I Bring You Good News

What are your visiting for the holidays and I'm not going to start calling out names because I'm going to miss someone but I'm going to call out One Pastor. Dan is here with us if you want to stand for just a minute there.

Pastor Dan left Hong Kong 3 years ago 4 years ago, but he keeps coming back and we get to see him from time to time. He had the position that that I have now and so it's just a delight to see you start the start the message that we're going to extend Christmas one more week. I know Christmas is last week. We're going to talk about a Christmas-themed and if you're used to in the Philippines Christmas lasting for months, I want to let you know that that's nothing we have that in America to I mean in the Philippines they start in September and they go till December in America where I come from just put up your your decorations late November and because of all the snow and ice you can't take them down till March. So Christmas last for four months for us to anyway, we're going to extend one more one more week here and I want to thank Angela for allowing us to have her painting here a lot of you heard the story. About that at the Christmas banquet it started off a year ago. When we looked at the Luke 2:10 there and we focused on for all the people that the good news is for all the people in that got Angeles wheels turning you can come up there and count the number of hands that there are Angela doesn't know either that there's hundreds of hands. They're receiving the baby Jesus who is coming for all the people and thank you so much for letting us use that today. I want to focus on a couple other words there and that is good news. Want to talk about the good news and what the good news is I actually see that there are four Christmas messages here and maybe sometime in the future will do that, but you could easily get I bring you and then good news great and for all the people. And we're going in and out here. So stick with me and we'll do this, but I want to talk a little bit about what the good news is you've heard a lot about the good news over Christmas. You've heard the term but really what is the good news? And by the way, I want to let you know there are sermon outlines that you can use in the bulletin. If you didn't pick one up go ahead and do that and I have also picked up something else as I've been sitting out there among you I realize that something you want to take notes with your by taking photos and that's perfectly acceptable. You can do that and I can make it easier to do that. The slides will build Point upon point upon until the slide fills up and it's always a game to know when to take that photo. Do you take that photo? You know at the third point the fourth Point V Point wherever it is. I'm so what I do. I was just thinking about this this week when it's time to take a photo. They'll be a little camera logo at the bottom. Okay, and you can just take the photo then and you won't have to I just use up all the memory on your phone, you know if you guessed too early. So anyway the good news. What is it?

I was looking for a book. That was a book that would be worthwhile to give to our children's leaders. I was looking in in probably late November December and I probably spent too much time looking cuz I was having a good time looking through books and I found one. And some people may recognize it. It's titled ship them Jesus by a man named Jack klumpenhower. I never heard of him before but I love the book because of the first chapter where it talked about the good news. The great thing about the book is it goes on for an entire book? I don't know how many pages 150 Pages talking about how to show the good news to children. And that's fantastic because our children need to hear the good news of Jesus. But you know, the bad thing about the book is somebody's going to get that and they're going to think that the good news is only for children because this guy could write 150 pages and focusing on children know it's not the good news is for all of us. And so if you want to read the book, it's fantastic stration is a little bit and you can have good news for shepherd's you can have good news for wise men. You can have good news for anyone you can have good news for us. And that's what we want to look at. The good news is really not a religious word and I have chosen if I can if I can discipline myself to use the term good news instead of gospel because gospel sounds sort of like a religious word. We've made it into this religious were the gospel actually means good news and good news is not a religious word in that it's something that's come down throughout the Old Testament or something and all of a sudden it Springs forth herein of the New Testament with new meaning and all that. It was just a common word that Good news is something that newspapers would use the news reporters would use the messengers would use to say that something good is about to happen and in the Greek language. I know no Greek. I Google help me learn how to pronounce this and so we'll see how I do you and galian is the Greek word for it. It means simply good news and it was something that was quite common. It was good news that brought a message from a from a different part of the Empire to The Listener. It may be that a the news of a new emperor or winning. The war might have happened. And so that news had to share the news happened and somebody shared the news with them and that's exactly what the Angels were doing.

In Luke 2:10, they were sharing the good news with the shepherd's something had happened. The news was not that the Shepherds would go and do something the news already happening in the shepherd's responded to that news. The baby was born in case and so what you is this good news being shared with people. I'm sorry. There's the photo icon first one. Okay, don't want to skip over it. You'll have it there Mark Luke and Paul picked up on this term. And we know it now has the gospel and we know that this good news is a part of the message that we have is Christians. They used it over a hundred times you can you can look through Mark the Gospel of Luke acts the 13 books by by the Apostle Paul and you see repeatedly they're talkin about this idea that the good news is something to be shared the good news became the central expression of the church and what's going on. We'll see how that how that plays out here with the good news and what it means were us as Believers, but something that you will immediately see is that the good news makes Christianity different. It's very different. Then what we usually look at as a typical religion.

