:25:03,540 I mean, by everyone's standards here, you're living a great life. 283 00:25:03,540 --> 00:25:08,540 I said, but the problem is at the end of the day, we are all going to stand before God one day. 284 00:25:08,540 --> 00:25:11,540 And he's not going to ask us if we live the good life. 285 00:25:11,540 --> 00:25:15,540 He's not going to ask us how many people like this or how many people have good things to say about us. 286 00:25:15,540 --> 00:25:24,540 I said, the only question he's going to ask us on that day is, have you trusted in Christ for salvation? 287 00:25:24,540 --> 00:25:32,540 I said, buddy, I just want to tell you, if you haven't done that, then everything else you have going on right now in your life, it doesn't matter. 288 00:25:32,540 --> 00:25:41,540 You have to trust in Jesus because if your answer is no, you haven't trusted in Jesus, he's going to say, well, depart from me, you worker of lawlessness. 289 00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:46,540 I never knew you. Do you see the difference there, church? 290 00:25:46,540 --> 00:25:49,540 We don't have to look for a worldly problem to try to fix. 291 00:25:49,540 --> 00:26:00,540 We need to get to the heart of the issue and the heart of the issue is that people are dead in their sins and they have no ability to be alive in Christ apart from salvation in Christ. 292 00:26:00,540 --> 00:26:06,540 And so the gospel is good news for all people because all people need the gospel. 293 00:26:06,540 --> 00:26:11,540 Jesus didn't just come for the thieves and the liars for the unclean. 294 00:26:11,540 --> 00:26:16,540 Jesus came for the businessmen. He came for the politicians. 295 00:26:16,540 --> 00:26:23,540 He came for the wealthy. He came for the single mothers. He came for the upright. He came for the church members. 296 00:26:23,540 --> 00:26:28,540 Jesus came to seek and save the lost. 297 00:26:28,540 --> 00:26:30,540 And that is why this is good news. 298 00:26:30,540 --> 00:26:36,540 And this good news is not just about salvation, but the Bible says here it's about peace. 299 00:26:36,540 --> 00:26:40,540 Look at verses 13 and 14. 300 00:26:40,540 --> 00:26:47,540 The Bible says, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, 301 00:26:47,540 --> 00:26:56,540 Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. 302 00:26:56,540 --> 00:27:07,540 Now here's what's really interesting about this is that the angels are announcing this at the exact same time as the Pax Romana, 303 00:27:07,540 --> 00:27:12,540 which just means the peace of Rome. This was a time of great peace in Rome. 304 00:27:12,540 --> 00:27:16,540 And Rome loved to flaunt their peace. 305 00:27:16,540 --> 00:27:24,540 They loved to go about talking about the Pax Romana, but you have to understand that their peace came at a price. 306 00:27:24,540 --> 00:27:28,540 Their peace involved subjugation and enslavement. 307 00:27:28,540 --> 00:27:34,540 It was peace for Rome at the expense of all others. 308 00:27:34,540 --> 00:27:37,540 And so at the end of the day, it was a superficial peace. 309 00:27:37,540 --> 00:27:39,540 And here's what I found interesting. 310 00:27:39,540 --> 00:27:48,540 I found a Stoic philosopher who was writing at the exact same time that Luke wrote his gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 311 00:27:48,540 --> 00:27:51,540 A Stoic philosopher writing at the same time. 312 00:27:51,540 --> 00:27:54,540 And this is what he said. 313 00:27:54,540 --> 00:27:59,540 He said, while the emperor may give peace from more on land and sea, 314 00:27:59,540 --> 00:28:04,540 he is unable to give peace from passion, grief, and envy. 315 00:28:04,540 --> 00:28:11,540 He cannot give peace of heart for which man yearns more than even for outward peace. 316 00:28:11,540 --> 00:28:18,540 That's coming from a non-Christian Stoic philosopher who's recognizing that this peace Rome's bragging about, 317 00:28:18,540 --> 00:28:20,540 it's not really that peaceful. 318 00:28:20,540 --> 00:28:22,540 It's superficial. 319 00:28:22,540 --> 00:28:32,540 And in contrast to this superficial peace, the angel declares that there will be peace on earth for all those with whom God is pleased. 