WEBVTT

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Luke chapter 2, verse 8. I suspect maybe everybody

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has read this scripture before. Maybe not. There

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may be some people listening online that have

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not ever read it before. Obviously, when it gets

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Christmas time, we often reflect on these passages

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that talk about the birth of Jesus and the events

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that surrounded the birth of Jesus. And we don't

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have a whole lot of details, but the details

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that we do have in regards to Jesus' birth are

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beautiful and worth considering and reading through

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all of the characters and thinking about those

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characters that were in the story, Mary and Joseph

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and Zechariah and Elizabeth, the wise men, the

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shepherds, Simeon and Anna. All the people that

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are included in these first couple of chapters

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in Luke and Matthew, it's good to look at all

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of these characters. There's kind of a common

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theme among these characters is that, for some

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of them at least, they're looking for the Messiah.

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But I think among all of them that I just mentioned,

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when they hear the news of the Messiah, they

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rejoice in that news. We're going to pray, and

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then we'll look at the text, and we'll talk for

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a minute. Father God, we come to you. We thank

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you for your good word. I pray that you just

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bless the reading of your word tonight. I pray

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that we would just not overcomplicate your word,

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not just in these scriptures, but ever, dear

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Lord, that God, your word, in some sense, may

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be tough, but in another sense, it's so simple,

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dear Lord. So I pray. that we would just see

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the simple and beautiful love of Jesus Christ

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in this season and every day hereafter. I pray

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that your Holy Spirit would be among us, free

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us from the worries and distractions of the world.

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I pray that you just help me to have the words

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to speak all for your glory. In Jesus' name I

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pray it. Amen. Now I'm going to get a little

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help tonight. We're going to get an old friend

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to... Read this passage of scripture for us tonight.

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I guess I really don't know what Christmas is

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all about. Isn't there anyone who knows what

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Christmas is all about? Sure, Charlie Brown.

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I can tell you what Christmas is all about. Lights,

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please. And there were in the same country shepherds,

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abiding in the field, keeping watch over their

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flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord

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came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone

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round about them. And they were sore afraid,

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and the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold,

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I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall

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be to all people. For unto you is born this day

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in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ

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the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you.

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Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,

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lying in the manger. And suddenly there was with

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the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising

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God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest,

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and on earth peace, good will toward men. That's

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what Christmas is all about, right, Ron? Now,

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I suspect for most of y 'all, that's a classic.

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You probably, well, some of you might have grew

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up watching it as a kid when it first came out.

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I don't know. I don't want to date anybody too

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much. But I watch that every year. I don't know

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if kids these days watch that. I mean, when I

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was growing up, there was this staple of cartoons

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that came on every year. And, man, I was so excited

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to see them. And I don't know if kids still watch

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Charlie Brown. I don't know if it's a big event

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that comes on TV or not. I'm not sure. But it

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should. because that little cartoon, as fun as

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it is, and the old measly tree that they put

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up at the end, I believe it's that one scene

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that really makes the whole show, and it really

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brings everything back to the point of Christmas.

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Charles Schultz, the guy that did those Peanuts

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cartoons, he was a Christian guy, and to include

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that simple little one -minute clip that we watched.

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that really just sums up the importance of what

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Christmas is. And what Christmas is, is the announcement

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that Jesus Christ has come. That the Savior of

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the world has come. That the anointed one that

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was talked about in the Old Testament, we see

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that the Messiah was talked about. The Old Testament

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word is Mashiach, is the Old Testament word.

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And then in the New Testament in the Greek, that's

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translated into Christos. which means Messiah.

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That's where we get Christ from. And then in

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the Hebrew, it's Messiah. So some translations

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may say Jesus Christ or Jesus Messiah or the

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Messiah. All of those come from the original

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Hebrew word, which means the anointed one. And

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that's who Jesus Christ was, and that's what

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we see. in this passage that Linus just read

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for us. And a fun fact, you probably all know

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this. I mentioned it last year, and you probably

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knew it before that. But if you never noticed,

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go back and watch it. You'll notice that Linus

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drops his blanket when he says, fear not. He

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drops his blanket. That's a security blanket.

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He always has his blanket. Every time, in every

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episode, in every cartoon, Linus never drops

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his blanket but that one particular time. And

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that's a neat little Easter egg that was put

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in there that in that moment that he's talking

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about the coming of the Messiah, his security

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is not in his blanket. His security is in Jesus

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Christ. And what a spectacular announcement that

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that was for the shepherds that night, that God

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had appeared to the shepherds. I don't know why

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God appeared. to the shepherd. There's a lot

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of different opinions and thoughts as to why

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God appeared to the shepherds. I don't know.

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Maybe he appeared to them because they were the

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closest ones. It said they were in the same region.

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Maybe he said, okay, those folks are close. They

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can get there and start praising Jesus pretty

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quick. I'll call on them. Some have suggested,

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well, maybe these shepherds were raising the

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lambs that were going to be slaughtered for sacrifice,

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and this was symbolic. Well, that could be the

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case. I don't know. I'm not an expert. The Scripture

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doesn't say that, but maybe that's the case.

