Good News of Great Peace & Joy

Pastoral Prayer

-Thanks for the Michelle Zintsmaster’s successful surgery on Thursday (Sandy Bland’s daughter…Megan Rapp’s mother)

-Pray for Trotter family & other sick LC folks

-Pray for families of LC & Community this Christmas season (potentially hard season)

Congregational Prayer

Our Father in Heaven...As a church family united together in Your Glorious Son, we approach Your throne of grace in His Name, and we ask these things of You:

That in Christ, You would give us the strength to walk together in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called.

That by Your Spirit, You would give us the strength to walk together with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.

That by the power of your grace at work within us, we would be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

For there is one body and one Spirit—just as we were called to the one hope that belongs to our call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Amen.

Introduction

At this time, I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Luke Chapter 2. Luke Chapter 2. We’ll be in verses 8-20 this morning. We’re now in our 3rd week of our mini-series “Songs of Christmas.” As your weekly song leader, it’s a privilege for me to be able to preach within this series, and I want to thank Aiden for leading in my place this morning.

Today, Luke is continuing to describe the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. And as was the case with Mary and with Zechariah the last 2 weeks, we’re going to look at yet another angelic encounter and human response. Only this time, we find ourselves on the other side of Christ’s birth. In verses 1-7 of Luke 2, Mary and Joseph—who were of the line of David—had travelled to the city of David—to Bethlehem—following the decree from Caesar to be registered in the census. And while they were in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. And that brings us to our passage today. So with that being said, if you’re able and willing to do so, I invite you to stand as I read from God’ Word.

Read the Text & Pray

Luke Chapter 2, Verses 8-20. This is the Word of the Lord:

Luke 2:8–20 (ESV)

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And 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 among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Amen. We thank God for giving us His Word. You can have a seat at this time.

Set the Table

Well needless to say, there is some good news within today’s passage. We’re going to consider this good news together, and we’re going to do so under 2 basic headings: hearing the good news and responding to the good news. Since Luke closely follows the shepherds in this account, these headings will directly relate to their own experiences. Yet along the way, we’ll also consider how this passage applies to our own lives as well. My prayer is that in and through our time, we’ll leave this place treasuring up Christ a little more in our hearts and bear increasing fruit by the power of His Spirit.

Explain & Apply the Text

Hearing the Good News (v10-14)

With that being said, let’s go ahead and jump in: Hearing the Good News.

It’s nighttime in rural Judea. The Messiah had just been born in the town of Bethlehem. These shepherds are out in the field, “keeping watch over their flock.” There’s a good chance that the very sheep they were tending were sheep used for temple sacrifices. The shepherds themselves? Well in that day, they were considered to be among the lowest class of people in Palestine. Shepherding was a very humble occupation. And one byproduct of their job meant that they were frequently kept from being able to participate in the religious rituals of their day. Additionally, as lower class citizens, they were often discriminated in the courts of law...prohibited from giving testimony because they were perceived as untrustworthy.

And yet...the Almighty God of the Universe...rather than going to the “higher ups” in Palestine...chooses to visit these lowly shepherds…and proclaim to them & entrust them with some incredible news. He does so through one of His angels to start with.

Luke writes this in verse 9: “an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.”

What an incredible experience this must have been for the Shepherds! Although it kind of got off to a rocky start, didn’t it? It says that “they were filled with great fear!” A couple weeks ago, Keith talked about 2 types of “fearing” of the Lord. One of those is a “dreadful” kind of fear. That’s absolutely what these shepherds were experiencing when the Lord’s Glory shone around them. And again notice here, it wasn’t the glory of this angel shining around them. No, it was the glory of the Lord Himself.

For these lowly shepherds in the dark of night, “God’s glory shining all around them” was terrible news! Yet in verse 10, in response to their fear, this angel of the Lord said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.” Talk about a stark contrast for these Shepherds, right? From dreadful fear, to now—wait, what?—you have good news of great joy!?

So what exactly was this “good news of great joy”? Where did it come from, and who was it for?

