Latest / HBCWestminster / 12.22.19 Luke 2:1-20 Pastor Danny Gardner

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12.22.19 Luke 2:1-20 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  I'm going to read from Luke chapter 2, and the kids have done a great job reading portions of that as well. But if you guys want to turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 2, our text this morning will be the birth of Jesus Christ, verses 1 to 20. And it's really just where we left off from last week in our study of the Gospel of Luke, the first 20 verses. And if you're able to stand in honor of God's Word, I would ask you to do that. We'll read it and then pray and begin. Beginning in verse 1, it says, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus,
• 0:33
  that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. It all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths,
• 1:04
  and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you was born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, and this will be a sign for you.
• 1:34
  you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
• 2:02
  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told to them. Let's pray. God, we rejoice this morning in the birth of your son. And for everything that that birth represents,
• 2:31
  And Almighty God, we ask now that the music that we've heard with our ears today and then sung with our lips may through your grace also be grafted inwardly to our hearts, that our worship may bring forth in us the fruit of good living, to the honor and praise of your name. And God, as we open your word this morning, we pray that you would aid our understanding of who we are and why you came through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
• 3:02
  Amen. Thank you. You can be seated. My family spent last Sunday evening with my sister's family celebrating some birthdays. As we were there, my little niece, who is adorable and who was standing just a few minutes ago right down here, the entire time, I don't know if you guys noticed, but with her left hand the entire time while she's doing choreography with her right hand was trying to hold little Gabriel's hand. Did you guys notice that? Gabriel was just going with it like whatever.
• 3:34
  Holding hands. Last Sunday, I was sitting next to her, you know, and she is so, so, so sweet and funny and cute, you know. She was singing that song, I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. You guys remember that song from when you were kids or you probably taught it to your own kids. I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
• 3:58
  And I asked her, you know, I said, Hallie, how did you learn that song? Who taught that to you? And she said, well, Miss Dawn and Miss Jaira, who are her Sunday school teachers here at the church, taught me that song. And you guys may recall that there are some variations to that song. After you get the joy, joy, joy, joy down in your heart, right? Then you sing, I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in the depths of my heart.
• 4:19
  Right? Down in the depths of my heart. And then eventually once you get that, you sing something like, I've got the wonderful love of my precious Redeemer way down in the depths of my heart. Right? And you teach this to your kids. And obviously talking about the love of Jesus that he has for us. But she misunderstood the words that they were saying as they taught her that song. And so she was singing, I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
• 4:42
  And then her second variation, her adaptation on the theme was, I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in the dumps of my heart. Down in the dumps of my heart. And she kept singing that. You know, so obviously I joined in. I'm like, man, this is great. You know, what a song. Who taught that to you? Miss Dawn did. Miss Jira taught me, you know, and I thought it was so funny. Eventually that turned into.
• 5:11
  I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my dumpster. Down in my dumpster. You know, you can't watch a Christmas television show or a Christmas movie where they don't at some point try to define or redefine what is the true meaning of Christmas. At some point, they will use that phrase. And based on the Christmas movies I've seen this season, here is my best synopsis that I can draw.
• 5:41
  about what they value in terms of Christmas. There was one I watched not long ago about a man mistakenly kidnapped by Santa, then raised as a displaced giant among Santa's elves. If I had to boil that entire movie down, you guys, I think he spends his entire adult life trying to get people to believe in Santa for the sole purpose of providing what I'm going to call Christmas cheer flight fuel.
• 6:11
  For Santa's sleigh. That's the only thing I can figure out about the movie. What's the purpose of the whole thing? Santa's sleigh can't fly. And so we've got to try to get people to believe. One was about a disenfranchised reindeer. Teams up with a below average height dentist to assist Santa Claus with his exterior sleigh illumination. Another one about a young boy who accidentally wishes his family away. At first he's thrilled, but then while fighting off house burglars becomes sad.
• 6:45
  He wishes his family back, but then he secretly wishes they'd all go away again. And now we have at least three sequels that I know of. It's a Wonderful Life. I don't know about helping flightless angels get promoted. That's okay. White Christmas. Listen, there's nothing wrong with these movies. We watch them every year, you know. But if you had to figure out the point, what is the point of White Christmas? What message are they trying to convey? Helping the elderly with their retirement planning?
