Embracing the Message of Christmas

A Christmas Worth Celebrating

1. The Shepherds: “You don’t have to be alienated and afraid of Jesus”

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”

Luke 2:8-9 (NIV)

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. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Luke 2:10-12 (NIV)

· Jesus will save you

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

Luke 2:20 (NIV)

2. Simeon: “You don’t have to wait and hope any longer for Jesus”

That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

"Lord, now I can die in peace!

As you promised me,

I have seen the Savior

you have given to all people.

He is a light to reveal God to the nations,

and he is the glory of your people Israel!"

Luke 2:27-32 (NLT)

· Jesus will satisfy you

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Rev 3:20 (NIV)

3. The Wise Men: “You don’t have to seek and search any longer for Jesus”

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Matt 2:11 (NIV)

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jer 29:13 (NIV)

“And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

Matt 2:12 (NIV)

· Jesus will steer you

Getting personal:

· Which character of Christmas do you most identify with?

· Will you personally embrace Jesus by faith this Christmas?

What do people believe about the birth of Christ?

A few weeks ago Newsweek Magazine conducted a poll asking some questions about Christ and His birth.*

Here are some of the results:

67% - believe that the entire story of Christmas is historically accurate

24% - believe the story of Christmas is a theological invention

If Jesus had never born, people believed there would be:

63% - less charity
61% - less kindness
59% - less personal happiness
58% - less tolerance

47% - more war (16% say less, 26% say the same)
38% - less religious divisions (21% say more, 26% say the same)

Source: NEWSWEEK Poll

It is interesting what people believe about Christmas, isn’t it?

What do you believe about Christmas?

What is it all about?

Charlie Brown is having a difficult time…he is feeling that the Christmas message is lost amid all the seasonal glitter.

Psychiatrist Lucy suggest a cure: get involved with a Christmas play!

When he sets out to direct a Christmas play…things go from bad to worse…culminating with his bad choice of a Christmas tree.

He finally cries out in frustration…What is the meaning of Christmas?

Watch what happens…

[video clip: A Charlie Brown Christmas 19:29--22:0]

What is Christmas all about?

Linus knew the answer:

Christmas is all about Jesus!

We know the answer here (in our head) but have we embraced the message in our hearts?

God wants you to personally embrace the message of Christmas.

How can you personally embrace the message of Christmas?

We are going to take a look at three characters from the Christmas story.

More than likely you will be able to identify with at least one of the characters from the Christmas story.

As you do let God speak to you about getting personal with Him and about embracing His message for your life.

First of all let’s look at the shepherds…some of you can identify with them.

Why?

Because they teach us:

1. “You don’t have to be alienated and afraid of Jesus”

That is the message that the shepherds proclaim to us.

You see, the shepherds speak to those of us who feel alienated and afraid.

In Luke 2 we see their story.

Luke 2:8-9 says,

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”

Luke 2:8-9 (NIV)

There are two clear observations about the shepherds: they were alienated and afraid.

The appearance of a real angel to shepherds was unbelievable.

In the eyes of many, an angel would never appear to a shepherd.

Why?

Shepherds were really outcasts in Israel.

Their work not only made them ceremonially unclean, but it kept them away from the temple for weeks at a time so that they could not be made clean.

Shepherds would seldom be found praising and worshipping God; as a result they were looked upon as anything but worshippers.

Their reputation was lowly at best, and religious people snubbed and ignored them.

They were despised because they were unable to attend services and to keep the ceremonial laws of washing and cleansing.

They were alienated from people and from God.

But God’s message from the example of the shepherds is:

God meets us where we are.

There is no place we can go where God won’t find us…even out in a dark lonely field.

Some of you think you are so far gone, God doesn’t even know your address.

You feel somehow that God might be able to work in other people’s lives…but He couldn’t possibly draw close to you.

Let me set your heart at ease…God loves you and He knows your address.

God’s message found the Shepherds out in a lonely field and it will find us today if we will listen.

What is the message?

Luke 2:10-11

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. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Luke 2:10-12 (NIV)

You don’t have to be afraid…you don’t have to be alienated anymore… because Jesus is Savior and Lord!

God is speaking that same message to us this morning!

It is a message that is personal:

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you”

Luke 2:11(NIV)

Like the shepherds we can rejoice that Jesus came to the earth for us to be our Savior.

It is a message of peace:

The angels said in v.14

14 "Glory to God in the highest,

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

Because Jesus came to be our Savior we can have peace with God.

The birth of Christ speaks loud and clear: When you embrace Jesus, you don’t have to be alienated anymore…you don’t have to be afraid.

