Bring The Good News Home
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Good morning!
As you can see, we swapped things around again this morning.
We are one week out from Christmas and already, we have seen God’s work in our lives as we have celebrated.
Any testimony from today.
Celebration of Baptism for Zayne and Eli.
Huge involvement from the church and the parents in our neighborhood at the Christmas party.
Zayne’s grandfather’s encouragement and admonishment after the Christmas Party.
This entire year has been a year of blessings for our body.
There is so much that God has done for us!
We have had shared testimony all year long of God’s work in our lives.
Today as we talk about the birth of Jesus in preparation for Christmas, it is my prayer that our hearts will be filled with joy, peace, hope, and love.
I love that over the last few years God has driven home for us the overarching theme of redemption.
From Creation until now, God has been redeeming and restoring His people through Jesus.
We were made perfect; we disobeyed and separated ourselves from God.
Adam and Eve literally hid from God.
We hid from God and ran our own way until we understood the truth of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit drew us to Himself.
When that happened, we began to understand the beauty, the mercy, the grace, the love of God that we did not deserve but were given.
This is why Christmas is special.
It’s not just that we get to gather with family; some don’t have that option.
It’s not just presents under the tree; some don’t have any.
It’s not about good food; some spend Christmas hungry.
Christmas is special because we are celebrating the best thing that has ever happened in history.
God came.
Emmanuel, Christ with us, is here.
I remember as a kid having trouble going to sleep on Christmas eve.
I know I’m not alone on that.
I was so excited to get up early the next morning and see what was under the tree.
Do y’all remember that?
After all, I have experienced of God, I can only imagine the joy and surprise that the Shepherds felt when the angels announced the arrival of the Messiah.
For a few thousand years, God’s people were waiting for the promised fulfillment.
The one that would crush the serpent’s head.
The Messiah.
The king of Isreal, in the line of the beloved King David.
For hundreds of years, there had been nothing from God but silence.
And then, bursting forth in the middle of the night, the proclamation that changed the world.
8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock.
9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:
11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!
Can you even imagine!?
Not just the sight of the angels; that had to be terrifying.
Can you imagine being the one that hears for the first time that the long-awaited and promised Messiah has come?
God has returned to His people!
Keep in mind that during this time, the Romans had conquered the known world, and the Israelites had a long history of being subdued by world superpowers.
In the midst of all of that, the angels show up and announce the birth of...
11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
Notice how Jesus was described by the angels.
A savior/deliverer - in Greek, it is Kyrios and in Hebrew, it would have meant Yahweh.
The Lord/Master of all - deliverer in Greek, and help, save, receive, be victorious in Hebrew.
All of these things are true, and looking back, we can see that.
But for Israel, think of the cultural connotations this would have rendered.
Finally, we are going to be delivered once and for all!
Do you see how much meaning this would have for these shepherds?
That anticipation that we felt as kids on Christmas eve pales in comparison to the longing that Israel experienced.
But what we can understand is the joy, peace, hope, and love that the birth of Jesus brought to the world.
For those of us that are followers of Jesus, we have experienced deliverance.
We know that Jesus is the son of God, our savior.
We know what it means to be victorious because Jesus is our victory.
So what do we do with that knowledge and experience?
We bring the good news home!
We bring the good news home!
For you, that might mean to your kids, your siblings and parents, or even your friends.
While we may not have angels appearing before us to proclaim the birth of Christ, we do have personal experiences with God.
We are celebrating, not because it is the time of year but because we know God personally.
The shepherds celebrated because of the news and because they found baby Jesus just like the angels said they would.
15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.
17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child,
18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.
They heard, saw, experienced, and shared, and all that heard it were amazed.
Imagine for a moment what it would be like to sit down with your loved ones and share with them or one another the amazing things God has done this year.
We all have those moments, don’t we?
When you go home from Christmas and see people you haven’t seen all year, they ask what has been going on or what you’ve been up to.
There’s your invitation to share what God has been doing in your life!
I can tell you that over the last few years, sharing the good news with my kids and family has been the highlight of Christmas.