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Maybe he called on them because they were shepherds.

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Maybe he called on them because... That's who

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Jesus was going to be. Maybe they were Jesus'

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people in some sense. Maybe that was symbolic

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in foreshadowing that Jesus was going to be the

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good shepherd. Maybe he called on them simply

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because they were a humble people. That's kind

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of what I think. I don't know if that's why or

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not. But I know that the Scripture says this,

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that God resists the proud, but he gives grace

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to the humble. And maybe these were the people

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who were going to listen. And maybe that's why

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God appeared to them. And we certainly know throughout

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Scripture that there are plenty of people who

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hear the news of the Messiah and they don't rejoice.

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They don't go to seek Him out. There are people

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that see Jesus with their own eyes. They hear

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Him. They see the miracles all throughout Scripture.

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And yet they still fail to humble themselves

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before the Messiah. So maybe that's why God went

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to the shepherds. Maybe that's who God goes to

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today. Now, I believe God gives everybody an

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opportunity, but the proud are those who resist.

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What about you and I? We're in this room tonight.

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We just heard the scripture read, the announcement

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of the birth of the Savior of the world, that

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in the middle of the night, these shepherds who

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would have been nothing special, they would have

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just been... Working men, they were hanging out

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one night. They were nearby. The angel comes

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and says, hey, by the way, I've got good news

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for you. I bring you good tidings of great joy.

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The Savior, who is Christ the Lord, has been

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born to you this day. That's a pretty good news

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to give. And when the shepherds heard this news,

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and they are surrounded by a heavenly host of

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angels, upon hearing the news, what did they

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do? they go to seek out the Savior. They go to

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look for him and they find him and they rejoice

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and they tell everybody else what has taken place,

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what the angels has revealed to them. And they

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leave rejoicing and praising in all that had

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taken place. And really that's the message of

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Jesus today. That's the message of Christianity

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today. That's the message that, We need to hear.

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That's the message that our world needs to hear.

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That's the message that those who are listening

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online need to hear. That there is no greater

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message than that message the angels brought

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that day. That it is good news of great joy.

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That we are sinners and we are in big trouble.

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We are destined to go to hell. We are destined

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to be doomed. But there's good news. Jesus Christ

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saw us in our sins, and he came to this nasty

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old dirty earth to be crucified, to be rejected,

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to be mocked, and he did it because he loved

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us. And that's good news. And that should bring

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great joy in our life. If we follow Jesus, yeah,

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life is tough. Everybody in here knows life is

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tough. There's good seasons in life and there

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are hard seasons in life and there is death and

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there is sickness and there's aggravations with

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spouses and trouble with family and financial

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hardships and stresses at work. And I mean, this

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is what life is. And you know it. It doesn't

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matter if you're old or young. Life is tough.

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But good news, Jesus has come to bring joy to

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you. that there's something better than what

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this life has to offer us. Ultimately, one day

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we'll be in the presence of the Lord, but even

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as we walk through the struggles here, we can

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still have great joy in knowing Jesus Christ

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loves us, that he came and that he died for us.

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And so that's the good news that the angels brought.

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It's still good news for us today. The invitation

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that the shepherds had to go before the king

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to seek him out, to find him, is still there

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today. Now, we're not looking for Jesus today

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in a manger. He's not in a manger today. He's

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seated at the right hand of God. But the invitation

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is still there. The invitation is still there.

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It may not be a multitude of heavenly hosts among

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us in this room today, at least not that we can

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see. Maybe they're here. I don't know. But we

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do have the Word of God. We have their story.

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And we have all of Scripture that's an invitation

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for us to know there's good news. The Messiah

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has come. The Son of God has come. Will you seek

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Him out? Will you look for Him today? Will you

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humble yourself before Him today? Will you be

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one of the humble ones who finds the grace of

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God? Or will you be one of the proud who resisted?

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The invitation is there. Praise the Lord, the

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shepherds went. They went and they found the

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Messiah and they rejoiced in the good news. I

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hope that we will all do the same today and every

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day after. Let's pray. God, we come to you. We

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thank you for this simple truth that we see in

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Scripture, dear Lord. Just the simple fact that

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Jesus has come. And you call us to rejoice in

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that. The shepherds did it. So many others did

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it in these stories of the birth of Jesus Christ.

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And I pray, dear Lord, that we would all be those

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who would do that tonight. I pray that if there

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are any that do not know Jesus Christ, maybe

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tonight they realize it's the night that they

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need to put their faith and trust in him. I pray

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that they would just repent, dear Lord, and ask

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you to forgive them, that they would humble themselves,

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that they would seek him, dear Lord. God, I pray

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that we would not hear the good news, the good

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tidings of great joy, and just turn away from

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that, dear Lord. What a sad story this would

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have been if the shepherds would have heard that

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good news and went back to tending their sheep.

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But instead, dear Lord, they looked for a better

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shepherd. So I pray tonight, God, that we would

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be the ones who would seek the good shepherd,

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that upon reading your word, upon hearing the

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truth of it, that we would be those who seek

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Jesus Christ, who trust in Him, and who rejoice

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in Him. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

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Amen.