320 00:28:32,540 --> 00:28:41,540 And let me tell you folks, that just teaches us that we will never have true peace until we have peace with God. 321 00:28:41,540 --> 00:28:50,540 We will never have true peace until we have peace with God. 322 00:28:50,540 --> 00:28:53,540 I mean, you look at our lives today and I think we're a lot like Rome, 323 00:28:53,540 --> 00:28:58,540 because we can have all manner of superficial peace. 324 00:28:58,540 --> 00:29:00,540 And most of the time our peace is based on what? 325 00:29:00,540 --> 00:29:01,540 Church, give me one guess. 326 00:29:01,540 --> 00:29:04,540 What's our peace based on? 327 00:29:04,540 --> 00:29:07,540 Our circumstances, right? 328 00:29:07,540 --> 00:29:10,540 That's entirely what we base our peace on. 329 00:29:10,540 --> 00:29:13,540 It's our circumstance and what's going on in life at the time. 330 00:29:13,540 --> 00:29:14,540 And so here's what happens. 331 00:29:14,540 --> 00:29:22,540 We say, hey, I'll have peace as long as I have this amount of money in my bank account. 332 00:29:22,540 --> 00:29:24,540 That gives me peace. 333 00:29:24,540 --> 00:29:27,540 But then what happens when that number drops below? 334 00:29:27,540 --> 00:29:30,540 All of a sudden you're not so peaceful anymore, are you? 335 00:29:30,540 --> 00:29:33,540 All of a sudden you're getting anxious and worried. 336 00:29:33,540 --> 00:29:41,540 Or we'll say, I have peace as long as when we get together as a family and we have our family get together at Christmas, 337 00:29:41,540 --> 00:29:44,540 we can make it through it without one argument. 338 00:29:44,540 --> 00:29:47,540 My family has not yet been able to do that, but there's still hope. 339 00:29:47,540 --> 00:29:49,540 There's still time. 340 00:29:49,540 --> 00:29:52,540 But we say if there is an argument, well, then we didn't actually have peace. 341 00:29:52,540 --> 00:29:53,540 Why? 342 00:29:53,540 --> 00:29:55,540 Because of this circumstance that happened. 343 00:29:55,540 --> 00:29:59,540 Or if there's no drama or difficulty in our lives, we say, hey, I have peace. 344 00:29:59,540 --> 00:30:00,540 Why do you have peace? 345 00:30:00,540 --> 00:30:02,540 Because everything's going good right now. 346 00:30:02,540 --> 00:30:04,540 Everything's smooth. 347 00:30:04,540 --> 00:30:05,540 You know, there's no drama. 348 00:30:05,540 --> 00:30:06,540 There's no difficulty. 349 00:30:06,540 --> 00:30:07,540 Life is pretty good. 350 00:30:07,540 --> 00:30:13,540 And what happens, something goes wrong and you get anxious again. 351 00:30:13,540 --> 00:30:15,540 And you get fearful. 352 00:30:15,540 --> 00:30:17,540 And you get worried. 353 00:30:17,540 --> 00:30:19,540 And all of your peace goes. 354 00:30:19,540 --> 00:30:30,540 And so what that tells me is that we are basing our peace on our circumstances rather than grounding our peace in Christ. 355 00:30:30,540 --> 00:30:36,540 I want you to understand this morning, church, that Jesus did not come to give us a superficial peace like Rome. 356 00:30:36,540 --> 00:30:45,540 He came to give us a true and lasting peace that surpasses understanding, the Bible says. 357 00:30:45,540 --> 00:30:55,540 It means that Christians can have a true and meaningful peace in any and every circumstance that would typically cause the world to become fearful and anxious. 358 00:30:55,540 --> 00:30:57,540 And I've seen this personally myself. 359 00:30:57,540 --> 00:30:59,540 I mean, I've witnessed it. 360 00:30:59,540 --> 00:31:03,540 I witnessed it a multiple times this past year. 361 00:31:03,540 --> 00:31:05,540 And it's so encouraging when you see this. 362 00:31:05,540 --> 00:31:08,540 I remember talking with Michael Stevenson this past year. 363 00:31:08,540 --> 00:31:18,540 He was going through a difficult situation where his boss didn't really like him and he thought his boss was trying to get rid of him at work and looking for a reason to fire him. 364 00:31:18,540 --> 00:31:20,540 And so he thought he was about to lose his job. 365 00:31:20,540 --> 00:31:23,540 And so he started looking for another job, another opportunities. 