Great Tidings Of Christmas Joys

Listen to the words of Luke 2: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. If you are looking for Christmas joy, I suggest that you can find all you need in this single verse. I have been there three times—most recently about in October when we toured the Holy Land.

Today Bethlehem is a Arab town under Palestinian control, but when Jesus was born it was a tiny Jewish community. Modern Bethlehem is a bustling, busy town filled with thousands of people who jostle each other as they walk the narrow streets. The major industry of Bethlehem is tourism and the most important site is the Church of the Holy Nativity in the very center of the city.

This is the one of the oldest churches in the Holy Land, having been first built on that site years ago, then built upon, added to, and restored many times over the centuries. Upon his return he wrote a Christmas carol, which was set to music by his choir director for their Christmas concert the next year.

We still sing it today. Above they deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. There is a fascinating connection between that Boston church and Calvary Memorial Church. It is a magnificent structure that still stands on the Boston Commons. When the First Presbyterian Church of Oak Park decided to build a new sanctuary in the s, the building committee corresponded with the building committee of Trinity Church and used their drawings as a guide for our present sanctuary, which was designed by noted church architect W.

The Trinity Church was built by H. Richardson in a style sometimes called Richardsonian Romanesque. Echoes of that style can be seen in the vaulted arches of our sanctuary and the covered portico leading to the West Wing. In fact, David tended sheep in the fields outside the village just the shepherds were doing the night the angel appeared to them.

There is one other fact you need to know. Seven hundred earlier the Lord had spoken through the prophet Micah and declared that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Here is the exact Scripture from Micah 5: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. When Jesus was born Bethlehem was still off the beaten track, so to speak. However, all the Jews knew that the Messiah would be born there.

How do I know that? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. Where is the Messiah going to be born? Herod gathered his theology council and asked them the same question. They replied by quoting Micah 5: God had told them years before exactly where Christ would be born. There was no secret about it at all. They were totally indifferent to the birth of the Messiah. How different the shepherds are.

Christmas Joy

As good Jews, they too must have known the prophecy in Micah. It should also remind us that knowledge alone is never enough to save us. There are two aspects to this truth we need to mention. The first is that there were no miracles associated with the physical birth of Jesus Christ. That was an enormous miracle which has never been repeated in the history of the world. Although Luke gives no details, we may safely assume that the delivery itself was normal in every way. Or at least as normal as any birth could be under such trying circumstances. From time to time we read of women giving birth in strange places—in a car, at the mall, at a restaurant—sometimes alone, sometimes attended by a very frightened husband.

Such instances are normal births that happen in extraordinary circumstances. The birth of Jesus falls into that category—a true event that took place in a normal way in a very abnormal situation. Several years ago they voted down the Virgin Birth of Christ. The vote was against the biblical account of the Virgin Birth:. Voting with multi-colored pebbles, these pundits decided that Mary must have had sexual intercourse, either with Joseph or some unknown interloper, before she became pregnant with Jesus.

They also decreed the visit of the wise men a fabrication, the slaughter of the innocents a fiction, and the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt a fanciful allegory drawn from the Moses story in Exodus. I mention that because the Christian church has always professed its belief in the literal truth of the Virgin Birth. The ancient creeds put this way: Not a legend or a myth or a nicely-told fairy tale. Everything about the story is true, including the central truth that there really was a baby born in Bethlehem who really was the Son of God.

Now we come to the climax of this verse: It reads this way: Each word is vitally important. I heard recently about a man in our church who went to visit his father over Thanksgiving. In all those years his father had never shown any real interest in spiritual things and in fact was often openly hostile to the gospel. Now he is dying of cancer. However, a few days after Thanksgiving a pastor who knows his father called with the good news that his father had accepted Christ.

The father was so amazed at what had suddenly happened to him that he wanted to make sure his son and daughter-in-law were saved too. And all these years they had been praying for him! Not only that, but he came to be Lord or ruler of the universe. Today he is the Lord of heaven. One day he will return and set up his kingdom on the earth.

Between now and then we Christians are called to make him Lord of our lives on a daily basis. That means surrendering your will to him and letting him lead the way. Yesterday I chatted again with my friend Dan Hoeksema down in Memphis. I told him that hundreds of people were using that simple prayer he shared with me and I shared with you. Please make me thankful for everything that happens to me today.