• 7:19
  I can't figure out any other point. There's a bunch of music. We all enjoy it. Christmas vacation, trying not to kill those whom you love the most. Christmas story, getting the presents you want, all the while surviving your childhood. And the list goes on. Those are my own synopsis, right? Not anybody else's. I don't think that's what it's about. But if the movie's got it wrong, then what is it about? Why do we do all of this? Why the choirs and the angels and the trees and everything else? Why do we do all of this every year?
• 7:51
  According to God's word, the true meaning of Christmas is found in our text this morning, where an angel in verse 10 says to these lowly shepherds, fear not, for behold, I bring you, and here's where he says, and this is the title for our sermon this morning, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. So he says, I'm here to proclaim good news to you. And what is that good news? It's found in verse 14. Here it is, the true meaning of Christmas.
• 8:20
  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased. Good news of great joy, because the birth of Christ brought first glory to God and also peace on earth. In other words, God has figured out how to deal with sin without killing all of us.
• 8:50
  Want to know what Christmas is really all about? Why is this good news? Because God figured out how to deal with sin. He retains His justice, His righteousness, His holiness. That is glory to God in the highest. But He also has figured out how to bring peace on earth. He has figured out how to deal with sin without exterminating humanity. And that's pretty good news. Amen? What better news is there than that?
• 9:21
  In fact, I think this good news is better news than any bad news I've ever received. This joy, I think, is better joy than any sadness or discouragement I've ever endured. It really is good news of great joy. Every Christmas season, I spend some time listening to Handel's Messiah. I love it. You guys, I think it is one of the greatest musical pieces of all time. I have
• 9:53
  A dream that eventually our choir will be able to sing the Hallelujah Chorus every year Carla shoots me down. But I'll try again this coming fall. I really do. I listen to it every year. If you listen to it from beginning to end, it takes about an hour and 45 minutes. I would actually recommend it.
• 10:18
  Just listen to it straight through. I would recommend even having the lyrics open on your phone or printing them out and listen to the lyrics as the choir sings about the darkness of mankind's heart, about the child who will make things new, about the universal praise that his forgiveness will evoke, about how that child will eventually be on heaven's throne forevermore. It is crazy to me that that handles Messiah as almost 300 years old. His weaving together kind of this
• 10:50
  Unbelievable tapestry of Old and New Testament scriptures and how he puts them all together in one fluid story. It's brilliant. It's unbelievable. At one point, the choir sings Isaiah 9 and verse 2, and our little choir right here just sang it. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, and they that dwell in the shadow of death, upon them the light has shone. After my little niece got done singing on Sunday about the dumpster of her heart,
• 11:21
  I texted Adam and Jaira. You know, Jaira is her Sunday school teacher. And I told them what she had learned in their Sunday school. And Jaira replied with this phrase. It was funny. She just replied, well, she said, sometimes we do have dumpster hearts. I said, yeah, you know what? You're right. You really are right. The question I have today is why? Why? How could that be true? Knowing what we know.
• 11:54
  Knowing what I know about the Savior and salvation, good news of great joy, glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth. What I know about the Savior and about His unbelievable offer of free forgiveness. Why would I ever have a dumpster heart? One pastor I heard said this, the longer I live, the more suspicious I become of grumpy Christians. The longer I live, the more suspicious I become.
• 12:26
  I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. The last five weeks of study have their culmination in this morning's text. All of chapter 1, all of the events that we've talked about in Zechariah and the angels and Mary and the virgin conception and all of that stuff, all of it, everything that we've longed for and looked forward to with great anticipation finds its fulfillment in the beginning of chapter 2. And I want us to notice first,
• 12:55
  The context of Jesus' birth. Look at the context. And this is verses 1 to 5. If you look at verse 1, it says, Now what Luke, the author of the gospel of Luke, is doing for us is kind of laying the groundwork. He's giving us a history lesson in the first five verses. And I love the historic detail. I've heard some people say that the Bible is not a history book and shouldn't be used that way.