First, let’s talk about the source of this good news. Where did it come from? Who did it come from? At first glance, it seems pretty obvious that it came from this angel, right? True. Yet we know that this wasn’t just some rogue angel out acting on its own. If we go back to verse 9, we see that it was an angel of what? An angel “of the Lord.” This was a created being that belonged to its Creator. This angel was the Lord’s instrument…the Lord’s mouthpiece. The word “Angel” actually means “messenger”. And in Scripture, we see angels living up to that name: sometimes delivering messages of judgment from God…and sometimes, as in this case, delivering messages of good news from God.

So ultimately, this Good News…ultimately the Gospel Itself: it is God’s Gospel. He is THEE Source, and it is HIS to give. While it’s an incredible privilege for angels and humans to share the gospel, this gospel doesn’t belong to us. Side note: the fact that it is God’s Gospel is massive reason for us never to tamper with it.

So back to God proclaiming His Good News through this angel of His: what was it all about? What exactly was this “good news of great joy” being proclaimed to these Shepherds? Verse 11 tells us clearly: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” And then in light of this good news, in Verse 12 the angel goes on to tell them how they can go about finding this Baby Messiah.

The long-awaited Offspring…the long-awaited Messiah—promised, prophesied, and anticipated throughout the Old Testament—He was finally here!

But who was this Savior here for? Who was this gospel message for? Verse 10 tells us that this good news was for “all the people.” It wasn’t just for these Jewish Shepherds…it wasn’t just for their Jewish nation…but it was for all people! Friends: while we know that unfortunately not all people will believe the good news of Jesus...that not all people will receive the offer of “Christ for them”.....the offer of Christ is still for all people. So may we strive indiscriminately to offer Christ to all people.

Back to these Jewish Shepherds. We don’t really know much about them, but I’m curious to know how well they were acquainted with the Old Testament Scriptures. Upon hearing this angel’s proclamation, I wonder if the Prophet Isaiah came to mind. About 600 years prior to this night in Bethlehem, Isaiah prophesied these words: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

If these Shepherds knew much at all about the Old Testament Scriptures, they must have known that this was indeed good news of great joy…a gospel message with so many wonderful implications and blessings…all tethered to this Baby.

Beloved: the most important thing we must know about this gospel message is that at the heart of it, it is a message about a Person. It is “a Savior for you.” It is “Jesus Christ for you.” If we’re not careful, there can actually be a danger of losing Christ in the gospel. Here’s what I mean: there are so many wonderful implications and blessings that accompany this good news—things for us like forgiveness, mercy, eternal life. Yet if we’re not careful within our hearts and minds, we can start to detach these blessings from Christ Himself…as if that were even possible. So may we be on guard against this danger…and may all the wonderful blessings that we receive in the gospel stay tethered to the Person of Jesus Himself!

As we continue in Luke’s account, we continue to learn more about the good news of Christ’s birth. And here, it’s actually taught to us in a short song of praise. Who’s singing it? The worship team of all worship teams! Aiden: no offense, but this angelic choir has your 1-man team beat. Check this out: after the one angel shares the good news about Christ’s birth, Luke writes this in Verse 13-14: “And 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 among those with whom he is pleased!”

What a front row seat this must have been for these Shepherds! And here’s the beautiful thing: as this multitude of angels worshipped in response to the proclamation of Christ’s birth, they were also simultaneously singing more gospel truth to these Shepherds. For us, that’s part of the beauty of our own singing…we get to sing the wonderful truths of the gospel to one another!

Here are a couple more things that this angelic song teaches about God’s Gospel:

First, they teach us that God’s Gospel is for His Own Glory. They sang these words: “Glory to God in the highest.” Yes, Christ’s birth was indeed “good news of great joy,” given for the purpose of blessing sinners. But the greater, more ultimate purpose of Christ’s birth is for the glory of God Himself. He is glorified when His mercy is put on display!

The Second thing that these angels teach us is that God’s Gospel is for our Peace. Just a moment ago, I talked about the many implications and blessings of the gospel that are tethered to Christ. This “Peace on earth” is not only one of those many blessings, but I would say that it’s probably the most fundamental blessing of the gospel.

Think with me on this for a moment. God created all of us in His image. And yet, rather than giving Him the perfect & upright worship that He commands and deserves, we sinfully rebel against Him. And what fundamental problem does this create in our relationship with God? Conflict with God. Separation from God. War against God. Anything but peace with God.

