Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

The story of Jesus is known as the Gospel.

But what does that word mean?

Where does it come from?

Our english word Gospel is a translation of the Greek word Evangelion - which in greek means “Good News”.

That same greek word Evangelion is where we get our english word Evangelism - Which means “to Tell”.

Evengelism is to Evengalise the Evangelion.

To tell people about the good news.

And This is where our christmas message begins today.

The Shepherds.

This is sucxh a loved part of the Christmas story.

I see myself in these shepherds.

Shepherds were seen as lowerclass citazins, their dealings with various animals and dead calfs and such often made them ceremonially unclean and their extened times in the fields meant that they could not attend regular temple feasts.

In other words, trhey were unworthy of the announcment of the angels, and i am totally unworshy of the good news of Jesus Christ as well.

When i think trhat God allowed the good news of His love to ever reach a sinners ears like mine, i often think of the Psalm:

But God in His wisdom and grace came to the shepherds with the good news that the Messiah has been born in Bethleham, and so they make haste and go see.

And there they find, as the angels had said, the child in the manger.

I believe that this is the experience of everyone who had heard the good news.

We, like the SAhepherds, must ourselves first be toild about it.

The sheopherds did not go looking for the baby on their own.

And no one goes looking for Jesus on their own.

How does the father draw us to Jesus?

Well how did the Father draw the shephrds to Jesus?

By telling them about Him.

But notice, there is and there must be a response from the shepherds.

Once they had heard about Jesus they said:

In other words: They believed the Word of the Angels by faith.

Not everyone who hears the good news will respod in faith to it.

Jesus himself told us the parable about the sower and the seed, telling us that the ultyimate fate of the seed, it not up to the seed or the sower, but upon the soil of the heart where it lands.

So importatnt!!!!

The sower and the seed are constant - NEVER changing!

The great fult of the modern church is that they have changed the seed and the sower, they watered the message and modernised the pastor - to try and appeal to more sypes of soil.

But it should NEVER be so! - Obnly the soil of a meek heart will ever recieve the good news.

So everyone here today had been told about Jesus.

Can you remember who told you?

But anyways, Everyone here had been toild aboout Jesus, and in responce to that message they were told, you excersised faith in the good news and, like the shepherds, went to see and experience it for yourselves.

Amnd you did that by prayer and repentence and faith in Jesus.

You called out to him and lo, he answered.

And Amen!

But, and yes there is a but.

The Stoiry of the shepherds is not over yet.

And that means that your part in the story is not over yet.

Having heard the angels,m having come to see, having found Jesus - what did the shepherds do next?

The Sghepherds began Evengalising the Evangelion.

They told EVERYONE they met about what they had seen and experienced.

And that, sadley, is where the church today is in grave and terrible error.

The reality is that chances are you dont tell anyone about the good news of Jesus Christ.

- Im not saying all of you, but most of you.

Pew polls suggest that less that 10% of Christians activly share their faith, less than 10%!!!!

Why?

1: Embarrist about Jesus?

Shy or whatever made fool of - jesus was styrtipped naked for you....

2: failure - but as we have already seen, the results of the harvet are not on the sower or even the seed.

3: Not sure of what to say.

Lookn at the shepherds.

- they told what they had seen.

thats all you need rto do.

just tell people about what Jesus has done for you, what you have seen him do for you.