But it hasn’t always been that way for me.
For a long time, my focus was on the gifts, the traditions, the plans, etc., and the actual reason we celebrate at all was lost in the background.
I worshiped at church and other designated times, but I kept God’s activity to myself for the most part.
God was doing amazing things, but I wasn’t telling many people about it.
Not because I didn’t want to, it just wasn’t on my mind because of my busyness.
I was reading a Spurgeon Christmas sermon this week and he was preaching out of a text that is not your typical Christmas text.
But, man, it spoke to me and is what led me down this path today.
Look at this passage with me in Mark.
2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.
3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain—
4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him.
7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!”
8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
9 “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.”
10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.
11 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside.
12 The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.”
13 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.
14 The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened.
15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
16 Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs.
17 Then they began to beg him to leave their region.
18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him.
19 Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”
20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.
You know, I really resonate with this guy.
Not in the being demon-possessed part.
In the desire to continue to be with Jesus.
In fact, all of us resonate with him.
We have had some incredible experiences with God, but rather than doing like the shepherds and telling everyone we meet; we choose to stay with Jesus.
We share here at church and at Life Groups and we stay in our little huddles, enjoying being comfy.
I have a sneaky suspension that God is not done speaking to us about this, but let’s not get ahead of Him.
We have collectively learned over the last two years that our story is one of redemption, and as we grow in faith, we become more like Jesus.
In his sermon, Spurgeon said it like this.
The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, Vol. III Going Home—A Christmas Sermon (No. 109)
Christianity makes a husband a better husband, it makes a wife a better wife than she was before. It does not free me from my duties as a son; it makes me a better son, and my parents better parents. Instead of weakening my love, it gives me fresh reason for my affection; and he whom I loved before as my father, I now love as my brother and co-worker in Christ Jesus; and she whom I reverenced as my mother, I now love as my sister in the covenant of grace, to be mine for ever in the state that is to come.
We are changed by our relationship with God.
Our relationships with others change as well.
When we experience God and His activity in our lives, God wants us to share that with others.
This is the way we share the gospel.
By testifying to the goodness of God.
Just like the man in this last story, we tell others about the amazing thing that God has done for us.
As you guys know, last week was the Cenla Interfaith Assembly.
During the meeting Mrs Stella Poindexter shared many of the things that we have accomplished over the last year.
It was an extensive list and she did a wonderful job of laying it all out.
After the meeting a pastor from Colfax came up and spoke with Ben Nugent-Peterson and myself.
He explained that he had heard of us before, but had not yet come to any meetings because he was sceptical that this was going to be something worth his time.
What he meant was that these kinds of organizations have come and gone over the years.
But because we are making our main focus to build relationships with one another, we are finding common ground.
We are finding passions that align even though our faiths may not.
(The need for lower utility bills does not require that we share the same beliefs.)
What this pastor said, through watery eyes, was that he did not believe that something like this was possible.
What he saw that night was a group of people that were committed to one another.
The testimonies shared by different people about their one on one meetings and the results of those meetings changed his mind and heart.
He saw a glimmer of hope, of something that was different.
He asked what he needed to do to be involved.
Mission accomplished.
Now, this is testimony about a meeting and a change that took place.
No doubt the Holy Spirit was what made that happen, but imagine what could happen in the lives of your loved ones as you share testimony about what God is doing in your life.
Your life is way more interesting than a business meeting!
Here we are, celebrating the most significant birth that has ever happened and the end result of this miracle is the most significant life that has ever been lived.
If you will pay attention, God will give you an opportunity to share your story this Christmas.
Your life can be changed and the lives of your kids, families, and friends can be changed as well.
As you celebrate the person of Jesus, do so by sharing what he has done.
Be like the shepherds.
Be like the man who was delivered from demon possession.
Where ever you go to celebrate Christmas, bring your story, bring salvation with you.
Let God use your story to change a life and give the best Christmas gift ever.
Announcements:
Budget review
No church next week, but I will post a family devotional on Facebook that you can do on Christmas Eve or day.