So then, what is the most fundamental blessing that rebellious sinners like us need? We need to be at peace with God. And unfortunately, because we’re sinners by nature, this peace with Him can’t possibly be achieved by us. It has to come from outside of us. It has to come from a God Who is merciful…from a God Who desires to be at peace with us in spite of our opposition against Him! We are literally “at His mercy” when it comes to the notion being at peace with God. God is in no way obligated to make peace with us. And yet Praise His Holy Name…He has given us good news declaring that He is indeed merciful, and that He indeed wants peace with sinners like us!

This multitude of angels? Luke calls them a heavenly “host”…literally, a heavenly “army”. And what did God’s heavenly army come to declare to these Shepherds and to all of us? Rather than declaring what would have been a “just war" against us, His army declares “peace” with us.

But who exactly is this “peace on earth” for? This heavenly army sings the answer for us: “on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.”

This peace is for those whom God is pleased with. But how is it that one can even have God’s good pleasure, and therefore be at peace with Him? Even our very best efforts at pleasing God fall miserably short....they are like filthy rags. No human that has ever been born of a woman could ever possibly please God by their own merit. Oh, but wait a minute! One has!

The Prince of Peace Himself has. God the Son. He took on human flesh as a baby. Truly God. Truly man. A birth that would give way to a life that was fully pleasing to His Father. A birth that would give way to a work of reconciliation that was fully pleasing to His Father.

Paul writes this in Galatians:“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

God the Father, out of His desire to set His pleasure upon sinners…out of His desire to make peace with sinners by reconciling them unto Himself…sent His Son. The Son Who already had His eternal pleasure.

But now adding humanity to His Deity, with His incarnate life on earth, Christ went on to prove that He indeed had the good pleasure of His Father…that He and the Father had perfect peace…that He and the Father are one.

And with his sacrificial death, Christ offered up Himself as the perfect peace offering…one that was truly acceptable before the Father.

And then 3 days later with his resurrection, by conquering the grave, Christ vindicated everything that He had accomplished on earth.

Beloved: by doing all of this, Christ made it possible for sinners to be at peace with God and to have His good pleasure upon them. What incredibly good news these lowly Shepherds heard that night…and what incredibly good news that our own lowly selves have also heard. Christ for us.

This good news SCREAMS for a response, doesn’t it?

Responding to the Good News (v15-20)

This brings us to our other heading for this morning: Responding to the Good News.

We already saw the worshipful response the multitude of angels had! But now it’s time for us to take a look at the Shepherds’ response to this good news of Christ’s birth. In this process, we’ll also consider our own response as well.

From this passage, I want to share 2 basic responses to the good news of Christ: One is Faith, and the other is Fruit. Let’s talk about the response of “faith” first.

Faith

Aside from the initial response of “terror”, once the good news of Christ was actually shared with the Shepherds, it’s very clear that they believed this good news! How do we know this? Well the easy answer is that they went directly to Christ, right? I think this is pretty fitting…because as we’ll talk about in a moment, faith is the instrument that connects and unites us to Christ.

But I want to pause us for a moment and ask this question. Is the Shepherd’s “going to Christ” faith or is it fruit? Um..yes?

I would argue that their “going to Christ” is an “act” of faith…and if it’s an “act” of faith, then that act is “flowing from” faith. It’s “evidence of” their faith. So for these Shepherds, their faith yielded the fruit of “going” to Christ.

Friends, I bring this up because it would be very easy for us to run right to the outer fruit and evidence that we see here in verses 15-20—and to be sure, we’re going to get there shortly. But it’s good for us to pause and to first consider the Shepherds’ faith itself.

Luke doesn’t explicitly say that they “believed” this good news, does he? He just kind of jumps right into describing their various actions, right? That being said, I think he does give us a couple clues that we can draw from…clues that will help us learn a little about the Shepherds’ faith that ultimately led them to the newborn Christ.

First, I want to point you to one word at the end of verse 15. It’s the word “known.” It says that through the angels, the Lord made something “known” to them. Made known. In order for the Shepherds (and for us) to have faith, here must be a certain amount of knowledge...and knowledge is tied to faith.