• 13:22
  I've heard people say that we shouldn't or don't even need to study history. Just focus on the love of Jesus. Everything will work out. We're Christians. Just give me every Sunday morning what I need for Monday morning. I believe there is great value in understanding the historical context in which the most important events of our lives transpire. Now, if I were to tell you that not long ago I nearly punched a man, many of you may be startled.
• 13:53
  If I were to add that that man was a uniformed security guard, you might even be offended. If I were to add that Hallie and I were in the emergency room, she was pregnant with our youngest son, Chase, that her blood pressure was 200 over 110. She was blacking out, losing vision, having convulsions. And rather than admitting her into the emergency room, the hospital told her to wait in a hallway, in a chair for several hours.
• 14:26
  that that security guard just walked along and wanted to kick me out for no reason. I wasn't bothering anybody. I was standing next to Hallie. She holding my hand, wasn't even taking a chair. She couldn't see. She didn't know what was going on. We were honestly in fear that we were going to lose our youngest son. And the security guard walked along and said, sir, I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside. To which I replied, I am not going to do that.
• 14:58
  until she gets a room and she sees a doctor. I'm standing right here. And he said, sir, are you going to make this easy on me? And I said, no, I will not. And he said, sir, am I going to have to haul you out of here? At which point, and I hope all of you dads in the room would have done the same thing, at which point I looked from his eyes down to his belt, right? Because that's the only thing that matters on a security guard.
• 15:27
  I looked at his belt. I looked back up at his eyes and I said, you did not bring enough stuff. He left. He didn't come back. He left. How he got checked in, amen. You guys, the context matters, right? I wasn't just walking along punching security guards. That'd be inappropriate. But man, in that context, my attitude and what I do matters. It changes things. The context of a story not only matters, I think the context of the story is everything.
• 16:01
  And Luke provides the context of Christ's birth with such brilliance and brevity in five sentences. Many of us take a very long time to say very little, but the physician historian Luke had the ability to summarize entire worldviews in less than a hundred words. He gives the political...
• 16:24
  the social, geographical, even historical backdrop to Christ's birth. And so let's go through it. You notice in verse 1, in those days, it says, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus. Caesar Augustus was a Caesar actually named Gaius Octavius. We would remember him maybe in our world history class from high school as Octavian. He succeeded Julius Caesar upon Julius' murder by Cassius and Brutus.
• 16:54
  You may recall even Shakespeare's version called Julius Caesar, where Julius is betrayed by his two best friends, those who were loyal to him originally, and is murdered on March 15th. Remember this? 44 BC. Julius Caesar in the play goes to this kind of soothsayer, right? And says, what is coming for me? And the soothsayer famously says what words? Beware.
• 17:23
  The Ides of March. Beware the middle of March. Bad things will happen. And indeed, Julius Caesar was murdered on July 15th. Sorry, on March 15th. March 15th. Beware the Ides of March. Octavian is perhaps most famous for his ongoing battles with Mark Antony. Mark Antony was originally married to Octavian's sister.
• 17:48
  Octavian, the Caesar, and Mark Antony were brothers-in-law, but Mark Antony did not love Octavius' sister. Instead, he loved who? Cleopatra. Everybody remember? Cleopatra, this beautiful Egyptian woman. He was having multiple affairs with her, was unfaithful to Octavian's sister, eventually divorced her, and this caused this obvious rift in the family and a battle between
• 18:15
  The two, Octavian eventually won because Mark Antony and Cleopatra did what? They committed suicide, right? They killed themselves together. Octavian, this Caesar, Caesar Augustus, this guy famously claimed that he inherited a Rome of brick and that he turned it into a Rome of marble, okay? That was this guy. You say, well, why does that matter? Now, you may also remember from your high school world history class that the Roman Empire,
• 18:50
  stabilized and solidified trade, commerce, communication, education around the world. What was a relatively uncivilized society to that point, Rome kind of brought into the light. Octavian is the emperor who ushered in this worldwide peace, eventually known as Pax Romana, Roman peace, worldwide peace. And he made it, this guy.
