 This morning, we're going to look at a Christmas Day message. Let's begin reading here in Luke chapter 2 at verse 1 And what I'm doing is I'm sharing with you some things basically that pertain obviously to the birth of Christ So in verse 1 chapter 2 it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world Should be registered the census first took place while Pirinus was governing Syria so all went to be registered everyone to his own city Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David Which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed wife Who was with child and so it was that while they were there the days were completed for her to be delivered She brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths later been a manger because there was no room for them in the inn Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night Behold an angel of the Lord stood before them glory of the Lord shown around them They were greatly afraid the angel said to them do not be afraid for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy Which will be to all people for there's born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord you'll find and this will be the sign to you You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths Lying in a manger suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and Saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace goodwill toward men When my children were very small, they're not small anymore, but when they were small I wanted to emphasize with them what Christmas was all about from the very beginning You know and so what we did as a family from the time they were You know just a few years old the oldest would have been just a few years old We did this for all of their life until they moved out of our house just last week. No until Till they moved out of our home We would in we would have a Christmas Eve and we would give to them a Christmas Eve Present because we wanted to teach them that Christmas wasn't about them. It wasn't their birthday It wasn't some special occasion for them to be receiving presents just because but there were reasons for this And so what we would do is we would have them all pick out one gift and there were four of them And we'd have them sit around us and they would Wait and they would open their present and they only opened the present one at a time I didn't allow them just to open them up and dig through it and look at it No, I wanted to teach them that there's a joy not only in receiving but also in giving and that they ought to Rejoice with others when they get something and that's how I raised my children so that they they would understand That at Christmas is a time where God gave to us and we should rejoice in the gift We've received and we ought to be able to rejoice in the gift that others received to and so we would do that You got to imagine they were small and they're anxious and they're wanting to open up their present and all But I wanted to teach them something about being moderate. I wanted to teach them about patience I wanted to teach them what a real gift is all about and that's how we did it with them all through their life until young adulthood and What I would do is I would have them there seated but before they were opening up their present I would go through this particular passage every Christmas Eve every Christmas Eve I read this passage to my children and I shared with them about the gift that we received the gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ and so that I'm kind of doing with you what I what I would do with my own children I'm gonna give you much more information Information obviously then I would give to them as children though the information over time grew in in terms of The amount of information I give them But this is basically what I would do as the father of a family And I'm doing that now as as a pastor over at church the same kind of thing We've been celebrating as mentioned a moment ago together with our church family for 38 years You know and I'm so grateful I really am that you took the time to come and to join us today just to celebrate the reason for for us even having a Christmas season and so let me share with you now as we look at this passage Let me give you a few things found here in Luke chapter 2 and we'll begin with the obvious very few scholars believe that Jesus was born in December the date of the birth Was made to coincide with a festival that the that the Romans would celebrate a festival called Saturnalia and this particular pagan festival was a festival that celebrated the return of the Sun after days of increasing darkness and So people will say well, why did you Christians adopt that date? Well Believers have always redeemed elements of the culture that we live in in order that we might utilize those elements to proclaim the Lord We have redeemed all of the elements We've redeemed art and and music and clothing styles We have redeemed movies and and music books even tattoos have been redeemed You know because they're guys that I know and even women who have tattoos that that they use to witness We've redeemed the elements of the culture in order to present our faith in Christ And and so in this day Christians regard to the Sun's victory over darkness as a symbol as a symbol of our own beliefs You see when you look in the Old Testament in the last book of the Bible Malachi in the Old Testament Malachi It says in chapter 4 verse 2 for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings And so we use that the Christians would use that that scripture to present the Sun But the true Sun not the s-u-n but the s-o-n of righteousness in Luke 1 178 79 well that that those verses speak of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising Sun Will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet Into the path of peace and so they use this this particular festival as a symbol of our own faith You see in this symbol it rather in this festival there were gifts that were given to the poor And Christians recognize that Jesus was the greatest gift and that Jesus championed generosity and so they would give gifts, but they would do it in the name of Christ So for us as believers, I don't get in arguments with people about well When was Jesus born because there are people who