A Thrill of Hope - Part 4

Luke 2:20 NLT

The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Introduction

Worship surrounds the Christmas story. (KEYWORD)

Doesn’t God deserve our worship? Can we just take a moment and really considered what it is that He did for us?

PAUSE - PRAISE BREAK

Despite the controversy surrounding the song O Holy Night, Cappeau had to be moved in order to write the words to this well loved song.

1 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 soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices! O night divine! O night when Christ was born! O night divine! O night, O night divine!

2 Led by the light of faith serenely beaming, with glowing hearts by His cradle we stand. So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming, there came the wise men from Orient land. The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger; in all our trials born to be our friend. He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger. Behold your King; before Him lowly bend! Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!

3 Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever! His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim! His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!

I love this song because it so accurately describes the idea of worship, at least to me.

I can identify with it.

Which part is your favorite?

Fall on your knees! Oh hear the angel voices! Oh night divine! Oh night when Christ was born! Oh night divine! O night, O night divine!

Or maybe Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

Whichever your favorite verse/chorus its all about worship.

The Christmas story has no shortage of people who worshipped God. There were:

Elizabeth & Zechariah

Mary & Joseph

The angels

Simeon & Anna

The Wise men

and as our text revealed one of my favorite groups of people who worshipped God: the shepherds. Maybe I like them so much because they are ordinary people just like you and me.

Can you picture yourself there that Holy Night as the angel came to the shepherds and told them this special message?

“I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David. (Luke 2:10-11)

When the lowly shepherds heard this they had to go see! (KEYWORD)

The Shepherds Found Jesus

To me, it is completely amazing that God would send His messenger to tell the greatest news ever to lowly sheep herders.

These were men who were not welcomed in the town. They were not priests or Levites. They were ordinary folks.

They probably smelled bad, spending most of their time outdoors.

They were probably a lot like us, just good ole boys.

Isn’t it like God to use the normal, everyday things and people to do some of His greatest work. (LET THAT SINK IN)

What is really great about this story is that when these ordinary, smelly men got the message, they did not hesitate — they went to see!

Have you ever thought about this: maybe God told the Shepherds because they didn’t have a problem going into a barn?

God may be calling some of us to go into places others would not go.

When they got there, they found Jesus. It was just like God said it would be. There is an important truth in Scripture for all of us to get ahold of.

God cannot lie - everything He says is true.

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”

Titus 1:2 “This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.”

Hebrews 6:18 “So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.”

Let us live our lives with the truth of these facts. If God said it, it will happen! (SLIDE)

The Shepherds Worshipped Jesus

The passage we started off with in Luke says that the Shepherds went back to their flocks after telling everyone what happened and they glorified and praised God for all they had heard and seen.

These lowly Shepherds worshipped Jesus! (KEYWORD)

They worshipped a baby!

They worshipped God because He brought salvation to all mankind through this one child.

As we have said before, this was just the beginning, but they worshipped ahead of what was to be.

Salvation was only initiated at Jesus’ birth but what He did on the cross purchased it!

Did the Shepherds worship Jesus prematurely?

Did they put the cart in front of the horse, so to say?

Story of our Christmas decorations:

We put up our Christmas decorations in October. It may seem a little weird to many people but we don’t support Halloween but we want to send a clear message to those who come around for some candy that Jesus is Lord and Savior. One year some kids came to get candy and my wife apologized to the children for all the Christmas decorations and the Christmas music she was playing on the front porch. One little boy, so cute in his little costume, turned around with a big smile and said, “Its never too early to celebrate Jesus!”

What true and wise words this little boy spoke that day: It is never too early to worship Jesus. (KEYWORD) (SLIDE)

You may not see what you have been looking for just yet, but worship Jesus ahead of that!

You may not see the promise in fulfillment yet, but worship Jesus ahead of that!

We may not be with Jesus in heaven and living here in our temporary home, but worship Jesus ahead of that!

Worship As You Go

If the Shepherds can teach us anything it is to worship as we go. (KEYWORD)

Some people are waiting for a breakthrough before they lift their hands and worship God, or start volunteering, or going to church, or talking to someone about the Lord. That breakthrough may never happen the way you think it will. But you have to worship as you go!

Worship is like giving. Some say they will start giving when they win the lottery. What makes you think that will happen. If you don’t give on $500-600 a week, you won’t give on 5 million. Money only makes you more of what you already are. You are either generous or you are stingy.

Don’t be stingy with your worship - worship as you go!

You don’t have to wait to be in heaven, you can start now.

If you don’t worship now, I question if you will worship then.

David Worshipped

There is a story in 2 Samuel about King David where we can see the power of worship on display. (KEYWORD)

David knew the value of worshipping God ahead of a promise being fulfilled. David worshipped as he went.

Israel lost the ark, the chest that represented God’s presence. It had fallen into the hands of the Philistines, Israel’s enemy.

David attempted to bring the ark home but was met with disaster. You may remember the story of Uzzah and how he was struck down for touching the ark to steady it as the ox stumbled. (READ 2 SAMUEL 6 FOR MORE)

The ark was placed in the care of one of my favorite Bible characters who is often overlooked: Obed-edom.

After the ark remained with Obed-edom for three months, David regrouped and did things God’s way and retrieved the ark.

Look at the passage with me:

2 Samuel 6:12–15 NLT

Then King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration. After the men who were carrying the Ark of the Lord had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.

There would have been around 10,000 animals sacrificed during those 7.5 - 9 miles.

All of this meat would not have been thrown away. It would have used to feed the people. There was a great feast for all Israel. It was a cause for great celebration.

It takes a long time to walk 7 1/2 miles but imagine what it would have been like to do it the way King David did, taking 6 steps and then slaughtering a bull and calf. That takes some time! But it didn’t matter.

It was not about how long it took it was about God’s presence being with them. (SLIDE)

That is our story too! It is not about getting there as quickly as we can or as efficiently as we can, it is about being in God’s presence as we go!

It may take a while to get to where you are going, but that’s okay!

King David worshipped as he went.

The Shepherds worshipped as they went.

Let us be like them and worship as we go!

Before we dismiss and go enjoy our time together around the table, I want to leave you with a word of advice.

God is Present in the Present

In the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season it is easy to get distracted and lose sight of the things that are important.

We must remember that God is present in the present. (KEYWORD)

Many people are on the countdown to Christmas. It is only a few days away.

Our challenge is to stay focused on who God is and what He is doing in our lives right now.

Worship is keeping God with us. Its about recognizing Immanuel.

We worship God even though we may not see the promise in fulfillment. We know His promises will always come true.

Christmas reminds us that :

Jesus’ birth was the initiation of our salvation

Jesus’ death was the purchase of our salvation

Jesus’ resurrection was the guarantee of our salvation

and Jesus’ return will the the fulfillment of our salvation

We can worship the Lord for what He’s done, what He’s doing, and what He’s going to do! (SLIDE)