• 19:18
  So that news could spread unaltered and uninhibited across that vast empire. The Lord used the Romans to produce a worldwide medium for the gospel to spread quickly and to a huge majority of the world's population. Without this Caesar, there are no missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul. Did you catch that? Without this guy, without his military, without his strength, without his roads.
• 19:47
  Without his easy commerce and free trade across this vast empire, there is no evangelizing the world. In fact, if Jesus had been born just a couple of hundred years before or a couple hundred years after, he lives and dies in relative obscurity. The gospel can never get out of Judea's borders. Caesar Augustus did that. Notice it continues, the Caesar issued,
• 20:18
  A decree, a decree for a census. Now, it was common for empires to take a regular census of its people to ensure they were getting their proper revenue in taxes, right? I want to know how many people I've got to make sure that I get enough taxes. You guys, the Roman government did it. The U.S. government still does it, right? Next year, 2020, we're coming up on a census year. And every 10 years, they count everybody in the empire. It's not just so they know how many people there are. It's so that they get enough taxes.
• 20:48
  Right? They want to know who should be paying their taxes. That's what they do. And this was no difference. Now, without the modern convenience of technology, the best method of counting everyone in the empire was to force them to return to their native towns so that they could be counted by family name. And you notice that's what happens. In verse 2, it says, this was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria and all went to be registered, each...
• 21:17
  to his own hometown. This causes kind of a forced journey to Jerusalem. It says in verse four, and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Now push pause there for just a minute. Imagine that you are Joseph. At this point, he has received news from Gabriel. It's not recorded in Luke, it's recorded in Matthew.
• 21:47
  He's received news from Gabriel saying, the baby that is inside of your future wife is of the Holy Spirit. Don't be afraid to take her as your wife. She is a righteous young lady.
• 21:59
  Joseph says, okay, I'm going to take her as my wife. And the baby that will be born to her is the Messiah, the anointed one from the Old Testament. This is the one who will bring salvation to his people. Now, if you're young Joseph, you grew up going to Hebrew school, you are very familiar with the Old Testament, very familiar. You have been looking forward to the Messiah. In fact, generations have been awaiting who will be the one, who will be the mother and father of this blessed birth. Oh, it's me? Okay.
• 22:30
  I live in Galilee. Four, five-day walk to Judea, to Bethlehem. I know enough of the Old Testament to say Micah 5.2 says that the Messiah will be born in this little town of Bethlehem. Lord, but I live in Galilee. How is this going to work? You know, it has been said that the devil is in the details. You've heard that phrase, the devil is in the details. False. The Lord is in the details.
• 23:03
  He reveals to this young man, Joseph, your baby will be born. He'll be born in Bethlehem. Joseph has got to be thinking, how are you going to swing that? Right? I don't even live there. How are you going to swing that? And eventually there's this decree that's issued that says, hey, you got to go back to Bethlehem. Oh, the Lord really does work those things out. You guys know I'm a high school baseball coach. I love baseball. I love coaching baseball. In fact, we were rejoicing yesterday.
• 23:31
  had kind of a little baseball party for the last summer season. The boys did well and earned some awards and whatever. All of those awards were finally given, and we actually had the party here at the church. It was in the fellowship hall yesterday while the choir was singing in here. We were all in there. Twenty or so families represented and came, and many of them first time in our church, some of them even first time in a church. We rejoice. Pray that the Lord would use that to spread the gospel.
• 23:58
  There's this phrase that we use among the coaching staff where it feels like, we use this phrase, it feels like the boys are pressing. They're pressing. And what we mean by that is they're nervous. They're anxious. They feel like the other team maybe is better than them. They're intimidated. Maybe they got a pitcher up there who just throws gas, right? And we know, I mean, the boys are up there thinking, there's no way I can stick that ball. There's no way. And so they press. Sometimes it's because they're down by a couple of runs late in the game.
• 24:27
  They feel like we got to do something above and beyond in order to overcome and win. The problem with pressing is that they become so consumed with trying to do more than they are able that they now, because of that anxiety, can't even accomplish what they are able to do. Trying to do more than they are able to accomplish, they actually end up doing less than they are able to accomplish.