He is the Savior, he is the Lord, and he is the Christ—the one sent from God. Unless one arbitrarily rules out miracles by assuming that they cannot happen, there is no reason to doubt these reliable eyewitness accounts.

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The truth of the narrative is further confirmed by the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Luke states that Jesus was born in the city of David. Francis of Assisi built the first Christmas manger scene in His purpose was to get the people thinking of Christ as a person who really lived, rather than as a mysterious, fictional deity. People in our day need to understand what Francis was trying to get across, namely, the historical truth of the Christian faith. Whatever you believe is true for you, and whatever I believe is true for me. But there is no such thing as absolute truth in the spiritual realm.

But if Jesus was born in history to the virgin Mary, if He fulfilled prophecies made hundreds of years before His birth, and if the events surrounding His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension are verified by hundreds of reliable eyewitnesses, then you cannot shrug it off as a nice story that is true for some but not for others.

Jesus Christ is the Savior who was born in history, the living God in human flesh.

• I. The Prophecy of His Coming.
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If God has so acted in history, then it is really good news. So the news about the Savior brings great joy because it is good news and it is true news. He is a unique Person! Consider the uniqueness of this Savior born in Bethlehem. It means that God the Father sent and anointed Jesus for His mission of salvation. He was anointed as prophet to preach the gospel, as priest to offer sacrifice for sins, and as king to reign. He alone is able to reconcile sinful people to God through His life, His sacrificial death and His resurrection.

The same word is used in Luke 2: The Savior born in Bethlehem is God in human flesh. If He had been only a man, He could not have saved us, because His death would not have had merit beyond Himself.

II. The Reality of His Coming

If He had been an angel, He could not have borne human sins. But He was Christ the Lord, God! God alone is great enough to deal with the problem of our sins.

He was born in Bethlehem. He did not descend from the sky. As a man, the representative Man, He could bear the sins of the human race. As God in human flesh, Jesus Christ is unique in all the world. He alone qualifies to be the Savior of the world. That makes the news He brings good news of a great joy. No doubt these Jewish shepherds understood that to mean all the Jewish people. But there is also no doubt that Luke would have his readers know that the good news is for Jew and Gentile alike, for any and all who will call upon the name of the Lord Rom.

It is a fact of history that the gospel applies to all and it transforms all who believe. Savage cannibals have been converted into peaceable missionaries through the good news of Christ. I read of a skeptic who was on a South Sea island. He was mocking Christianity. Put your name in verse Every year when he came home for Christmas, he brought with him presents and goodies to eat and a fresh Christmas tree.

But this year, the dad had been laid off and there were no presents and, most disappointing, no tree. The kids still held out hope that their dad would come up with a tree. The dad promised that he would do what he could. He went into the garage and emerged some time later carrying a two-by-four, about five feet tall, with holes drilled on each side. He went down the street to a neighbor whose property was bordered on three sides by a row of evergreen trees. He was trying, but by no stretch of the imagination could this be called a Christmas tree. While the kids were trying to deal with their disappointment and the little girl who grew up to write the story was looking out the window and praying, there was a knock at the front door.

The woman and her son from the property down the street with the trees were standing there with the tallest, most beautifully shaped Christmas tree that the children had ever seen. It filled the doorway. The woman also kindly presented the children with a number of small presents that meant a lot, since it was all that they got that year. From a story by Irene Lukas, Guideposts , Dec. Now I want to ask you a question: And they politely shut the door.

And by refusing the gift, that family would have missed the great joy of that Christmas. A gift only brings joy if it is received.

Joy to the world – it’s Christmas time!

Any refusal of such a sacrificial offer is an insult at best. The only way to know the deep, abiding joy God wants you to have is to be reconciled to Him by receiving His gift, the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Handing Off the Baton 2 Timothy 4: Walking the Romans Road. Facing Winter Seasons 2 Timothy 4: December 19, Christmas Message A family during the great depression was unable to afford anything but the bare necessities. The news about the Savior brings great joy because it is good news for sinners. The news about the Savior brings great joy because it is true news.

The news about the Savior brings great joy because it is news of Christ the Lord. The news about the Savior brings great joy because it is for all people. What is the difference between joy and happiness?