But it’s not just some vague knowledge and faith, right? No, there must be an object to where our knowledge and faith is directed. For these Shepherds, the object of their knowledge and faith was obviously pointing them directly toward Christ Himself.

And yet still, when we’re talking about legitimate faith, there’s another step to take. While there must be knowledge of Christ in order for their to be faith in Christ, faith isn’t merely having knowledge about Him and believing in Him. Even the demons have knowledge about Jesus and believe in Him, right?

Here’s where a Second clue from this passage is helpful. Down in verse 20, it says that in response to what the Shepherds had witnessed, they returned “glorifying” God. Glorifying God. What does it mean to glorify God? It means to exalt Him..to lift Him up. And not just to lift Him up, but to lift His Word up! To treasure the Word that He has given you. Before any outer form of exaltation is ever going to occur, this exaltation must first happen within our hearts. Within our ‘inner person.’

When the angels proclaimed the Word of Christ to these Shepherds, here’s what these Shepherds did NOT do. They did NOT suppress this word that had been given to them. In their hearts, they weren’t just half-heartedly “hearing these angels out.” No, no…they “truly heard” this gospel and had faith in the news about the newborn Christ. They exalted and held high this good news—and Christ Himself—within their hearts and minds. Like Mary, they treasured up all these things.

And so for us as sinners—with God’s peace and good pleasure hanging in the balance—what must be our first (and our ongoing) response to the Word of Christ? We must exalt this message in our hearts in true belief! We must hold up—and truly believe in—the One Whom this message points us to! We must not suppress this good news…nor try to turn this good news into something that we do for God! The gospel is entirely a message about what God has done for us in Christ Jesus! Unto us a Savior has been born. Do you believe Him to be a Sufficient Savior? Our own 1689 confession says this about saving faith: it says that saving faith is “accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life.” AKA, all of our salvation. Beloved: may this be the descriptor of our own faith.

And yet our own faith itself is actually a gift from God, right? And by God’s grace, this gift of faith seals us with His Spirit, signifying His peace and His pleasure upon us. How so? Because faith is the instrument that connects us to the Prince of Peace Himself…to the One Whom the Father is perfectly pleased with. Faith is the instrument that unites us to Christ in His pleasing life, death, and resurrection. And if we are united to the One Whom the Father is perfectly pleased with, then “in Christ” the Father is perfectly pleased with us.

Paul writes this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ—[in Christ…united to Him by faith]—he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself..”

“Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled.” All of this is by God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Beloved: each and every day, may we continue to respond to the Gospel’s refrain with believing hearts.

Fruit

This brings us to the 2nd basic response that the good news of Christ calls us to. As I’ve mentioned, it’s crucial to remember that God’s peace and good pleasure upon us fully depends on our faith in Christ alone. And yet, it’s just as important for us to also remember that legitimate faith in Christ doesn’t stand alone. Our response to the gospel must not only be one of faith, but our faith must be accompanied by fruit! And here’s the good news: if we’re abiding in union with Christ by faith, that means that Christ is the Vine and we are His branches. That means that He is our sustenance for fruit-bearing…and by His Spirit within us, He WILL bear fruit in and through our lives. So may we be encouraged by that…and may we strive “in the power of His Spirit” to bear much fruit!

So, let’s talk about the response of “fruit” to the gospel. No pun intended here, but we’ll be “gleaning” from verses 15-20. I am a dad now!

Immediately after receiving the good news of Christ’s birth, right away we start to see some fruit show up these Shepherds’ lives. Flowing from hearts of faith in the promised Messiah, these men start doing some things, right? Let’s walk through verses 15 through 20 and consider some different types of fruit that Luke writes about.

Verse 15 says this: “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

From this verse alone, we can observe two kinds of fruit flowing from these faith-filled Shepherds: Desiring to See Christ and Spurring One Another On Toward Christ.

Desiring to See Christ (v15)

First, Desiring to See Christ. Legitimate faith in Christ will be accompanied by the desire to see Him. The Shepherds leave no doubt about their desire to go and see Christ. They heard all the good news they needed…it was go-time!