366 00:31:23,540 --> 00:31:28,540 And I remember talking with him at the time and I went to have lunch with him. 367 00:31:28,540 --> 00:31:30,540 I said, Michael, just be honest with me, man. 368 00:31:30,540 --> 00:31:35,540 Like, are you not worried about losing your job? 369 00:31:35,540 --> 00:31:38,540 Are you not concerned about it at all? 370 00:31:38,540 --> 00:31:45,540 And in typical Michael peaceful fashion, he said, no, I've prayed about it and I'm at peace. 371 00:31:45,540 --> 00:31:52,540 I'm trusting that the Lord will provide and he will put me wherever I need to be, whether that's here or whether that's somewhere else. 372 00:31:52,540 --> 00:31:55,540 I don't know, but I'm trusting that God is going to provide. 373 00:31:55,540 --> 00:31:57,540 So I'm not worried about it at all. 374 00:31:57,540 --> 00:32:11,540 Now that was in the context of having multiple kids to provide for, a wife to provide for, a house that has a mortgage, cars to pay for, schools and college and everything else. 375 00:32:11,540 --> 00:32:13,540 That sounds real nice. 376 00:32:13,540 --> 00:32:18,540 And then you take in the context and you go, how can a person have peace when so much is on the line? 377 00:32:18,540 --> 00:32:33,540 And it's because his peace is not based on those circumstances or situations. His peace is rooted and grounded in Christ and knowing that God is going to lead him, guide him and direct him wherever he needs to go. 378 00:32:33,540 --> 00:32:36,540 And I think we've all personally witnessed this and Don Cruz this past year. 379 00:32:36,540 --> 00:32:38,540 Have we not? 380 00:32:38,540 --> 00:32:47,540 I mean, I've told you many times before I cannot imagine going through what Brother Don has gone through this entire past year. 381 00:32:47,540 --> 00:32:58,540 I mean, being with Jan day and night, every single day and night as her dementia slowly took more and more of her away from him. 382 00:32:58,540 --> 00:33:01,540 And he was right by her side. 383 00:33:01,540 --> 00:33:14,540 And I remember shortly after Jan passed, I went to visit Don at his house and I said, Don, I know this might seem like a silly question, but how are you doing right now? 384 00:33:14,540 --> 00:33:17,540 What are you feeling in this moment? 385 00:33:17,540 --> 00:33:24,540 And Don said to me, well, I'm sad she's gone, but I'm at peace. 386 00:33:24,540 --> 00:33:31,540 And I wouldn't wish her back now for anything else in the world. 387 00:33:31,540 --> 00:33:40,540 And ever since she has passed and we have seen Don, has he not had an air of peace about him? 388 00:33:40,540 --> 00:33:45,540 Does he not just walk around with that peaceful demeanor? 389 00:33:45,540 --> 00:33:51,540 Folks, I want to tell you something that this cannot be attributed to age or wisdom. 390 00:33:51,540 --> 00:34:03,540 When we see peace from Michael and Don and others in these types of trying circumstances, this is a peace that can only be attributed to having peace with God. 391 00:34:03,540 --> 00:34:10,540 And it is clear evidence when someone is able to have that peace that this is a person with whom God is pleased. 392 00:34:10,540 --> 00:34:21,540 You see, when you read those words of peace on earth among all those with whom God is pleased, that shouldn't tell you, well, I've got to go do something to make God pleased with me. 393 00:34:21,540 --> 00:34:25,540 I've got to make sure I'm in church enough. I've got to make sure I'm reading my Bible enough. 394 00:34:25,540 --> 00:34:27,540 I've got to make sure I give money to the homeless. 395 00:34:27,540 --> 00:34:31,540 I've got to make sure I participate in these events and serve here and volunteer here. 396 00:34:31,540 --> 00:34:36,540 If God is going to be pleased with me, I've got to go and do something in order to achieve it. 397 00:34:36,540 --> 00:34:41,540 And the whole point that this is saying here is actually it has nothing to do with what you're going to do. 398 00:34:41,540 --> 00:34:44,540 It has everything to do with what Jesus came to do. 399 00:34:44,540 --> 00:34:47,540 God is not going to be pleased with you based on your performance. 