I was a little nervous about this sermon, but it seemed to be well received, let me know what you think!
Luke 2:8-26
"In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world
should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken
while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be
registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to
Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended
from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary,
to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were
there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to
her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a
manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
In that
region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over
their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and
the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But
the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you
good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a
sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth 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
heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” When the angels
had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
“Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place,
which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found
Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this,
they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who
heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured
all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had
been told them."
You are never going to believe what happened tonight!
A couple of my friends and I were shepherding just outside Bethlehem.
The
sheep had just bedded down for the night and We were just sitting in
the field, trading stories and keeping an eye out for predators like we
do every night. And all of a sudden there's this bright white light and
this Angel is standing right in front of us! It was seriously the
scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life. But then the angel
said, "do not be afraid." And the crazy thing was that I wasn't afraid
anymore, it's like it had just melted away. Then the angel started
telling us this story about how the Son of God, the Messiah was born in
the city of David and that we could find him wrapped in bands of cloth
and lying in a manger. And then there were all these other angels and
they were singing praise to God and then all of a sudden they were just
gone!
Well we all stood there shocked for a few minutes and
finally one of my friends turned to me and said, "did that just happen?"
And i knew deep down that it had and that what the angel said was
true. I was so excited to get back into the city and find this child.
It took us about a minute more before someone suggested we go see for
ourselves what the angels had told us and we all instantly started
walking. And as we walked in silence I couldn't help but start thinking
about everything that had just happened. I started to think about my
sheep and wonder if they would be alright while we were gone. And then I
started to wonder why the angel had come to us. I mean we're just a
bunch of shepherds, nobody ever invites us anywhere. We take care of other people's animals, we hang out in the field most every day and
night because most of us are pretty antisocial and we're all pretty
rough around the edges. And yet, the angel came to us, wow God must
really love us to share such amazing news with us lowly shepherds.
And
then The angel's words came crashing in and I just stopped in my
tracks. He said, "I am bringing you good news of great joy for all
people." This is not just good news for me and my friends but for
everyone! It' snot the kind of news that is good for one person but bad
for another. But it's good news for everyone. I don,t really know what
that means yet but I have the feeling that this good news is going to
change everything and I'm excited to find out.
So we're on our way to see this baby that is the messiah, the good news and great joy for all people. Wanna come with?
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