12/26 Surprising Arrival

Summary: In this message we will look at some things about the Christmas story that are surprising...

"THE BIRTH OF JESUS"

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost Christmas, but it is. Let me give a top 10 list about the closeness of Christmas...

YOU KNOW CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE WHEN:

10) There are more pine needles on your carpet than on your tree

9) The credit card is smoked along with the turkey and ham.

8) It’s A Wonderful Life has been shown for the 13th time

7) A trip to the mall and back is more challenging then the Indy 500

6) The Salvation Army bell ringers start accepting credit cards

5) You are pulling an all-nighter because of the words, "Some Assembly Required"

4) Your Christmas list is written in black while your check book balance is written in red.

3) Santa’s belly is not the only thing shaking like a bowl full of jelly.

2) The NFL referees are not the only ones giving away games

1) The infamous fruitcake returns from it’s 12 months of hiding.

[READ LK 2: 1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

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 that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, 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 heaven,

and on earth peace to those 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.

[PRAYER]

How many times have you heard the Christmas story? I’m sure many could come up here today, and tell the story.

Mary’s unexpected pregnancy. Joseph’s perplexity. Visits by angels. Caesar’s tax. The trip to Bethlehem. Born in a stable. We’ve heard it many times. Most of you can even answer the tough questions like , "Did the wise men really see Jesus in the manger? did the star really appear over the stable? and just how many wise man were there? And that’s good. There is tremendous value in knowing the facts.

C.S. Lewis said, "we don’t need to be told new ideas so much as we need to be reminded of old truths.

I want us to look at the Christmas story today with fresh minds. Too put ourselves, into the sandals of some of those first century people. And to imagine how utterly amazed they were at some of the events that transpired.

As a matter of fact, probably nothing that the average Jewish person thought would happen, actually did. There were many surprises in the Christmas story.

Some times we get to familiar with something and forget the potential and promise

Just like the little girl who came home from Sunday school triumphantly waving a paper. "Mommy!., my teacher says I drew the most unusual Christmas picture she has ever seen!"

The mother took the picture from her little girls hands -- she studied it for a moment and she too concluded that this was the most peculiar picture of Christmas she had ever seen.

"This is wonderfully drawn, but why do you have all of the people riding in the back of an airplane?" The mother gently asked.

"It’s the flight to Egypt," the little girl said, with a hint of disappointment because the picture’s meaning was not immediately obvious.

"Oh" the mother said cautiously "Well, who,is the mean-looking man at the front?" "That’s Pontius the Pilot," the girl said now visually impatient.

"I see"

And here you have Mary and Joseph and the baby" the mother volunteered. And studying the picture silently for a moment, she summoned the courage to ask, "But who is the fat man sitting behind Mary?"

The little girl sighed. "Can’t you tell? That’s Round John Virgin!"

That’s a cute story -- but the reason I tell it is because sometimes we are like that little girl... We think we see things so clearly, we think we know all that there is to know about the Christmas story, gleaned all there is to glean, but perhaps we don’t see it as clearly as we think.

THE SURPRISES in Jesus’s arrival

1. HIS PARENTS WERE SURPRISING.

Many would not have chosen Mary and Joseph.

We would have selected wealthy parents, so that the Christ child could have the best of everything. Maybe We would have selected parents who were mature, so we could have been sure of protection and wisdom. The parents we would have selected, would have been people of culture, poise and influence

Remember when the wisemen came to Jerusalem searching for the Messiah? Where did they go? They went immediately to the palace and the said, "WHERE IS HE WHO IS BORN A KING?" That was a normal response/an obvious place to look -- after all, Royalty begets royalty, AND AN OBVIOUS PLACE TO LOOK FOR A KING IS IN A PALACE, RIGHT?. But the first Christmas presented an incredible surprise. God selected 2 unlikely people, a teenage girl named Mary and a poor blue collar worker, named Joseph? Joseph was just a carpenter from the backwoods uncultured town, of Nazareth (not known for it’s greatness)... Do you Remember what Nathaniel said when he was first told by Philip about Jesus, "CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH."

2.THE TIMING OF HIS BIRTH WAS SURPRISING

In verse 1 we read: "IN THOSE DAYS CAESAR AUGUSTUS ISSUED A DECREE THAT A CENSUS SHOULD BE TAKEN OF THE ENTIRE ROMAN WORLD."

If we were in charge we may not have chosen the time of Caesar Augustus. We might have chosen the time when David was King, a time when the Jews became the world’s super power. They had momentum, wealth, influence and opportunity. Wouldn’t it seem natural ,after David died for the Messiah to be the successor?

