I love the Christmas Story.
The Story of How God stepped into our world of human existence...to bring transformational change so that we might step out of our story of no hope into His story…
A Story of Hope, of Love, Joy, and Peace.
Think about who the message was first announced to:
Luke 2:8-17 (NKJV)
"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 “FOR THERE IS BORN TO YOU THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. 12 "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOODWILL TOWARD MEN!"
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, THEY MADE WIDELY KNOWN THE SAYING WHICH WAS TOLD THEM CONCERNING THE CHILD.
The sheep that grazed in these fields in Bethlehem belonged to the High Priest.
Every lamb was declared by the priests to be unblemished and they were separated to be SACRIFICED in the Temple in Jerusalem during PASSOVER.
In the middle of these fields was a structure known as the MIGDAL EDER or the “Tower of the Flock.” This tower was used by the priests who oversaw the shepherds.
By remaining in the Tower the priests were able to keep them-selves from becoming unclean.
During lambing season the sheep were brought to the tower from the fields, in the lower level was the birthing room for sacrificial lambs. Being under special rabbinical care, these priests would strictly maintain a ceremonially clean birthing place.
Once a lamb was born, the priests would place the lamb in the hewn depression of a limestone rock known as "the manger" and "wrap each newborn lamb in SWADDLING CLOTHS," preventing it from thrashing about and harming itself so it could be inspected for the quality of being "without spot or blemish" (The Jewish oral tradition & Alfred Edersheim, the Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah).
The Shepherds live in a contaminated world in the fields as they were constantly walking about in excrement and touching dead things, and both activities left them in a state of ritual impurity according to law, they were considered unclean.
What is interesting,
it would be these unclean, disenfranchised shepherds of Bethlehem that would be the first ones God would ask to visit his Son.
The first one’s to HEAR AND BE A WITNESS of Good news were the lowest class in society… The neighbor down the street you wish lived in another county.
GOD VALUES PEOPLE.
Ie. PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD
John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
When we begin the value people as God does we begin to see people thru God’s eyes - we begin to look at them with love and Grace.
When Jesus was preaching in Judea, Luke 15:1-7, the establishment, the Pharisees and Sadducee’s “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
They had no concern for the lost…
But Jesus is concerned.
Jesus hung out with people who are different…. When Jesus ministered to people, He modeled valuing people.
Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Here is one lesson:
EVERY PERSON DESERVES A PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL AT HIS OR HER LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING.
Luke 19:10 (NKJV) for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
WE ARE TO LOOK AT PEOPLE THROUGH THE EYES OF GOD...
11 “FOR THERE IS BORN TO YOU THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD.
SAVIOR:
"Jesus" "Iesous". Jehovah our Savior.
Matthew 1:21 (NKJV) And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
-- J. Sidlow Baxter once wrote…
“Separate Christmas Day from Good Friday, and Christmas is doomed--doomed to decay into a merely sentimental or superstitious or sensuous "eat-drink-and-be-merry" festivity of December.
The Manger and the Cross,
The birth and the death,
must always be seen together,
if the real Christmas is to survive with all its profound inspirations; for "the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; and to give His life a ransom for many." Awake, My Heart. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 14.
His MISSION was to SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST, to SET THE SINNER FREE – to TRANSFORM His or Her life…
There are at least Four Aspects of Sin He Saves us From
1. Jesus saves us from the NATURE of sin
Jesus saves us from our sinful nature by making us a new creation in God
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2. Jesus saves us from the POWER of sin.
HE FORGIVES US - RELEASES US FROM THE GRIP OF SIN
Sin enslaves you to your passions.
Jesus delivers us from the power of sin.
John 8:34-36 (NKJV)
34 Jesus answered them, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, whoever
commits sin is a slave of sin.
35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
3. Jesus saves us from the GUILT of sin.
HE ENABLES US TO FORGIVE OURSELVES
One of the most destructive consequences of sin is quilt.
It renders us incapable of love.
It torments us in our failures and keeps us bound in the past
Jesus saves us from
the guilt of sin Helps us to let it go.
Therefore: Here is a new rule of life
Romans 8:1 (NKJV) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
4. Jesus saves us from the eternal
consequences of sin.
The ultimate end of sin is death
Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Which side of this comma are you living today?
HE GIVES US A NEW DESTINATION: TO LIVE IN HIS VERY KINGDOM WITH HIM FOREVER.