Typical religions look at how I can do something to gain favor with whatever God it is that I'm worshipping. There's something that I must do and then I will get something in return in some ways. It's almost that we try to work the system or manipulate the system so that I can obligate the god to owe me something we often times see this in our self-help thinking in our in our in our society and in gaining money and gaining prestige in gaining power. I do something I get something back. It's a transactional thing where there's an obligation because I do this the other party has to do that and it becomes very much a system of manipulation and and and and just simply a transaction but the gospel is something different. It's not the kind of thing where you do something to earn something. That's that's getting a paycheck. That's getting what you deserve. Christianity is getting what we don't deserve.

Sorry, I think Christianity is often times package. That way though. Christianity is often times package. If you do this, if you do the right things then you'll get something if you come to church on a regular basis that will earn points with God. No, it'll change your heart but it doesn't earn points with God if I read my Bible on a regular basis points with God. No, that'll help you understand God, but that doesn't earn points with God.

Often times we say well if we take the good suggestions that Jesus has he was a good teacher had a lot of good suggestions and I take those good suggestions. Old earn points with God know your life will be better, but you don't earn points with God. But you need to see how this works. What is the gospel?

Jesus didn't bring just a typical religion. He didn't just say that here's a system of give-and-take. If you if you look way back into the Old Testament the Covenant that God made with Abraham a covenant is typically a contract between one party and another party. One-party has certain obligations. The other party has certain obligations in the case of the Covenant that God had with Abraham. God did both parts. He paid both parts of that Covenant. We see that Covenant model then as we come to Jesus.

Jesus didn't bring a typical religion Jesus brought good news. An event that happened it's not the response that we give to the event the event happened. He brought good news. Now. Let's take an example from a newspaper. Or the television news or whatever kind of news internet news, whatever news you want news typically now gets more play if it's negative news instead of good news that you got to have that got to have the bad thing now here in Hong Kong. We experienced a T10 typhoon.

Most of you were here for that some of you who around the world were praying for us. We had this typhoon that knocked out the windows that they're just now getting repaired in the building across the street here. That Chichen made the news reports front page first story because it was a major event that happened. The T10 either happened or was going to happen depending on what day you were looking at the report?

It did not affect whether I accepted the fact that the T10 was coming. The G10 was coming whether I believed it or not. My response to the T10 would be indicated by how I believe the news report.

You need to see that as you look at what the good news is what the gospel is. It's an event that happened because Jesus came and as The Story Goes On from Christmas till Easter. This story is an event that happens where God provided a story of good news. Now the question is what am I going to do with that good news. What am I going to do? Do I believe that the news is really good. Do I believe that Something's Happened. Am I going to put the tape on my window? Am I going to stay inside on the day that the typhoon comes? Where am I going to go hiking up on the mountain top?

How I believe that news depends on what I do with that news. It doesn't affect the news my my thoughts about it does not affect whether that T10 was coming or not. It came. And so let's look at this just a little bit.

The good news means that you relate to God based on what Jesus has done for you. Jesus has already done it. He brought the good news.

It's not what you've done to prove yourself worthy. If I'm good enough if I take enough of these suggestions if I do the right things. Jesus has already done it. If you're a Believer a Believer, someone who believe the news report that came then the good news says that God already accept you fully. Because you're joined to Jesus. Not what I do, it's not what you do. It's what God done for us. by sending the Christ of Christmas

by Jesus going to the cross at Easter.

Believing this means that my life will change. My life will change because of what I believe. I'll have a hungry iron grip on Jesus not because I have to but because I want to some people say we don't have all these rules how we going to know how to live with the Christian Life. I want to honor God. I want to please him. I want to love him. I can rest in him because the good news has changed my life. All your effort to obey will be a response to what he's already done. It's not a performance on my part to earn his good favor. There's no pressure. There's a false front that I put up.

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sometimes though. The good news is I'm presented this way. And I just want to change that I want to change it so that it's a love relationship with a God who presented Jesus as the baby at Christmas and the savior is stir the God who loves us.

Sometimes the good news is presented as merely an example to follow. Not a lord to love.