come and knock on your door and want to fight with you about December 25th Perhaps some of you had visitors who did that they do it every year They come and knock on your door and they want to argue with you about the paganism and this and that I don't get into arguments and Christians don't get into arguments over that because for us the fact that Jesus was born has always been More important to us than the date of his birth the fact that he was born And so what we have here is the story of the birth of Christ now Let me give you a little bit more information both Joseph and Mary were descendants of King David and because of this They made the journey to their tribal home in Judea because it had been ordered for them to go there to be Registered Bethlehem was about 70 miles away It was a very difficult trip for Mary because Mary was about to give birth And so as they arrived in Bethlehem they discovered that there was no space left With so many returning to register everything was completely occupied friends and family members would have already made their Their homes available to their own friends and family and perhaps the strangers so everything was taken up the Bible tells us very very Clearly that according to verse 7 that there was no room for them in the end So the end when it speaks about there was no room for them in the end the end in this case was an enclosure It was an enclosure where where travelers would drive their cattle for the night The end would have water supplied, but it had no host it had no food and had no ordinary comfort So what what Luke is pointing out here in chapter 2 verse 7 is there wasn't even room for Mary in a stable So she gave birth Outside of the stable and the cool of the evening And so what we have here even in the introduction is a glimpse of the savior of our world He was born to poor parents in the most humble and humbling of all conditions And we know that Joseph and we know that Mary were financially poor. How do we know that? Well later on in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 2 verses 23 and 24 Luke speaks of of when Jesus was Presented to the Lord when he was dedicated That was eight days after his birth and that's when he received circumcision and that's when he would be named When you read your Bible, you'll discover in the Old Testament that a woman would be impure for 40 days after the birth of a Son in order to remind Israel of the curse that had come upon the world through through Eve at the end of her impurity there would be a sacrifice for cleansing it and then in Luke 2 24 it says a sacrifice was made of either a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons and and that tells us that they were poor because in the Old Testament the law spoke concerning the cleansing and offering and and they were if they were able they were to offer a Lamb of the first year as a burnt offering But if they were poor they would offer a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons and so that tells us that Joseph was not a man of substance. He wasn't a wealthy man It tells us that that Joseph and Mary came from humble, you know, not impoverished, but humble Circumstances and what does that tell us? Well, it reveals to us that God's love and grace is Revealed through Jesus taken upon himself human flesh and and being willing to be humbled in second Corinthians 8 verse 9 it says you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes He became poor that you through his poverty might become rich The Jesus gave himself for us and that he came took a pound of self-human flesh and and dwelt amongst us in the way That the most impoverished of his of his community did the Bible tells us here in verse 7 that she she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths Mary did this without assistance. There's no mention of a midwife There's no mention of another woman there who's giving aid to her It simply says that she delivered her firstborn son There's no details about that one would wonder whether whether Joseph who was yet to have any intimacy with his betrothed wife Whether he was there accompanying the birth of the son of God It doesn't say it simply says that it was there that she completed her days And it is there that she gave birth to the Savior and this sacred moment was shared with with her God and possibly With Joseph and it says here she brought forth her firstborn The firstborn speaks of a chronological order, but it also speaks of prominence and it speaks of importance And so Jesus was born there was no room for them in the end So as this is taking place verse 8 that we're in the same country shepherds living in the fields Keeping watch over their flock by night Angel of the Lord Stood before them the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were greatly afraid The angels said to them do not be afraid for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people There's born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord This will be the sign to you. You'll find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God and the highest and on earth peace goodwill toward men As this is taking place heaven responds What you have here are shepherds. They were called ordinary temple shepherds But they receive what is called a heavenly birth announcement And it's interesting to see that the first to hear of the birth of Jesus were shepherds It's interesting when you make note of the fact that in the Old Testament God refers to himself as a shepherd The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want and then you look into the New Testament and Jesus Christ refers to himself as the good shepherd And so the Lord is represented in that way as a shepherd And it's interesting that the God of the Bible who refers to himself as the shepherd the Messiah of our lives Jesus who is referred to as a good shepherd. It is interesting that he would first give an announcement to Shepherds. These are temple shepherds. These were the shepherds who would watch over sheep that were to be offered as sacrifice And when you think about it God had made promises of a Messiah To Abraham to David and both of them were shepherds And it's revealing that the completion of his promise was first revealed to shepherds And these shepherds were carrying for the sheep that would be