• 24:55
  And can I tell you, the same thing happens in the Christian life. We press. When anxiety slips into our hearts, we press. We get nervous, we get anxious, and we try to do more than we are able to accomplish. And when we do more than that, when we try for more than that, we actually accomplish less. I would tell you, church, stop pressing. If you're in that mode, anxiety, you're not sure what's going to happen in your life, stop pressing. My pastor, my senior pastor used to say,
• 25:27
  Where God guides, He provides. Where God guides, He provides. And it's just a very simple statement to remind us that if the Lord says, your baby will be born in Bethlehem, He will work out the details. You don't have to worry about it. He will work out the details on your behalf. Amen. Notice in verse 6, it continues. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths.
• 25:58
  and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. Now, whether this inn is referring to an actual inn or just somebody's house is difficult to tell. Bethlehem was really a sleepy little sheep town in the middle of Judea. It was located maybe five miles to the south of its much bigger and busier brother, Jerusalem. There was no reason for anyone who didn't live in Bethlehem to ever go to Bethlehem. There's no reason.
• 26:30
  which means that there were probably no inns in Bethlehem, no holiday inn, no Motel 6. I mean, there was just no reason to have that. More than likely, what the citizens of Bethlehem did was to offer their upper rooms, the room above their four-room house, the room above that where Jesus eventually would celebrate communion and institute the Lord's Supper.
• 26:56
  But family members would offer these extended family members from Galilee their upper rooms. And when Joseph and Mary showed up, one of two things happened. Either there really was no room for them, all of those upper rooms were full, or I actually think more likely, when this says in verse 7, that there was no place for them. You see that?
• 27:23
  There was no place for them. The assumption we always make is we're full, we're full, we're full, we're full. It could have been. What also could have been was that all of these extended family members heard about this illegitimate conception. There's no room for you here, right? I mean, one of them maybe with a little more tender heart says, you can go out back. We've got a stable. You can have the baby there, but you're not coming in here.
• 27:50
  We've heard the cousins and aunts and uncles. We know what you're claiming. This is an illegitimate child. You will not have that baby here. Either way, whatever of those two options, there was no room for Jesus. You know, Jesus has been looking for room ever since. Ever since, checking our hearts to see if we would have him. Find in verse 7, very simply stated, and she gave birth.
• 28:19
  Luke records the birth of Jesus, the entire incarnation, in just four words, and she gave birth. The most anticipated event in history is detailed by Luke with this plain language, very little fanfare. The most remarkable event in history was covered as if it were unremarkable. And although the conception of the baby was supernatural, the delivery of the baby was entirely normal.
• 28:48
  In fact, it's stunning to me how unstunning it is. And she gave birth. Well, there's that historical context. Now we're caught up to speed. We know what's going on in the world. We know how God orchestrates and uses even emperors and empires to bring about his will and his glory. And so now we have Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus in Bethlehem in a manger. Let's look second at the announcement. The announcement.
• 29:17
  Notice in verse 8 that the announcement is made to shepherds. It says in verse 8, in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. Now, why is that a big deal? It's a big deal because shepherds were the worst. They were the worst. They were the lowest working class in that society. I don't know what you'd call them today.
• 29:38
  But they were the bottom rung, okay? The least respected. They were considered unskilled, uneducated. In fact, because their flocks required constant maintenance, right? You never get a day off as a shepherd. They could not observe the man-made, not God-instituted, but man-instituted laws surrounding the Sabbath. They had to work on the Sabbath. It was never God's intention for them to let their sheep die.
• 30:09
  Okay, but these Pharisees, you remember, the Pharisees had come in and they'd written all of these crazy laws expanding the Sabbath to include things that God never intended. And so, from the people's point of view, these shepherds were Sabbath law breakers. In fact, they were so ill-respected that shepherds couldn't even testify in court. They weren't allowed to bear witness to crimes. They weren't allowed. Keep out of here. They were the lowest of the low of the low.
