Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

As we continue with our worship of the Lord this morning, I want to invite you to grab a Bible and open up to Luke 2:1-20 with me this morning as we Celebrate the Birth of Christ.

There is no doubt in my mind that many of you are familiar with this passage.

Many of you know it very well.

Many of you know the importance of this text… and yet… it is good for our souls to open up this word and see this old old story.

It is good for us to remember what we are celebrating as we gather together this morning.

Let’s look at this text together...

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered.

2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

4 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant.

6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

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!,,

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.

(Luke 2:1-20)

As we think about this text this morning, let us take a few moments to prepare our hearts so that the Lord may speak to us this morning.

Let’s pray together!

Advent-The Arrival of the King.

That is what our sermon series has been able this Advent season… and now we are finally here.

That is hard to imagine.

I do not know what it is....

I don't know if it is because I am getting older or if I am becoming worse at time management… but this season has gone quick.

Was it that way for you?

The season is gone, well for the most part, but what we celebrate is not gone.

It is not like we celebrate Christ only at Christmas.

Christ is the foundation of our faith.

At this time we slow down to focus our hearts on the true meaning of Christmas so that our hearts and minds do not get lost in the ways of the world.

This is our way of holding each other accountable.

This is our way of trying to encourage one another to love and good works...... this is our way of trying to remind each other that this season is more than the lies of this world.

We go through this series to remind ourselves that Christ is more valuable than anything else in the whole world.

And Today.... we get to celebrate what we have been preparing for all along.

We started off this season reading this text and now I want us to come back to this text, with everything that we have talked about- Preparing Him room, Our need for this King, and Understanding who this King is- so that we can get a better view of what is being said here in this text.

Body:

As we think about this text, and what we typically call the Christmas story as a whole, there are a few things that I want us to see from this text that should speak volumes.

God Is In Control.

I know that this is not stated explicitly in this text.

Nowhere will you find these words.... but you have to see what is going on here to see it.

It just so happens, while Mary is pregnant, that Caesar sends out a decree, which is a command that must be followed, is sent out to the whole Roman empire that they must be registered.

This forces Joseph to go back to his hometown of Bethlehem because he was of the family of David to be registered… and Mary goes with him… because she is well… pregnant and engaged to him.

This registration was counting family units or Mary did not want to be left alone… both are possible here.

This is not the point though.

The point is not that a census is being taken… that is what is moving them to Bethlehem… but God has a different motive.

God had promised that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

So, to fulfill His Word... God moves the entire Roman empire to get Mary and Joseph to the place where they need to be.

Isn’t that something?

The decree goes out from Caesar… but God is the one who is behind this act.

What would seem like a major inconvenience to a pregnant family...... what would seem like an interruption of plans… God is using to bring the fruition of His Word.

Don’t lose sight of this.

I know that your life can seem crazy and out of control at times… that is all of us.

Life seems to make no sense.

We do not understand what is going on around us.

Things seem to happen at the worse time possible.... but We have to remember that God is the One in Control.

Do not lose sight of this truth.

God is in Control.

The next thing that we see here is that

God Sees The Seemingly Insignificant

When we are talking about the birth of Christ, everything about this story lets us know that God sees and uses what the rest of the world would write off as not important.

Take Joseph for example, what do we know about him?

The truth of the matter is, we do not really know a whole lot about him.

We know that he is from the Family line of David, which is important, and we know that he is lives in Nazareth when he gets engaged to Mary.

We know that he is a righteous man who, upon a message from an angel, listens to God and marries Mary despite the fact that she is pregnant with a child.

Besides these things, there is not much more information about him.... and truth be told, we would not know this if God did not reveal this to us.

The same is true for Mary.

What do we really know about her? Again, not a whole lot.

She was a young girl who was engaged to a guy named Joseph, who so happened to live in the small town of Nazareth.

What we do know about her we only know because God revealed it to us.

Or you could like of the of the place where Jesus is born… in Bethlehem.... a small little town outside of Jerusalem.

NOT a whole lot going on there.

Or, take for the fact of who the news is announced to first… it is not told to the religious leaders… it is not told to kings.. or to those who had authority.... the news of Jesus’ birth was told to some shepherds who were out in the fields.

Everything about this text just screams that God sees the small and insignificant.

And this should give us courage and hope.

Have you ever felt that you were all alone and wondering if God even saw you?

Like you… little o you down here in Scioto County, OH.... one of the poorest counties in OH.

Like who are you that the God of the universe would see you?

The truth of the matter, and what see from this text, is that God does see you.

God does care about you and your life.

God has not forgotten you.

He sees you right where you are and He is here for you.

Don’t think for a moment, just because 7 billion people in the world have no clue who you are, that you are not seen and loved by God.

That is is what we are seeing in and through this text this morning.

The God of the Universe see you.

Hold onto that!

The third thing that I want us to see from this text is...

God Is To Be Praised.

We can so often miss this at and around the Christmas season.

Our culture wants to make Christmas about so many different things… and I really do not have the time to get into all of the arguments right now… but what this season should remind us is that God is the one who is to be worshiped and praised for what He has done.

Right?

We see this in two places in the text:

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!,,

and down in verse 20

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.

We see here that both the Angels and the shepherd focused their eyes and attention on GOD....