offered as sacrifices in the temple They would have most likely been aware that that one day Messiah was going to come And they knew that Messiah would come from Bethlehem. That was commonly believed at that time when you read John 742 it reads does not scripture say that the Messiah will come from David's Descendants and from Bethlehem the town where David lived So there was common knowledge amongst the people that Messiah would come from this small town And so this great hope that they had as as shepherds temple shepherds who cared for the Sacrifices this great hope of Messiah was coming true right before their eyes It says in verse 9 an angel of the Lord behold an angel of the Lord stood before them the glory of the Lord shown Around them and they were greatly afraid every once in a while I would hear some pastor claim to have angelic visitations I still remember one one guy he was on TV speaking about how how He he had an angel come and speak to him and all and and he did it in such a casual way The Bible teaches him when an angel appears you're not casual You're not just kind of hanging around. Hey, are you doing Gabe? It's not that that's not how it works I mean when you read the scripture, you see that there's a terror. There's a fear There's something there's something holy in front of me and that that makes me realize my unworthiness And that's what's taking place. There's a sudden appearance the angel of the Lord is standing before them They should kind of God the glory of God this cloud of brilliant light revealing God's presence to them They saw this glory the hearts trembled in fear and the brightness of glory of the Lord produced great fear in their hearts It only took a moment for them to realize I am in the presence of holiness Now they knew of the miracles. See they knew their scriptures. They knew of angelic visitations They knew of the leaders of Israel men like Abraham all the way to Malachi But now an angel standing before them you can't imagine that and they feared for their lives There had been 400 years of silence since the closing of the last book of the Old Testament the book of Malachi But now God began to work Amongst men and as he's there verse 10 the angel says to them don't be afraid For behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people Notice his first words the words of comfort Don't be afraid. I'm not bringing judgment. I'm bringing joy Your world lacks it your world has been under oppression for hundreds of years And I'm bringing you good news And this good news isn't just for you shepherds here in a field watching your flocks by night This is good news for all people Isaiah 52 10 says the Lord has made bear his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God And he goes on to say in verse 11 There's born to you this day in the city of david a savior Who is christ The word christ means the anointed who is christ the lord That fulfills a promise that was given through the prophet isaiah isaiah 9 verse 6 Unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given And the government will be upon his shoulder His name will be called wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace Unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given Unto us a child is born which speaks of the incarnation God has taken upon himself human flesh And unto us a son is given that word given means provided or delivered A son given is a foreshadowing of jesus's sacrificial death Even in the prophecy of his birth there was a hint of his yielding his life for us And he says There is born to you this day a savior the word savior speaks of a deliverer There has been born a savior one who will confront all the sin of the world one who has been sent to rescue you And again, that's why we christians celebrate christmas That's why we keep jesus in the center of christmas We we don't say happy holidays We don't go holiday shopping. We don't give holiday presents. We don't buy holiday trees We don't send out holiday cards We keep jesus christ in the center because christmas is all about jesus christ It's not about a holiday. It's about jesus christ And christmas christmas is identified with the birth of jesus who's our savior He's not just a little baby that was born that we celebrate and give gifts to one another We need a savior and that's the center. That's the heart of the christmas message Much of the sorrows of our lives find their cause and our choices that have led to consequences in many ways We are simply reaping what we've been sowing through a lifetime. We need a savior As for the penalty of our sins We need to remember that we are all guilty before god We live in a time when sins are made excuse for where we say it's the way I was raised or it's It's my culture. It's my nation But but the bible doesn't teach that the bible teaches that we are guilty of sin Individually and that there's a penalty The bible in romans 3 23 says it like this all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god In roman 6 23 the wages of sin is death But the gift of god is eternal life in christ jesus our lord Hebrews 9 27 it is appointed into men to die once But after this judgment So the bible teaches us that we were born in sin We are sinners by nature and there's a penalty for it and there's there's a day we stand before god to give an account of our lives But the bible also teaches that because of that jesus took our punishment upon himself And first peter 3 18 christ also has once suffered for sins the just for the unjust That he might bring us to god being put to death in the flesh but raised by the spirit In second carinthians 5 21 god made him who had no sin to be sinned for us so that in him We might become the righteousness of god in him So we trust him as our savior We say we accept his death on the cross for us We recognize it as sufficient payment For our sins We cannot Do anything That is sufficient to cleanse ourselves from our own sins Our sins are that bad It took god taken upon himself human flesh And dying on a cross for us That he might be our savior because only god could pay that penalty So we accept that death. That's how we were saved. We recognize it as being payment In first john 1 7 the blood of jesus christ his son Cleanses us from all sin and his payment is complete We cannot add to what he has done