Isn’t that what also happens to us when we come to faith in Christ? When we first truly “heard” the Word of Christ proclaimed to us, the Lord regenerated our hearts, and by His Spirit within us, we had a newfound desire to freely come to Him! A newfound desire to turn away from our sin and look unto Him in faith! And yet legitimate faith doesn’t just look to Christ once, does it? No, no…legitimate faith keeps coming on back to Christ…keeps repenting of sin…keeps turning back to Him…and ultimately keeps looking unto Christ until we literally do see Him one day!

Beloved: may the fruit of “our desire to see Christ” increase all the more. May we strive to see Christ more in our lives!

Spurring One Another On Toward Christ (v15)

Now let’s talk about the second kind of fruit from verse 15: Spurring One Another On Toward Christ. “The Shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.”

Upon receiving the Word of Christ in faith, these fellow Shepherds encouraged one another to go see their newborn Savior. Think about it: they were there tending their sheep. One of the Shepherds could have very well tried hindering the others’ in their desire to go see Christ. But we don’t have any record of that! Instead of hindering, we see them spurring one another on toward Christ!

Brothers and Sisters: while our relationship with Christ is indeed very personal, by no means is it private. We are to walk this Christian life together. And on this journey, may we never hinder one another from Christ. May we strive to do just the opposite! May we consider the many ways that we can go about doing this, and may this kind of fruit increase in our lives!

Eager Obedience to Christ (v16)

Let’s move on to verse 16 now, and let’s see what other kind of fruit these Shepherds display in response to hearing and believing the gospel. Luke writes this: “And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.”

From this verse, flowing from their hearts of faith, we also see Eager Obedience from these Shepherds. Eager Obedience. They didn’t merely have a desire to go to Christ...nor did they merely encourage one another to go to Christ. They actually went! And they didn’t just go, but they went “with haste” as it says. The angel proclaimed to them that there would be a sign...that they would find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Now this isn’t the most explicit command in the world, but it’s implicitly pretty obvious, right? What’s the command? GO TO HIM! And in response, these Shepherds were quick and eager in their obedience! May the same be true of us.

Earlier, I mentioned that a foundational part of faith involves exalting the good news in our hearts and minds…treasuring up within us the good message of what Christ has done, rather than suppressing it. Well when it comes to legitimate faith, this kind of inward posture doesn’t just apply to God’s Word regarding what He has done for us…it also applies to what He commands us to do!

Thankfully, because of God’s Gospel, we are no longer under condemnation to God’s Law. Christ has set us free. Now safely in Christ, we are at peace with God, and His good pleasure is upon us. But that doesn’t mean that His Law no longer has any bearing on our lives. May it never be! As our 1689 confession says, “God’s moral law forever requires obedience!”

Friends: God’s commands are good…and He is pleased to give them to us for our good...for the good of our neighbor, and for His Glory. And thankfully we have the strength of the Gospel —the strength of Christ’s Spirit in Us—to fill us with gratitude, motivate us, and empower us toward eager obedience.

Some time ago, I was having a conversation with a professing brother in Christ from another church. We were talking about the gospel as it relates to obedient living. And I asked him this question: “when Christ is being powerfully held out to you...when the good news about Him is powerfully being proclaimed to you, does that make you then want to go out and sin?” His response? “Yes, it does.”

Beloved: may that never be our response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In light of this wonderful news, may the fruit of “eager obedience” increase in our lives.

Spreading the Good News of Christ (v17-19)

As we keep working our way through this passage, let’s take a look now at verse 17. At this point, the Shepherds had just arrived at the manger, and when they saw the newborn Christ, it says that they did this: “they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.”

What kind of fruit are we now seeing from these Shepherds? They’re evangelizing! They’re Spreading the Good News of Christ. Just as the angels had done earlier in their presence, they themselves were now carrying God’s Gospel with them! They themselves were now messengers and mouthpieces of God.

We can only imagine some of the details about how these Shepherds went about sharing with Mary, Joseph, and Company. In my own head, I imagine them simply being in awe of this moment…getting to see the long-awaited Christ with their own eyes...pointing to this child, repeating the words of the angel, only in a more intimate and personal way now: “Unto us is born this Savior…He is Christ our Lord.” Maybe they even sang the exact same song that the angels had sung in their midst earlier.