• 30:40
  Now, we said before that the theme of the gospel of Luke is that the gospel is for all people, regardless of ethnicity and background and gender and even the severity and frequency of your sin. You cannot out-sin the forgiveness of God. You can't. We've said the gospel of Luke just makes a huge declaration, a proclamation. Jesus is for everyone. And what is proof of that?
• 31:07
  The angels could have showed up to the high priest. In fact, they probably should have. If Jesus had a press agent, his press agent should be fired, right? You don't show up to the shepherds. They're the worst. Show up to the high priest. Show up to the Sanhedrin. Show up to the king, King Herod, right? He needs to know there's a new player in town.
• 31:35
  This was a press release. It would have been handled very much differently, but not according to the economy of heaven. The angels show up to shepherds, the lowest of the low of the low of the low. And in fact, from this point forward, you see in the New Testament, God himself calling himself a shepherd. I'm a shepherd. I care for my people. I never take a day off. I don't care what anybody else thinks about me.
• 32:05
  I do it differently than the world would. I'm the good shepherd. They show up to the shepherds, and that's a little bit unusual. Notice, second, the announcement was made by angels. Continue in verse 9. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. Anybody else have Linus' voice in your head right now? And they were sore afraid.
• 32:32
  And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for who? All the people. All the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. A Savior will be born. And although Christ came for many reasons, many reasons. He even said, I came to testify to the truth. I came to give abundant life. I came to serve and not to be served.
• 33:03
  I came to give the light. Although he came for many reasons, he came first and foremost to seek and to save the lost. He came as a savior. Verse 12 says, and this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host. I liked how the kids read it this morning of the armies of God. The armies of God show up, right?
• 33:34
  And these soldiers are also, by the way, the choir. A multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. This is the glorious message of the gospel. An entire heavenly angelic choir appears. Apparently the best way to spread Christmas cheer.
• 34:04
  really is singing loud for all to hear. Glory to God. You know, if God had not chosen to save us, if he had elected instead to exterminate us all for our sin, the angels still would have sung glory to God. That still would have been glory to God. His righteousness, his exacting justice and punishment still brings glory to God. If he had exterminated all of us and just hit the reset button on earth.
• 34:41
  They still would have sung glory to God, but by sending and sacrificing his own son and condemning him for our sin, the angels can also sing and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. This announcement is made by the angels and notice it results in praise and worship. Verse 15, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.
• 35:10
  which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned and noticed this last phrase, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told to them.
• 35:39
  Upon verifying that what the angels had said was true, I think the shepherds became some of the very first evangelists. They told anyone that would listen to the incredible experience they had shared. Their hopes that the Savior would come had been fulfilled and that hope resulted in praise. In fact, I think that hope always results in praise. You know, church, the true meaning of Christmas can be easily found.
• 36:13
  It's better than Santa's sleigh and Christmas spirit. It's better than elves and reindeer. It's definitely better than grouchy green hooves. The true meaning of Christmas is good news of great joy. And because of that, because there is glory to God and peace on earth, there do not have to be any dumpster hearts in light of the gospel. Amen? I'm going to close with just reading.
• 36:42
  And the kids did a great job singing a portion for unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given. But I'm going to close with reading the words from that Hallelujah Chorus. Just listen to how Jesus' birth is really the dumpster heart cure. It says, Hallelujah. It means praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah.
• 37:11
  The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever. King of kings forever and ever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And Lord of lords forever and ever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, we thank you. Lord Jesus, we thank you.
• 37:44
  for coming. God, we thank you for setting aside the glory that you had enjoyed from eternity past. We thank you for setting aside even the use of your power and omniscience for a time to become like us in every way but without sin. We thank you for suffering like we do. We thank you for being tempted like we are. And God, we thank you that where we have failed, you have victory.
• 38:15
  that you never misstepped, that you never misspoke, God, that you never sinned. And so because of that, Jesus, you could be the propitiation for our sins, the real and honest forgiveness for us so that there is glory to God, our sins paid for, justice achieved, but also peace on earth. God, thank you for the peace that your blood, Jesus, has brought.
• 38:47
  We are grateful people today, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen, church? Amen.