Christmas Eve 2022

Luke 2:1-7

Merry Christmas!

Start off with a personal note

It has almost been 3 months to the day since we launched here at Richland HS. And I look around at all of your faces and some of you I knew from before, but some of you I would have never met if it wasn’t for this church.

I have had the absolute blessing to sit down and get to know some of you, eat with some of you, pray with some of you, hunt with some of you, and have coffee with some of you. Its incredible what the Lord has been able to do in such a short time, but it feels like the beginning of something great and the beginning of many great great relationships.

On a personal note, I want to thank you for choosing Connection Church at Richland. I want to thank you for investing in Connection Church at Richland. I am truly humbled and truly blessed to be called your pastor.

I want to thank the Lord for all the fruit that He has produced and all of the fruit that He is going to produce in your lives and in mine.

To God be all of the glory.

Thank you and I love you.

Now to our passage, which was read so much better by Jennifer and our children’s ministry.

Read Luke Chapter 1 verses 1-7

I have loved our Advent/Advil season! What a great season to focus on Jesus coming down to this earth and offering us Hope, Faith, Joy, Hope and the greatest love. If it wasn’t for Jesus, these things that He brought would be so much more difficult nearly impossible. I have loved studying and presenting messaged to help get our focus this Christmas season to where it should be, on Jesus.

Yes, I’ll say it, Jesus is the reason for the season but Jesus is also the reason for our hope, our faith, our joy and our peace.

As I was preparing and studying for this service and massage, there were two facts or points about this event, this turning point of history, that stood out to me.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

And you’re like, someone check his temperature. Obviously, Brian.

I know that its obvious but I don’t believe that with God anything is random and without reason!

Why Bethlehem? Why not Jerusalem? This huge prestigious city! The city of kings! The capital city. The city where the temple of God was at! Shouldn’t the King of Kings be born in the city of kings? The city of power? The city of might? the city of authority?

Why Bethlehem? “O, little town of Bethlehem,” Bethlehem was nothing great. It was pretty small and insignificant. Nothing grandiose or specifically special.

Holman Bible Commentary tells us that “Bethlehem, too insignificant to be mentioned by the cartographer of the book of Joshua or in Micah’s catalogue of Judah’s cities of defense …,”

However, it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born there!

Micah 5:2–5 (ESV)

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old,

from ancient days.

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth.

And he shall be their peace.

So, little and small and there are only a handful of other references to Bethlehem in Scripture.

It was at Bethlehem that Rachel, the love of Jacobs life, who he worked 14 years to marry, Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, died and was buried.

It was in Bethlehem that a devoted daughter-in-law named Ruth went out to glean barley because she was not wealthy or well off. It was in Bethlehem that she met Boaz, her kinsmen redeemer and gave birth to the linage of Jesus.

It was in Bethlehem, that the prophet Samuel traveled to after Saul defied the Lord. In was in Bethlehem, that a man after God’s own heart, the youngest, smallest son, the smelly shepherd, David was anointed as God’s choice to be the next king of Israel.

Yes, Bethlehem appears small but in it, deeply loved people died, poor and lowly people were redeemed, and the greatest of human kings were anointed.

So, why Bethlehem? What can we learn from this?

JESUS ALWAYS COMES TO THE SMALL AND LOWLY AT HEART.

Isaiah 66:1–2 (ESV)

Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 ESV

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Honestly, what do we have to boast about other than Jesus? I am foolish, I am weak, I am lowly. But through Christ in me, I can have wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. If I am going to boast, boast in the Lord! I bring nothing to the table.

In order to meet with Jesus, in order to submit to Jesus, in order for Jesus to come to you, you must humble yourself before Him.

Just like Jesus coming to Bethlehem, the small and lowly city. Jesus will come to the small and lowly heart.

Spurgeon puts it like this.

“Well, Christ is always born in Bethlehem among the little ones. Big hearts never get Christ inside of them; Christ lies not in great hearts, but in little ones. Mighty and proud spirits never have Jesus Christ, for he comes in at low doors, but he will not come in at high ones. He who has a broken heart, and a low spirit, shall have the Saviour, but no one else. He heals not the prince and the king, but “the broken in heart, and he binds up their wounds.” Sweet thought! He is the Christ of the little ones.”

Jesus always comes to the small and lowly in heart. Jesus comes always comes the Bethlehems.

So, how do we do that? How can we become small and lowly so that Christ will come to us?

We follow the 2nd point from Luke. We follow His example.

WE COME TO HIM AS A CHILD.

Mac Abbit sent me this verse this week and it aligned with this message.

Matthew 18:3–4 ESV

and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

We must follow the example of Christ and humble ourselves to point of child-like dependency. We must bring ourselves down in our minds and in our hearts to the point of “apart from Christ, I can do nothing.” I can not provide for myself. I can not care for myself. I can not figure things out of my own. I am foolish, weak and lowly. and I reach out my hand towards my Father for help. And Jesus always comes to the small and lowly. Our heavenly Father extends His hand to us.

Mac wrote to me about this passage. He said, “When a loving parent extends their open hand towards their little child something beautiful happens. The child full of hope, joy, wonder, trust and peace extends their hand to take hold of the parent's hand. It dwarfs in comparison to the parent's hand and their is no fear to place the small tender hand into the care of the larger firm hand that desires to lead and provide for the child.”

For the first couple of years of all of my kids lives were the hardest for me as their father. From the beginning all the way through 2 years old, I felt pretty useless as a parent. I trying helping where I could but my kids almost never took comfort from me. Rarely wanted to see it. Rarely stopped crying with me. And honestly, often times it was really hard for me to feel like they loved me or even liked me.

It honestly really hurt. I was bursting with love for them. My heart ached, desperate to hold them, care for them, provide for them, for them to take comfort in me, to feel safe with me, to want to be with me. My love was bursting for them! I remember saying, “I’m a pretty cool guy! I think you’ll like me!” As they were screaming at the top of their lungs for their mother. I kept reaching my hand towards them to offer help but they wouldn’t reach for me.

Its not until my kids would start coming to me and allowing me to feed them, allowing me to hold them, allowing me to provide for them, that they started to love me and see all that I had to offer for them. Their eyes were opened to how great a father’s love can be for his children. Their eyes were opened to the many vast things that I would do for them. The more time they spent with me, the more they opened their hearts to love me more and more.

We, too, have a heavenly Father that stands ready to give of Himself and all that He has to us. His heart is bursting with love. He is ready to provide, comfort, embrace and show you the greatest love. He extends His hand, Jesus towards us. He reached down to us by sending His Son to earth.

A prideful and lofty child will never come to their father for help. An independent kid will turn away from His Father’s extended hand.

A small and lowly child will have their eyes opened to how great a Father’s love can be for His children. A small and lowly child will have their eyes opened to the vastness of all the great thing that their Father wants to do for them. The more time that we spend with our Father, the more our hearts will be opened to love Him more and more. Jesus is extending His hand towards us.

Isaiah 55:1–3 (ESV)

“Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without price.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,

and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to me;

hear, that your soul may live;

and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

my steadfast, sure love for David.

Do you desire hope? Come to the Father.

Do you desire faith? Come to the Father.

Do you desire joy? Come to the Father.

Do you desire peace? Come to the Father.

Do you desire love? Come to the Father.

And no one comes to the Father except through Jesus.

Put your life into Jesus’ extended hand. Put your trust in Him.

Come to Him as a child and Jesus will always come to you.

Psalm 34:8 (ESV)

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!