Sermon Tone Analysis

*Making it Personal*

* \\ Luke 2:8-20 (NIV)*

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

*Crazy Carols*

1.     Peas and beans

2.     Goats tell it on the mountain

3.     Swede head

4.     Jelly toast

 

Easy to miss the message because we only hear what we what we want.

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*Angels*

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Angels definition:  Messenger

          Someone who had a message directly from God.

 

 

 

 

*What is THE message?*

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You will be with Child

          Congratulations you are pregnant

 

Fear Not—Do not be afraid

          Kind of empty – good sentiment but not worth the trip from heaven.

Glory to God in the Highest

Excellent sentiment but nothing new—could open up the psalms and get that message loud and clear.

Peace on Earth Good will to men.

All the markings of a good theme—general enough to apply to everyone

          A favorite theme~/quote

          I would be lying to you if I said that this had been fully accomplished

 

 

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

You are saying but Pasor that is the most obvious one.

Of course, God didn’t want this message to be difficult or hidden.

There are things that he sometimes makes purposefully obscure but not this one.

*Obvious but Profound*

 

Think of what it meant.

Have we muddled the meaning like the children with the Christmas Carols?

What did the angels mean by Saviour? C. S. Lewis puts it best:

 

One may think of a diver first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then gone with a splash, vanished, rushing down through green and warm water into black and cold water, down through the increasing pressure into the deathlike region of ooze and slime and old decay, and then back up again, back to color and light, his lungs almost bursting until suddenly he breaks the surface again, holding in his hand the dripping, precious thing he went down to recover.

That dripping, precious thing is you and I, and Advent is when we celebrate his coming down to us.

n  C.

S. Lewis

 

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*Isaiah 9:6*

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*Wonderful*

He who was wonderful became meek and common

 

*Counselor*

He who was closer than a brother became despised and rejected by men.

*Almighty God*

He who was all powerful became reliant on others.

*Everlasting *

He who was immortal became mortal.

*Father*

He who was Father of All became a child.

*The Prince *

He who was royal became humble.

He who was honored by Kings saved the fanfare for the shepherds.

*of Peace*

To a world that welcomed and responded to him with violence he only responded with peace.

Don’t give up on Peace on earth good will to men” it may be a secondary message but it is a good one.

*Why?

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Love.

Little Girl with note

The message was “I love you” and it was delivered in person.

Grandma “I love you to death”

He loved us to death even death on a cross.

*Becoming Christmas Angels*

 

Something I didn’t know was that the word angel was also used in both Greek and Hebrew to refer to human messengers.

You can be a Christmas angel and deliver the same message:

 

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

God loves you to death.

And he delivered the good news in person.