THIS IS THE MESSAGE OF THE CHRISTMAS STORY: GOD BECAME MAN TO RESCUE FROM THE GRIP OF SIN TO BRING SALVATION - DELIVERANCE; to TRANSFER US INTO HIS KINGDOM OF LIGHT.
JOHN 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelt (literally Tabernacled) among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grave and truth.”
Parable of the Birds, By Louis Cassels
It was Christmas Eve and the man's wife and children were getting ready to go to church. But He wasn't going! And he said to wife; I simply can't understand what Christmas is all about.
It had been snowing all day and it was beginning to snow harder as the man's family rode-off without him to church. And he pulled up a chair and started to read the newspaper. A few minutes later there was a thudding sound at the kitchen window. When he went to see what it was he found a flock of birds out in the back yard.
They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter were trying to fly through the kitchen window. Well he was a good man; a kind man; so he tried to think of something he could do so the birds wouldn't freeze. So he put on his overcoat and boots and stomped out thru the deep snow thinking to himself; "The barn, that will give them a nice shelter". So he opened the barn door and turned on the lights; but the birds wouldn't go in.
So then he thought food will bring them in. So he tromped back to the house; got some bread crumbs and sprinkled a trail with them on into the barn.
But the birds ignored the bread crumbs and went right on flopping around helplessly in the snow.
So he started walking around and waving his arms, trying to shoo them into the barn, but they scattered in every direction except into the warm, lit barn. So the man thought to himself; "they find me a strange and terrifying creature and I can't seem to think of any way to let them know that they can trust me". And so puzzled and out done he thought about that fact for a little.
Then he thought, "If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes I could lead them to safety".
If only I could be a bird myself.....
Just then the church bells began to ring sending out the glad tidings of Christmas. That man stood silently for a minute and then sank down on his knees in the snow.
And he looked toward the sky and he whispered "now I understand! Now I see why you had to become man...to show us the way...to save us from the storm.
Luke 2:11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
How have you experienced Jesus today?
Philip Brooks wrote the Hymn we sing of Bethlehem:
Listen to the words of the last verse:
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Jesus wants to walk into your life and build a relationship with you and invite you into His Story of Grace.
Will you ask Him to come into your heart?
John 1:11-12 ESV
“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
Rev 3:20 (ESV),
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in...
—————————————--
There are people in your community who are hungry to experience God –
Who can you tell this story of Hope and Grace?
The Story of How God stepped into our world of human existence...to bring transformational change so that we might step out of our story of no hope into His story…
A Story of Hope, of Love, Joy, and Peace.
Think about who the message was first announced to:
Luke 2:8-17 (NKJV)
"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 “FOR THERE IS BORN TO YOU THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. 12 "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOODWILL TOWARD MEN!"
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, THEY MADE WIDELY KNOWN THE SAYING WHICH WAS TOLD THEM CONCERNING THE CHILD.
The sheep that grazed in these fields in Bethlehem belonged to the High Priest.
Every lamb was declared by the priests to be unblemished and they were separated to be SACRIFICED in the Temple in Jerusalem during PASSOVER.
In the middle of these fields was a structure known as the MIGDAL EDER or the “Tower of the Flock.” This tower was used by the priests who oversaw the shepherds.
By remaining in the Tower the priests were able to keep them-selves from becoming unclean.
During lambing season the sheep were brought to the tower from the fields, in the lower level was the birthing room for sacrificial lambs. Being under special rabbinical care, these priests would strictly maintain a ceremonially clean birthing place.
Once a lamb was born, the priests would place the lamb in the hewn depression of a limestone rock known as "the manger" and "wrap each newborn lamb in SWADDLING CLOTHS," preventing it from thrashing about and harming itself so it could be inspected for the quality of being "without spot or blemish" (The Jewish oral tradition & Alfred Edersheim, the Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah).
The Shepherds live in a contaminated world in the fields as they were constantly walking about in excrement and touching dead things, and both activities left them in a state of ritual impurity according to law, they were considered unclean.
What is interesting,
it would be these unclean, disenfranchised shepherds of Bethlehem that would be the first ones God would ask to visit his Son.
The first one’s to HEAR AND BE A WITNESS of Good news were the lowest class in society… The neighbor down the street you wish lived in another county.
GOD VALUES PEOPLE.
Ie. PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD
John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
When we begin the value people as God does we begin to see people thru God’s eyes - we begin to look at them with love and Grace.
When Jesus was preaching in Judea, Luke 15:1-7, the establishment, the Pharisees and Sadducee’s “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
They had no concern for the lost…
But Jesus is concerned.
