Text:\u00a0 Luke 2: 8-14<\/p>\n
Sometimes we don\u2019t think of it till later.\u00a0 At first, it might not occur to us.\u00a0 My dad wasn\u2019t big on saying I love you.\u00a0 In fact, the only time I can remember is right before he died.\u00a0 My dad showed you his love. \u00a0He did stuff.\u00a0 He got down on the cold garage floor and fixed your car in the middle of winter.\u00a0 On one occasion, the brakes on my car all but failed.\u00a0 I called my dad.\u00a0 He made me take his car and drove mine home through New York city in the middle of the night.\u00a0 It was ok for him to take that risk, but not me.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t really think about it at the time, but now that my dad is gone, I do.\u00a0\u00a0 In those things, his love was there, if only I was paying attention.<\/p>\n
This is such a time.\u00a0 We come together to celebrate Christmas.\u00a0 For some of us it\u2019s the latest in a long line of Christmas celebrations. Some in big churches, others small like ours.\u00a0 But if God\u2019s Word is part of your celebration, then there is always this opportunity no matter what is going on in your life.\u00a0 For you to step back and know.<\/p>\n
How God Must Love You! \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are so many places we could look on this wonderful day.\u00a0 So many things to ponder as Mary did.\u00a0 So take the time this season.\u00a0 Go off by yourself away from your cell phone and computer.\u00a0 Read through the first two chapters of Luke\u2019s gospel.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be blessed.<\/p>\n But tonight I\u2019d like us to join the shepherds of Bethlehem out in those fields.\u00a0 Bethlehem was just miles away from the temple in Jerusalem. Perhaps these were the shepherds that kept the lambs for the annual Passover sacrifice.\u00a0 If they were, how amazing that would be.\u00a0 How amazing that the news of another Lamb, a lamb whose life would one day be given for us all, should come to these men who kept the Passover lambs.<\/p>\n Yet if they were, it didn\u2019t make their job any easier or their working conditions any better.\u00a0 They still lived out in the fields to make sure their sheep didn\u2019t become dinner for some predator.\u00a0 But ours is the God who brings down the proud and lifts up the humble.<\/p>\n It probably seemed like just another night.\u00a0 Shepherds huddled around a fire trying to keep warm.\u00a0 Maybe joking around to deal with the boredom.\u00a0 You sleep, I\u2019ll watch.<\/em>\u00a0 An ordinary night that suddenly became so much more.\u00a0 9<\/sup>An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified<\/span>.<\/p>\n In the Greek , it says they feared a great fear<\/em>.\u00a0 And certainly they were startled and frightened by the sudden display of God\u2019s glory.\u00a0 But there is something more to their fear. Maybe I can explain it this way.\u00a0 I attended a US military academy.\u00a0 Unless you\u2019ve lived under such a system, it\u2019s hard to imagine.\u00a0 The first year is like living under a microscope with the strictest of standards.\u00a0 Well there was this upperclassmen. Just his presence made you want to hide.\u00a0 You had this fear he was going to find something wrong.<\/p>\n This night a holy angel of God came among the shepherds- sinners like you and me.\u00a0 And for one terrible moment his presence made these men fearfully aware.\u00a0 Aware of what?\u00a0 A sad truth we try to excuse or ignore.\u00a0 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God<\/span>.<\/p>\n How welcome then and appropriate the angel\u2019s first words.\u00a0 Do not be afraid.<\/span>\u00a0 This glory is not about a fearful end to your life.\u00a0 Instead the angel says:\u00a0 Behold.<\/span>\u00a0 We might say.\u00a0 Pay attention now.\u00a0 This is big<\/em>.\u00a0 I bring you good news of great joy.<\/span>\u00a0 But not just for you shepherds.\u00a0 Not just for you people sitting here today.\u00a0 This is for all. 11 <\/sup>Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord<\/span>.\u00a0 God\u2019s people had waited a long time for that Today<\/span>.\u00a0 In a Garden called Eden that waiting began as two people yearning for hope heard a promise from God.\u00a0 And all through the ages God kept pointing his people to that day.\u00a0 And now the angel told them.\u00a0 Their waiting was over-today<\/span>.<\/p>\n In the town of David<\/span>.\u00a0 Every person raised in a Jewish home, knew where it would happen. In the town where King David was raised. \u00a0From\u00a0 little Bethlehem would come a king from the line of King David-a king like no other.<\/p>\n A Savior<\/span>.\u00a0 Some people get offended\u00a0 when you mention a Savior.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need to be saved!\u00a0 You don\u2019t.