And he grants us forgiveness based on his grace not on our best efforts Ephesians 2 8 and 9 says it's by grace You've been saved through faith. This is not from yourself. It's a gift of god not by works so that no one can boast And so we speak in concerning that there is one who has been born a savior He said don't be afraid. I bring you good tidings great joy Which will be to all people for there is born to you this day in the city of david a savior Who is christ the lord the word christ means the anointed one This name points out the savior of the world in his prophetic royal and priestly office Prophets priests and kings were anointed with oil when installed into their offices and as messiah He is the lord. He is our master. He's the anointed one and as his servants. It's our duty to serve him totally We are children of god, but we are still his servants Christmas isn't about us It's not about the presence we may give or the presence that we receive It's it's about the birth of a savior who is jesus the lord He said in verse 12 this will be the sign to you You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. This will be the sign This is how you will know him amongst other children in that area. He will be wrapped in swaddling clothes He'll be lying in a manger Somebody said the shepherds would set aside every firstborn male lamb for the feast of the Passover It was of great concern to the shepherds that these particular lambs remained without blemish In order to comply perfectly with god's instructions One of the problems they faced was that it was common for newborn lambs to try to walk too soon before their legs were strong Enough to fully support them In those cases the lamb would often inadvertently break one of their legs and therefore would no longer be without blemish So it was common practice for the shepherds to wrap the baby lamb in swaddling cloths And place it in the manger until it was strong enough to go to its mother And this practice ensured that the lambs remained without blemish And so that's what they did they wrapped jesus put him in this manger And when this happens verse 13 suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising god And saying glory to god in the highest and on earth peace goodwill towards men We like to sing silent night, but it wasn't It was loud They were they were suddenly This host was was was Was proclaiming glory to god in the highest And i notice with me how it in verse 14 is his glory to god in the highest and on earth peace Glory to god and then peace Here in a moment of time we receive understanding that should change our lives peace on earth and goodwill toward men Occurs after god is given glory There's no peace on earth except among those with whom god is well pleased When you read your bible you see you see it lived out in in our in our culture men Women are in a state of hostility They're in a warfare state with heaven and with each other The bible says that the carnal mind is at enmity against god The word enmity speaks of hostility The unspiritual person the person who hasn't been born again the one with no true relationship with god is hostile against god And i i find that interesting i'll say this quickly this isn't in my notes. Forgive me if it offends you, but hey, merry christmas But it's true I hear people who will be making proclamations about their religion and how Devoted they are and and i hear it a lot especially or right around times like this where our nation is going through turmoil That's so much And then you hear i'm praying for you i pray for you every day i love everybody And that's that's what the bible is talking about guys I love everybody i don't hate anybody except for unborn children And i i have a problem with that i have a problem when someone tells me that That they love the lord yet they are openly and blatantly living in sin And then they try to lecture me about living for god when i see their lives don't reflect any scriptural evidence that they know Jesus i have a real problem with that i know about you maybe maybe it doesn't bother you at all bothers me Because if you're going to proclaim that you know christ then live according to his teachings If you're going to say that jesus is my savior then recognize yourself for a need of a savior And recognize that you don't have the place to be lecturing anybody else because we're all Moving in the direction of trying to be the best that we can and if you're a religious person Well, that's that's okay. I i prefer religious people over non religious people But religion isn't what matters what matters is a relationship with god through jesus christ And that relationship transforms lives and makes you like jesus And so if you're going to tell me that you love then then love everybody if you're going to tell me that you're that you Want to lecture me about being a good person then practice what you're preaching But if you're not going to do that then please don't pontificate to me because i don't want to hear it from you I want to hear what jesus christ says i want to know how to live for him and i get that from scripture And that's what we're supposed to do We're all sinners. We're all in need of salvation. We're all Sin and fall short of glory the glory of god and god gives To the church gifts and part of the gift is the pastor teacher But the pastor teacher isn't the perfect person in the church The pastor teacher points to the perfect person Which is jesus christ and understands that he that i that we who are pastors are simply on the same road Wanting to serve the same savior because we have the same need Forgiveness and grace and that's what it should be all about So rather than preaching to other people a message. I don't keep myself I ought to see myself first and say god be merciful to me a sinner and help me to present this to people So that they might see that i sincerely believe that jesus christ is the lord that he really is working in my life That's how it works And we're living in a time when when people don't seem to understand that We are living in a time of constant hostility to the things of god and those who deny it are not opening their eyes It's absolutely true It's been said he who sins wars against his maker And the bible says it very clearly that i am in hostile opposition to god I am at war with