400 00:34:47,540 --> 00:34:59,540 God's going to be pleased with you based on Jesus's performance by turning away from yourself and trusting in Jesus Christ that his life was sufficient to please the Father. 401 00:34:59,540 --> 00:35:07,540 That his resurrection was true. That he is ascended on high to today. 402 00:35:07,540 --> 00:35:14,540 And if you have all your hope and trust in Jesus, then God is pleased with you. 403 00:35:14,540 --> 00:35:20,540 So it has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with Jesus. 404 00:35:20,540 --> 00:35:26,540 And the good news for you this morning is that this peace can be yours today. 405 00:35:26,540 --> 00:35:29,540 And I know that sounds like a churchy thing to say. I'm admitting it. 406 00:35:29,540 --> 00:35:33,540 Sounds like a very preacher thing to say on a Sunday morning for a Christmas sermon. 407 00:35:33,540 --> 00:35:42,540 But it is absolutely true that this peace can be yours today because this is the peace that God offers us in Christ. 408 00:35:42,540 --> 00:35:46,540 This is the peace that Jesus himself even talked about in John 14, 27. 409 00:35:46,540 --> 00:35:50,540 He says, peace I leave with you. 410 00:35:50,540 --> 00:35:52,540 In my peace I give to you. 411 00:35:52,540 --> 00:35:58,540 Notice these words, church, not as the world gives do I give to you. 412 00:35:58,540 --> 00:36:01,540 So my peace is not going to be based on your circumstances. 413 00:36:01,540 --> 00:36:04,540 It's not going to be based on whatever is going on in your life at the time. 414 00:36:04,540 --> 00:36:07,540 I'm giving peace in a different way. 415 00:36:07,540 --> 00:36:10,540 And so let not your hearts be troubled. Neither let them be afraid. 416 00:36:10,540 --> 00:36:18,540 He says in John 16, 33, I have said these things to you that in what? In me. 417 00:36:18,540 --> 00:36:25,540 Yeah, you see that? That you may have in me, you may have peace, not in your circumstances, 418 00:36:25,540 --> 00:36:30,540 not in your bank account, not in your job security, not in your relationship status. 419 00:36:30,540 --> 00:36:34,540 But in Christ you will have peace. 420 00:36:34,540 --> 00:36:41,540 In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. 421 00:36:41,540 --> 00:36:43,540 And that's it, church. Do you see what I'm talking about? 422 00:36:43,540 --> 00:36:50,540 We can hope in the good news of Jesus because there is no catch with Christ. 423 00:36:50,540 --> 00:36:55,540 This is not the the carrot held out in front of the donkey saying, oh, you're almost there. 424 00:36:55,540 --> 00:36:58,540 You're just a little bit closer. You're going to get that carrot. 425 00:36:58,540 --> 00:37:02,540 Now this is good news saying Jesus is offering you salvation. 426 00:37:02,540 --> 00:37:04,540 He is offering you eternal life. 427 00:37:04,540 --> 00:37:07,540 He is offering you hope. He is offering you peace. 428 00:37:07,540 --> 00:37:09,540 And there is no catch. 429 00:37:09,540 --> 00:37:13,540 The only stipulation is you have to stop trusting in yourself. 430 00:37:13,540 --> 00:37:16,540 You have to stop trusting in your good works. 431 00:37:16,540 --> 00:37:20,540 You have to stop trying to earn your way into God's favor. 432 00:37:20,540 --> 00:37:23,540 And you have to say, I'm putting everything I have in Christ. 433 00:37:23,540 --> 00:37:28,540 All of my hope, all of my trust, all of my faith is in Jesus. 434 00:37:28,540 --> 00:37:33,540 His life was enough. His death was enough. His resurrection is true. 435 00:37:33,540 --> 00:37:37,540 And he is coming back. All of my hope is in that alone. 436 00:37:37,540 --> 00:37:40,540 This can be yours today. 437 00:37:40,540 --> 00:37:47,540 And so what I want us to do this Christmas and every day after we should be praising God for the Savior, 438 00:37:47,540 --> 00:37:54,540 He sent for us to live the life that we were required to live but couldn't live 439 00:37:54,540 --> 00:37:59,540 and to die the death that every single person deserved to die 440 00:37:59,540 --> 00:38:04,540 so that through faith in Him we can live with God and enjoy Him forever. 441 00:38:04,540 --> 00:38:07,540 Amen. Let's pray.