You see my friend what you need to hear today is:

· Jesus will save you

Jesus is within your reach…no matter how far you have strayed from God.

That was the testimony of the shepherds when they personally found the Savior.

Notice what they said in v.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.

Luke 2:20 (NIV)

That can be your testimony today…by turning to Jesus.

Some of you can identify with Simeon.

Simeon teaches us:

2. “You don’t have to wait and hope any longer for Jesus”

Have you ever had a hope and a dream that you thought would never come true?

I know personally that some of us have had hopes and dreams that we thought would never be fulfilled in our lifetime.

Some of us were wondering if the Buckeyes would ever win another national championship…

We had been waiting since 1969.

Then the 2002 came along…we went undefeated and played the Miami hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl

The night of the game a bunch of us gathered in the Activity Center to watch what many of us thought would never happen in our lifetime.

We sat back there and saw it unfold before our own eyes…The dream came true…the Bucks beat Miami for the National Championship!

It was quite a sight in the Activity Center when the Bucks beat Miami…grown men hugging each other and giving high fives…you talk about some happy people.

Why?

Because for many of us it was a hope and a dream that we thought might never be fulfilled!

You see, like many of us, Simeon had a hope and a dream…but it was on a much grander scale than a football game.

God had promised that Simeon would live to see the promised Messiah.

He had all his life held on to God’s promise of a coming deliverer.

But each year as Simeon grew older, he must have wondered if this year would bring the fulfillment of the promise.

But then one day everything changed.

Let’s pick up his story in Luke 2:27:

That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

"Lord, now I can die in peace!

As you promised me,

I have seen the Savior

you have given to all people.

He is a light to reveal God to the nations,

and he is the glory of your people Israel!"

Luke 2:27-32 (NLT)

Some of you have been waiting and hoping that somehow, some way you could embrace Jesus.

You’ve wondered can it really be true…that Jesus can fulfill my life and satisfy my deepest longings.

You have heard other people talk about it…but for you the hope and dream of Jesus becoming real to you has been elusive.

My friend you don’t have to wait and hope any longer…You see, you can embrace Him by faith today!

In fact God’s Spirit is speaking to hearts today…just as he spoke to Simeon.

He wants us to embrace Jesus personally by faith.

You don’t have to wait and hope any longer for Jesus:

· Jesus will satisfy you

We can embrace Him by faith…today!

Jesus says,

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Rev 3:20 (NIV)

Will you invite Him into your life today?

Will you?

Some of you can identify with the Wise Men.

The Wise Men teach us:

3. “You don’t have to seek and search any longer for Jesus”

The Wise Men have always been the mysterious characters in the Christmas story.

There is a lot we don’t know about them.

We don’t know:

· exactly where they came from

· don’t know exactly how many wise men came

· we don’t know exactly when they arrived

But we do know some things about them:

· We do know they weren’t women.

How?

If they would have been wise women:

· They would have stopped and asked for directions

· They would have arrived on time

· They would have helped deliver the baby

· Cleaned the stable

· Made a casserole

· And brought baby gifts!

We also know:

· They did not arrive at the stable

· Instead they found Jesus in a house probably close to 2 years after his birth

The most important thing we know about the wise men, was that after a long search:

· They found Jesus and worshiped Him.

We pick up their story at the end of their journey in Matt 2:11,

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Matt 2:11 (NIV)

That is the most important part of the story…they found Jesus and worshiped Him.

Some of you have been searching for Jesus for a long time.

And you can’t seem to find Him.

You’re asking the same question the Wise Men asked in v. 2: "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?

It is a question many people are asking today.

But a lot of people don’t even know that they are searching for Jesus…they just know that something is missing in their life.

That something is a special Someone…Jesus!

Even though you may be saying “I can’t seem to find Him!”… I’ve good news for you.

He can be found…by faith.

Those who truly seek Him find Him.

That is what God says.

In Jer 29:13 God says,

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jer 29:13 (NIV)

And the neat thing about finding Jesus is: He will change your life.

Like the Wise Men…when you find Him…you will worship Him and He will change the direction of your life!

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Matt 2:12 (NIV)

He comes into our confusing world and brings relevancy.

He not only saves us and satisfies us He steers us in the right direction.

You don’t have to seek and search any longer for Jesus:

· Jesus will steer you

My friend if you are here today thinking that something is missing in your life…your search is over…seek Him with all your heart today…and He will be found.

Wise Men seek Him and find Him!

Getting personal:

· Which character of Christmas do you most identify with?

· Will you…personally embrace Jesus by faith this Christmas?