However all the details played out, one thing is certain: these Shepherds were spreading the good news of Christ! And immediately we see the Ripple Effect. Verse 18-19 says this: “And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

Beloved: there are literally people EVERYWHERE for us to share the good news of Christ with. Both believers and unbelievers. Think about this: Mary and Joseph were already exalting Christ in their hearts as they held him in their arms. That didn’t stop the Shepherds from sharing this good news with them. We see that Mary “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Friends, as Christians, our faith always has room for more nurturing and growing. Faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word of Christ! So may we “let the word of Christ dwell in us richly!”

Verse 18 seems to indicate that there were more than just Mary and Joseph listening in as these Shepherds’ evangelized. It says that “all who heard it wondered at what the Shepherds told them.” We aren’t really told who these people are, but maybe it included folks who were believing in this Promised Christ for the very first time.

Loved ones: the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Consider the normal rhythm of your own lives for a moment. Who are the people that you typically come in contact with? Do you know anyone who hasn’t trusted Christ yet? If so…may Lord give you strength to simply do what these Shepherds did: “make known” the good news of Jesus that you yourself exalt in your hearts. I guarantee ya that these lowly Shepherds did NOT sound like seasoned theologians as they were sharing the Gospel! They simply shared what they themselves had been told. Let’s be careful not to over-complicate evangelism.

Brothers and Sisters: by God’s grace, may the fruit of “our evangelism” increase among the believers and unbelievers in our lives who need to hear the gospel!

Perpetually Praising God for Christ (v20)

Well, there’s one last kind of fruit for us to look at this morning, and it comes in verse 20. The Shepherds have now left the presence of the newborn Christ, and Luke writes this: “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

What a night to remember for these Shepherds. What a mountain-top experience for them, right? And after all of this, we find them returning from their time with Christ, “glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, and been told.” Friends: the fruit that we’re seeing here from them is this: they are Perpetually Praising God for Christ. Unto them, a Savior had been born! And even though they were no longer literally in His presence, they were continuing to exalt Him in their hearts. And flowing from these faith-filled hearts was the fruit of “praise”…praising God for all that He had done.

When it comes to these Shepherds, we don’t know what the rest of their lives looked like. We just know that they “returned.” I’m assuming that means back to their lowly shepherding lives. Back to being viewed among the lowest class in their society. Back to being discriminated in the courts of law. Back to having their testimony considered untrustworthy.

And yet they returned with quite the testimony, didn’t they? They now had the Testimony of Christ dwelling richly in their hearts. They had faith in this Savior that had been born unto them. God had set His peace and His good pleasure upon them, which brought them great joy. And from their faith-filled hearts, the fruit of worshipping and praising God continued on in their lives.

Beloved: like these Shepherds, we too find ourselves physically away from Christ. But for us, He’s not “away in a manger”...He’s on His Heavenly Throne. And as difficult as it is to be away from Him, like these Shepherds, we too have heard and believed some incredible news. Unto us a child was born. One who lived and was obedient to the point of death in order to reconcile us unto God. One who rose to life in victory. One who ascended to His Heavenly Throne. And it was good for Him to leave and ascend there. For from on high, He has sent us His Spirit. His Spirit Who has enlivened us to faith. His Spirit Who unites us unto Himself. His Spirit Who will continue to graciously bear fruit in and through us...until One Day when we share in His firstfruit Resurrection…and we see Him face to face.

Saints: may we treasure up this good news in our hearts…especially for when the trials of life come our way. No matter what our earthly callings are —whether we’re shepherds or whether we’re lawyers—life is filled with suffering. And while trials are meant to refine our faith, sometimes they can also reveal just how weak our faith is at times.

But may we take heart. Even the smallest and weakest amount of faith still unites us to our Strong Savior.

So in the days that lie ahead…with whatever trials come our way…feeble as our faith may or may not be at times…by the power of Christ’s Spirit within us, may the fruit of praise continue to spring forth from our hearts. May we perpetually praise God for giving us Christ. For Christ is our Peace. Christ is our Good News of Great Joy. Christ is our sustenance for bearing fruit. Glory to God in the highest!

Closing Prayer

Closing Benediction

As always, it’s been a blessing to be together this morning. I invite you to receive our closing benediction:

Romans 15:13 ESV

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.