Love has a stronger Bond than some rules that we have to follow. As I looked at this book that I had mentioned earlier Jack klumpenhower gives a quote here that had me thinking for a little bit. What a tyrant Jesus would be if you lived a perfect life, isn't that Jesus Jesus lived this perfect life and he's talking the author is writing this for for teachers who work with children would be a terrible set up for our children to say Club. Jesus was perfect. I want you to be perfect two.

Put a timer on Jesus would be if you lived a perfect life and then as his main message, he told us you like him. What are set up for failure who could do that? What discouragement and worry would Mark Our Lives? We must understand that are Central. Hope is Jesus's full saving work. Not just as instructions. Someone else's written on this subject is Timothy Keller. The gospel is not the good news of what we can do to be saved, but the good news of what has already been done to save us. God has already provided it all. God has already provided this good news. We can respond to that good news. We must understand that are Central. Hope is in Jesus as full safety work. Not just his instructions.

We find out then that the good news is for sharing the angel started with it.

And I need to say this just to encourage us. Will do that in somewhat of a clumsy way. We'll share it would not have. Everything said the right way our tongue Mega tide.

Because we're used to sharing the thing of you need to improve your life as you improve your life. You will then become a better person. God wants to change us from the inside out.

So we have the example of the angels. We also have

We also have Peter. Who is present with Jesus? When he wrote 1st Peter, he said always be prepared to give an answer to any everyone who asked you to give a reason for the hope that you have but do this with gentleness and respect.

In the book of Acts is just simply filled with sharing the good news.

I started looking through the book of Acts and trying I was going to count up the number of times a good news with Cher not just not just the word good news being used. But how many times was the good news shared? I found out that almost every chapter in Acts has some sharing of the good news. Sometimes that share two and three times. It's a great place for us to learn we can see how someone else did it. If you look good acts chapter 2, you'll see an example of how the good news. We shared Peter stands up with a crowd that had questions. They wondered what was going on in the city of Jerusalem. It seemed like the city was in chaos. They were still talking about the event that it happened a few weeks earlier of Jesus rising from the dead and now he's gone to heaven. A lot of discussion and so Pete shares what the good news? Is he explains what's happening? He goes through the history of Israel and he shares that and as the people hear the good news they say, what should we do? What should we do?

And it's at that point Peter responds with repent. Change your life believe in this Jesus you come.

And let God change your life. So often times when I share I want to start with the repent I can see that your life is a mess if you would repent God can change you. It's already done everything. We need to speak God in this message. This good news into people's lives and then they can see how God can change their life. We find just happening over and over again. Like I said in the book of Acts Peter and John and chapter 4 share the good news with a man who is crippled.

And they speak the good news to him. The audience was a Jewish audience and Sir John of Peter and John simply share their testimony their testimony of what God has done in their life how God has given them the good news and now they want to share it.

I'm struck by chapter 17 in Acts. There's a number of times when the good news is Sheridan in chapter 17 find Paul going to the city of Athens. Athens was a Greek city a city with with culture steeped in the Greek Greek tradition. It was different than the Jewish setting that the gospel have been shared in a lot of times before you remember the Apostle Paul walks into the City and they had so many temples in God's they had Gods everywhere. They had temples everywhere. They wanted to be sure to have them all covered. They want to have every base covered every God. They wanted to honor so that those Gods would be obligated to do something for them. They even had a temple that was listed. It said to the unknown God, which is basically Just in case we missed one of the others we got you covered.

And what is Paul do it's amazing the approach that he takes he says I bring you good news. You have a God that you don't know. I want to talk about him.

Any teachers any preachers in a way that the Greek people can understand?

And I think there's something really important here for us to learn today. I see. It ain't I see we have people from all kinds of cultures. I wouldn't be surprised if we have four continents covered maybe five continents right here today. I doubt that we have all 7 because then we need somebody from Antarctica. And by the way, I did go to a church where there was a man who worked in Antarctica for a while, but we have all kinds of different approaches. We come from different backgrounds and some of us celebrate Christmas for a day or two some of the celebrated for 4 months. We have all kinds of different approaches. I know that one thing that I've learned from America and from from my age in my ear in America the four spiritual laws. We're Perry was a very popular way of sharing the gospel going through four major points the present the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ and how somebody needs to understand Jesus. But I also understand that in American and other parts of the world. That's not the best way to do it anymore. Sometimes it's a story from my life for a story from the Bible.