him if he says it's white i say it's black if he says it's sweet I say it's sour if he says it's up i say it's down I am at war with my maker I need a savior i need a new life I need to know jesus What happens is when men are reconciled to god through the death of christ We can now be at peace We're at peace with god Because the war is over and we can be at peace with one another We can have peace in our own consciences And we can have peace with our neighbors And good will will dwell amongst us And good will will speak In us And good will will work through us And it is this peace that we go forth with and offer to the world Peace with god through his son jesus In 2nd carinthians 5 19 and 20 god was reconciling the world to himself in christ Not counting men's sins against him And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation We are therefore christ ambassadors as though god were making his appeal through us We implore you on christ's behalf Be reconciled to god Be reconciled to god glory to god in the highest And on earth peace good will toward men And peace comes through relationship with god through jesus christ Peace comes when i lay down my arms and i unconditionally surrender And i say god i have sinned against you And i ask for your forgiveness transform my life And give me a new a new life lord awaken in me a sense of purpose Awaken in me an awareness of gratitude for all that you've been and all that you've done And lord may i serve you with all of my heart All of my days and i was mentioning last night and i'll close with this that um On friday this friday I have the the joy I have the joy Of celebrating my my christian birthday 49 49 years of walking with jesus christ And thank you for thank you for appreciating that it it means much to me because i'll be honest with you At the age of 20, you know i was anything but what i am today and no i didn't outgrow my sin You don't outgrow sin you refine it You know you lie when you're a child and you get caught because you're not good at it But if you practice you could be pretty good when you're older When you're young, maybe you stole something You thought that something does you know you deserve it. Why not take it? You know i can remember my son david at the age of about three. I brought him home We had gone to visit some friends and he had been wearing his pajamas and I brought him home and i carried him to put him in bed and when i was carrying him I looked at his right leg and his right leg was was about four inches longer than his left leg He was wearing his little pajama bottoms and i said what in the world is that and so i put him in the bed And i un-took his pajamas and i lift and i and there were these little match match car Those little matchbox cars little little ones. Some of you remember those there were two or three of them He had stolen them from his friend adam I was oh, I said, oh my god. I have a criminal that i'm raising. I was I was so upset He's a thief. He's a thief. He's he's like his mom. You know, I was concerned I was concerned So I called his mom. I called debbie Debbie debbie. I'm so sorry little david stole some of adam's Matchbox cars and she laughs. She says don't worry about it adam has several of his at my house So they've been stealing from one another You know and when I think of these things I I think of how when I was a young man and I I I was I had a religiosity because I had been raised in Uh a religious environment And and I had gone through religious training as a youth and all But no relationship with god christmas to me When it came was It was just an opportunity to drink. That's all it really was an opportunity to To see if I could find some some pot to get high. That was what it was. It was just an opportunity to party I think many of you know what I mean by that. That's what it was It was just, you know, we'll have friends over we'll get drunk a bit You know, enjoy ourselves. You can sleep with that was how it was when I was a kid And at the age of 20, you know, I I I had hit the bottom of my own life And at the age of 20 I had hurt so many people I had hurt my family so deeply the way I was living in the things I was doing I couldn't take it anymore the last month before I came came to know christ I I stopped eating I I would eat a very amorcel a day But I was I was either drunk or high almost every day at the last month before I came to faith in christ And and I I lost from 175. I went to 145 in a month I just lost 30 pounds and I wasn't big at that time So you can imagine how I had I had scaled down to almost nothing I was starving myself as I was smoking pot and drinking and partying That's what I was doing and I was going down. I was going down and as I was going down I realized I'm gonna kill myself I'm gonna die. I had almost overdosed. I had I drank almost a half gallon of wine I dropped something like five reds second all And I was being poisoned my body was shutting down and and I knew that I wasn't gonna make it. I knew that And that's when I cried out That's when I cried out I needed a savior It celebrated my Christmas December 25th And two days later god gave me the greatest gift of the eternal life through jesus christ december 27th And my christmases have never been the same since because I have the reason for the season Dwelling in my heart because jesus christ saved me So christmas to me It's not the most important Celebration to be honest with you because I I'm one of those that paul speaks about Who says to every day to some every day is the same That's how it is with me. I see christmas as a daily thing a daily awareness that I'm a sinner in need of a savior I don't celebrate jesus's birth once a year and and I don't celebrate his resurrection Once a year I celebrate that every day because every day I remember what I was And every day I thank god that I'm not that anymore because of him and that is christmas to me I celebrate it not because of a present under a tree But because of his presence in my life Jesus christ the lord and the savior and I rejoice glory to god in the highest And on earth peace goodwill towards men glory to god and the proclamation of the gospel brings peace to men And so here we are to celebrate the birth of our savior And I have to say it before I pray I have to say it again. God is so good. God is so good