O Holy Night
Notes
Transcript
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Intro:
Intro:
We are a week away from Christmas
Everyone has their own favorite Christmas carol.
You know, the song that when it is sung warms your heart and enlivens your soul.
My favorite song is O Holy Night.
Listen to the lyrics of this famous carol:
O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
Maybe just in hearing those familiar lyrics you can feel the beauty of that night and the joy we share in remembering that night each and every year.
The song actually follows the birth narrative of Jesus that is found in Luke 2:8-20.
One holy night, outside the rural town of Bethlehem, the heavens touched earth.
Angels appeared to lowly shepherds and gave them the good news that the world had been waiting for.
They delivered a holy message of the Savior’s arrival.
The Shepherds went on a holy search to discover all they had been promised.
They found the holy child lying in a manger.
That night changed the world and nothing would ever be the same.
Read Luke 2:8-12
Read Luke 2:8-12
Transition
Can I dispel a Christmas myth?
Some people bash Christmas by saying that Christians adopted a Roman pagan holiday
It’s not Jesus’ true birthday
First off, let me just say that If God wanted us to know Jesus birthday he would’ve told us
He probably didn’t because he knew we would go all crazy and make it about everything except Jesus… oh wait
But back to the Roman pagan thing
There was a Roman holiday called Saturnalia
It was on December 17th
slowly over the years it stretched out over a week till the 23rd
There was one similarity between the two
They would go house to house singing, except one big difference… they were naked
That’s where the similarities ended
There human sacrifices
Freedom for slaves
Drunkenness
Rampant breaking of the rules
There was nothing holy about that celebration
Christmas is the antithesis of this
I. Good News for All People vs. 8-10
I. Good News for All People vs. 8-10
It was a holy night because good news came for all people
God decided to give his birth announcement to a bunch of shepherds
This is interesting and should be noted
Shepherds were the lowest class in Israel
Shepherds were really outcasts in Israel.
Their work not only made them ceremonially unclean, but it kept them away from the temple for weeks at a time so that they could not be made clean.
It was a lonely existence
You had to deal with the elements and intruders like lions
This made them unreliable to the point that their testimony was allowed in court
That’s why Jesus made the comment about sheep knowing the shepherds voice while hired run at the first sign of danger
You only watched your sheep if your were so poor you couldn’t afford to pay someone
Some people believe these shepherds were in the fields between Bethlehem and Jerusalem
The distance between the two was a little under 6 miles
At night, without the city lights the sky would be crystal clear
It would be the perfect setting for an angelic visit and a heavenly choir
An angel of the Lord visits along with the glory of the Lord surrounding them
The Angel descends from heaven and a bright light encompasses the shepherds
These guys who are used to fighting off wild animals and thieves are understandably freaked out
This angel comes with good news that is for all the people
This good news will bring joy to all that believe in Jesus
This good news will bring peace
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God purposely went to the lowest class of people with the announcement that His Son had been born to show the world that the Gospel was meant for everyone
God does not call the rich and mighty; He calls the poor and the lowly
The good news that Jesus who came to take away the sins of all men was available to everyone
It’s holy because it brings us joy
II. The Savior is Born vs 11-12
II. The Savior is Born vs 11-12
It was a holy night because the savior was born
The angel continues by telling the shepherds that a baby has been born in Bethlehem
He is the Christ
Christ means anointed one
Jesus is the promised Messiah that Israel has been waiting for
This baby is going to be the savior of the world
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
The Son of God who was in the comfort of heaven came down to earth in the form of a baby to enact God’s plan of redemption
These hardened, untrustworthy guys could be changed by the Savior who was just born
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
III. Glory to God vs. 13-14
III. Glory to God vs. 13-14
It was a holy night because it Glorified God
God was the one who sent His Son
God initiated His plan of redemption, not man
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
That is why the angels are singing His praises
On Christmas Eve night 1914 something amazing happened.
Something that still has the world scratching its head.
It was at the beginning of WWI and there was a fierce battle going on in Belgium between the French and the English on one side and the Germans on the other.
The battle had reached a stalemate, and each side had bunkered down and dug trenches.
They were about 60-80 yards apart from one another and the space between was called No Man’s Land because no one could venture there and survive.
It’s estimated that over 100,000 troops were involved in this battle and these trenches went on for miles.
The conditions were horrible, and both sides had lost thousands of lives.
There were bodies scattered all over No Man’s Land because if someone tried to retrieve them, they would be shot.
As Christmas approached, the Germans started decorating some of the trees around their bunkers with candles.
On Christmas Eve both sides were settled down on their respective sides and some of the British were playing their bagpipes and singing some of their favorite pub songs, which no doubt brought them some sense of comfort being so far away from home and in the middle of war on Christmas Eve.
Meanwhile, on the other side, some of the Germans began to sing one of their country’s most beloved Christmas carols, Silent Night
after singing it through several times, something incredible happened.
The French and British joined in on the familiar tune.
Unbelievably, that night led to a ceasefire that lasted until New Year’s Day.
On Christmas Day, each side helped the other bury their dead and over that next week they celebrated Christmas together, they played soccer together; they gathered around the same campfires and told stories and laughed long into the night.
It was a holy night.
Neither side could have seen a week of peace being born out of the singing of a Christmas carol, and yet, that is exactly what happened.
A song about the birth of a baby in Bethlehem who would bring peace on earth, brought peace to a war-torn battlefield and, for a handful of hours, turned enemies into friends.
It’s holy to us because it brings us peace
IV. Made Widely Known vs. 15-20
IV. Made Widely Known vs. 15-20
It was a holy night because the news was made widely known
It’s holy for us because it brings us hope