\u00a0 You die, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 Can you save yourself from that?\u00a0 Can you save yourself from the judgment we deserve?<\/p>\n Do you see why this is such good news?\u00a0 This Child is the One God sent to save, to rescue us dying sinners and give us hope. A Savior has been born to you<\/span>.\u00a0 And we know what it would take.\u00a0 Nails, spear shall pierce him through the cross he\u2019ll bear for me for you.<\/em>\u00a0 How God must love you!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n For what Child is this?\u00a0 He is Christ the Lord<\/span>.\u00a0 This Child born for you in Bethlehem is God in human flesh.\u00a0 He is God become your brother to do for you what you could not do for yourself.\u00a0 How God must love you!\u00a0 Look what he has done. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n And see the sign he gives<\/strong>.\u00a0 Think of these shepherds.\u00a0 The angel has just told them this awesome news.\u00a0 At long last, today, today, a Savior, God\u2019s anointed king who is the Lord.<\/p>\n This will be a sign for you<\/span>\u2026 Their ears perk up like the lambs they keep. \u00a0You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.<\/span>\u201d Huh?\u00a0\u00a0 a baby wrapped \u00a0in rags and lying in a feeding trough for animals. What kind of sign is that?\u00a0 It\u2019s hardly what they might have expected for so great a Child.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>But look again.\u00a0 This sign tells us something so special about God\u2019s love.\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Years ago, after Bible class an elderly man stood up.\u00a0 When he did, he suffered a humiliating accident on the carpet where he stood.\u00a0 But then something happened.\u00a0 Without hesitation another man got down on his hands and knees and cleaned up that disgusting mess.<\/p>\n Now think of the sign God gave.\u00a0 It did more than tell these shepherds that\u2019s the right baby.\u00a0 To see him wrapped in rags and lying in that manger told them something.\u00a0 This is the King of kings and Lord of lords.\u00a0 Through him all things were made. \u00a0And yet he has stooped down all this way for you. To save you.\u00a0 To make you God\u2019s child.\u00a0 \u00a0How God must love you.<\/strong><\/p>\n And here I want you think about something.\u00a0 This is a time for gifts.\u00a0 Hopefully not so many that you get slammed by next month\u2019s credit card bills.\u00a0 Well one thing I have noticed over the years is that some folks struggle, not with giving. They are very generous.\u00a0 No they struggle with receiving.\u00a0\u00a0 To give them a gift, makes them feel obligated that they somehow have to repay you. But that\u2019s not what a gift is all about. It\u2019s not meant to be repaid.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the same here.\u00a0 What God has given us in Jesus is not something we can repay to God.\u00a0 So don\u2019t try.\u00a0 Don\u2019t put that burden on yourself.\u00a0 It will steal your joy.\u00a0 No this is a gift to be celebrated and enjoyed.\u00a0 Oh yes, we can show our appreciation by the way we live.\u00a0 By loving God and those around us.\u00a0 But that comes naturally from a grateful heart \u2013 a heart that can look into that manger and say- How God must love me. <\/strong><\/p>\n But we can\u2019t repay God.\u00a0 The only thing we can do is thank him and praise him.\u00a0 And here the angels sure had the right idea.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 13 <\/sup>Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,<\/span> 14<\/sup>\u201cGlory to God in the highest,\u00a0<\/span>and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Years from then this child now grown would come and stand among his disciples.\u00a0 He was dead and now he stood there alive before them.\u00a0 What were the first words of him who conquered our sin and death?\u00a0 Peace be with you!<\/span>\u00a0 The same peace the angels sang about that night.\u00a0 The same peace that is yours in the Child born to Mary.\u00a0 How God must love you!\u00a0 <\/strong>There is only one thing left for us to do. <\/strong>What we will do one day in pure joy.\u00a0 \u00a0Join the song of heaven.\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text:\u00a0 Luke 2: 8-14 Sometimes we don\u2019t think of it till later.\u00a0 At first, it might not occur to us.\u00a0 My dad wasn\u2019t big on saying I love you.\u00a0 In fact, the only time I can remember is right before he died.\u00a0 My dad showed you his love. \u00a0He did stuff.\u00a0 He got down on the cold garage floor and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":397,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions\/397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>I.\u00a0 Look what He has done
\nII.\u00a0 See the sign he gives
\nIII.\u00a0 Join the song of heaven<\/p>\n