That's why I want to just encourage us to get to know the people that were around and find a way to share the good news. the good news that Jesus came the Jesus lived on this Earth and then he died so that we can have a relationship with God. That's the good news. What are we going to do with that? Good news is up to the listener. You need to make your decision the people that you talk to and need to make that decision. What are they going to do with the news Jesus often times said he who has eyes to see and ears to hear make a wise decision. If the new starts reporting the T10 is coming change your hiking plans. Don't go out don't go out on the Mountaintop that day. You might not want to go out on the Mountaintop for a week or two because of all the trees that are down. So we have this good news and as we present the good news people have the opportunity to respond.

Here's just a few things for learning to share the good news. We should be good news shares and it's those delightful week to be doing this because we've commissioned to Mission teams to go out and share the good news. One day. I have ricotta and 1/2 Manila. And so it just a few ideas, but that I picked up along the way as I was working on this message. Look at how the gospel has impacted you how has the good news affected you? Because that's going to be a touch point that you can share with someone else. They can typically be called a testimony, but think about how the good news of Jesus coming has changed your life that becomes your story that you can share and tell.

Think about how the good news will impact your listener. How will they be affected because of the news? How were the Jews in how were the people in Jerusalem when Peter explained Pentecost? How were they affected by the news of Jesus return?

Think about how that good news will impact your listener. And then share the good news in a way that your listener will understand.

There may be words or phrases to become catch phrases from your culture that don't translate to another culture. There may be things that are helpful in in the to your listener and doing that get to know you were listener and find ways that you can share it in a way that I know that they will understand and Peter gives monition in his versus to do so with gentleness and respect. A Christian should always be modeling gentleness and respect and we do that with whoever were talking to about the good news.

What happened to the Shepherds when they heard the good news the Angels Came told him the good news and the shepherd's could have said that's nice. We see this everyday Angels come to Heaven. There's baby born. It's more convenient to travel down there in the daytime will will go down you tomorrow when we're when we're in town will stop by.

Now they heard the good news and look what happened. They came back from seeing who Jesus was the Shepherds returned. What was their attitude was their life like they were glorifying and praising God in their hearts changed. because of the good news

the things were just as they have been told. Pray for that to happen in your life. I told you some of your clothes with this. I told some of you a little bit about my testimony how when I was a teenager, I used to sit on my hands because the way the good news we share the password off and ask for you to put your hands up and I used to sit there and I'd sit on my hands because I didn't want one of them to accidentally.

That method didn't work, but on a on a Saturday evening at during a special service. It was going on a friend of mine said stand. Is there any good reason that you don't want to know Jesus as Savior?

and I responded and my life changed matter of fact, what happened was there was a special service going on and some of my friends from church came and invited me to come to that special service. I've been going to church long enough to know that there was probably going to be some kind of invitation is going to be another one of those times. I was going to have to sit on my hand. And I wanted some way out of this. They said we'll come by and pick you up at such-and-such a time will will drive you down to church. I was not going to become that obligate where they were going to come in there car and pick me up. I lived about a mile mile and a half away from where the church Matt and I said, I'll ride my bicycle. I wasn't old enough to drive. I'll ride my bicycle and I'll go to church but I did follow through. I did go to that service. I had my bicycle locked up outside. And my friends were so concerned for me this it stand your life is too much. You're so happy. You're so excited. We can't let you ride your bicycle home. You might not make it might hit a curb. You might hit the truck. You might hit something. You're just not thinking straight right now because your life is so changed and so excited. So they put my bicycle in the back of the car that the trunk or the boot.

And they drove me home. That's what happens when you find out about the good news in your life is revolutionized. So Anchorage you with all things share the good news of Jesus and what he's done and the life will change from the inside out. to all the things that the Bible teaches us about

so I just want to pray. Let's seek the Lord in that spider. I thank you for giving us the good news.

But the good news is so much more than just a way for us to get to know you. A certain path that we need to follow certain things that we need to do rituals that we need to follow.

Oh Lord. I Thank you for sending Jesus.

So that we can have a relationship with you that we can call God our Father. Did you can change it change us from the inside out?

So that our lives conform to the way that you've made us to serve you.

Father I pray that if there are people here. Better hearing about the good news that are wanting to change from from rules to to a relationship or that they will respond, but they will talk with someone here right after the service somebody they came with or someone that you're in church. We can share the good news. We thank you now in Jesus name. Amen.