Jesus hung out with people who are different…. When Jesus ministered to people, He modeled valuing people.
Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Here is one lesson:
EVERY PERSON DESERVES A PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL AT HIS OR HER LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING.
Luke 19:10 (NKJV) for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
WE ARE TO LOOK AT PEOPLE THROUGH THE EYES OF GOD...
11 “FOR THERE IS BORN TO YOU THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD.
SAVIOR:
"Jesus" "Iesous". Jehovah our Savior.
Matthew 1:21 (NKJV) And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
-- J. Sidlow Baxter once wrote…
“Separate Christmas Day from Good Friday, and Christmas is doomed--doomed to decay into a merely sentimental or superstitious or sensuous "eat-drink-and-be-merry" festivity of December.
The Manger and the Cross,
The birth and the death,
must always be seen together,
if the real Christmas is to survive with all its profound inspirations; for "the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; and to give His life a ransom for many." Awake, My Heart. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 14.
His MISSION was to SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST, to SET THE SINNER FREE – to TRANSFORM His or Her life…
There are at least Four Aspects of Sin He Saves us From
1. Jesus saves us from the NATURE of sin
Jesus saves us from our sinful nature by making us a new creation in God
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2. Jesus saves us from the POWER of sin.
HE FORGIVES US - RELEASES US FROM THE GRIP OF SIN
Sin enslaves you to your passions.
Jesus delivers us from the power of sin.
John 8:34-36 (NKJV)
34 Jesus answered them, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, whoever
commits sin is a slave of sin.
35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
3. Jesus saves us from the GUILT of sin.
HE ENABLES US TO FORGIVE OURSELVES
One of the most destructive consequences of sin is quilt.
It renders us incapable of love.
It torments us in our failures and keeps us bound in the past
Jesus saves us from
the guilt of sin Helps us to let it go.
Therefore: Here is a new rule of life
Romans 8:1 (NKJV) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
4. Jesus saves us from the eternal
consequences of sin.
The ultimate end of sin is death
Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Which side of this comma are you living today?
HE GIVES US A NEW DESTINATION: TO LIVE IN HIS VERY KINGDOM WITH HIM FOREVER.
THIS IS THE MESSAGE OF THE CHRISTMAS STORY: GOD BECAME MAN TO RESCUE FROM THE GRIP OF SIN TO BRING SALVATION - DELIVERANCE; to TRANSFER US INTO HIS KINGDOM OF LIGHT.
JOHN 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelt (literally Tabernacled) among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grave and truth.”
Parable of the Birds, By Louis Cassels
It was Christmas Eve and the man's wife and children were getting ready to go to church. But He wasn't going! And he said to wife; I simply can't understand what Christmas is all about.
It had been snowing all day and it was beginning to snow harder as the man's family rode-off without him to church. And he pulled up a chair and started to read the newspaper. A few minutes later there was a thudding sound at the kitchen window. When he went to see what it was he found a flock of birds out in the back yard.
They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter were trying to fly through the kitchen window. Well he was a good man; a kind man; so he tried to think of something he could do so the birds wouldn't freeze. So he put on his overcoat and boots and stomped out thru the deep snow thinking to himself; "The barn, that will give them a nice shelter". So he opened the barn door and turned on the lights; but the birds wouldn't go in.
So then he thought food will bring them in. So he tromped back to the house; got some bread crumbs and sprinkled a trail with them on into the barn.
But the birds ignored the bread crumbs and went right on flopping around helplessly in the snow.
So he started walking around and waving his arms, trying to shoo them into the barn, but they scattered in every direction except into the warm, lit barn. So the man thought to himself; "they find me a strange and terrifying creature and I can't seem to think of any way to let them know that they can trust me". And so puzzled and out done he thought about that fact for a little.
Then he thought, "If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes I could lead them to safety".
If only I could be a bird myself.....
Just then the church bells began to ring sending out the glad tidings of Christmas. That man stood silently for a minute and then sank down on his knees in the snow.
And he looked toward the sky and he whispered "now I understand! Now I see why you had to become man...to show us the way...to save us from the storm.
Luke 2:11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
How have you experienced Jesus today?
Philip Brooks wrote the Hymn we sing of Bethlehem:
Listen to the words of the last verse:
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Jesus wants to walk into your life and build a relationship with you and invite you into His Story of Grace.
Will you ask Him to come into your heart?
John 1:11-12 ESV
“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
Rev 3:20 (ESV),
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in...
—————————————--
There are people in your community who are hungry to experience God –
Who can you tell this story of Hope and Grace?
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