Or Maybe we would have chosen the 20th century... With air travel and satellite communication in space and television... it seems like it would have been the perfect time for Christ to come.... His message could almost instantaneously be seen around the world... His miracles captured by CNN.. He could even be interviewed by Barbara Walters... Have his picture on the cover of Time magazine....

God came to dwell with men in first century Palestine.

In Galatians 4:4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

If we take the time to think about and study it, we will see that God’s timing was perfect. God is control of history and he sees things that man can not see..and God knew the exact moment that would bring about the greatest impact... first century Palestine... Let me give several reasons why this is so:

1) 300 years before Christ came, Alexander the Great when he conquered the world established the Greek language as the universal language...So when Jesus came into the world, it was one of the rare times in history when the people of the world could communicate with each other...There was a universal language.

2) After Alexander the great, Rome became the new world power...And Rome built roads...built garrisons...Rome kept a strong military presence throughout her empire, all of this made travel much easier and relatively safe... There was order in the world that had not been seen before.

3) After 400 years of silence from God... mankind found out that it could not make it without Him....this led to a wide spread expectancy of the coming of the Messiah.

4) And 4th the Old Faiths had worn out... The Jews were convinced as they watched the corruption of their leaders and their own failure at keeping the law, that they needed a Savior and that the Law could not save them.. And the Gentiles likewise were becoming disillusioned with their many gods who offered them little help or assistance.

It wasn’t a time that we would have expected, or planned, but all of these events were perfectly synchronized by God. The Gospel message spread throughout the Roman Empire and the World like wild fire, Paul writes in his letter to the Church at Colossae,

"THIS IS THE GOSPEL THAT YOU HAVE HEARD AND THAT HAS BEEN PROCLAIMED TO EVERY CREATURE UNDER HEAVEN AND OF WHICH I, PAUL, HAVE BECOME A SERVANT."

3. THE PLACE WAS ALSO SURPRISING

Jesus was born in a small village town called Bethlehem... we probably would have chosen a powerful and influential city like: Jerusalem, Rome, Athens or Alexandria... Bethlehem was so small and insignificant that when Joshua (after conquering Canaan) allotted the towns to the various tribes it was not even mentioned... But the prophet Micah 700 years before Christ mentioned the town of Bethlehem,

Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Micah proclaimed that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem...but a week before Christ’s birth, Mary was still in Nazareth... 80 miles away from Bethlehem... And in a day where they walked everywhere they went, that was a long way. 4-7 days travel

But God was in control and He took care of that. Caesar Augustus order a census be taken, and this census required that Joseph be register in the city of his families roots (David’s).... Bethlehem.

So Mary and Joseph at just the right time made the journey to Bethlehem...You ladies who’ve had children how would you like to take a four day trip on the back of a donkey about that time? (I bet it was a lot of fun)

Not only was Jesus born in an insignificant town... but he was born in a stable... The King of Kings -- the Savior of the world born in a stable.

Fruitful: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.

4TH SURPRISE IS

4.THE SEEMINGLY UNEVENTFUL NATURE OF JESUS’ BIRTH

I mean, we are talking about God’s son being born to a virgin...This is not something that happened everyday. This is big news. Yet, listen to how scripture describes this event, "THE TIME CAME FOR THE BABY TO BE BORN AND SHE GAVE BIRTH." That’s it, all so ordinary. The same wording could be used of any baby.

5 WHO RECEIVED THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF JESUS’ BIRTH,

IS THE LAST SURPRISE WE WANT TO LOOK AT TODAY.

Now, shepherds weren’t the most influential people of the day. As a matter of fact, they were among the lower class of the day. Many were migrants, who ate and slept with the animals, and no doubt smelled like them too. The sophisticated peopled, rolled there eyes and kept their distance whenever they came walking down the road.

If we were asked to send the angels somewhere to make this announcement to: we probably would have chosen someone like: the great theologians of the day, the Pharisees, to the Sanhedrin or maybe have the angels appear and make the announcement to the Emperor of Rome/King Herod -- and let them know that they better bow their knee because the true King had come...

But on that blessed night THE GREAT announcement came to Shepherds,

5 SURPRISES -- 5 THING THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT IF YOU OR I WERE THE ONES IN CHARGE.

NOW LET’S UNWRAPPED THESE SURPRISES AND LOOK AT THEM AND BEHOLD THE GIFTS/LESSONS/TRUTHS THAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO US/YOU.

THE GIFTS.....

God Uses Ordinary People.

HE DOES NONT CALL THE QUALIFIED, HE QUALIFIES THE CALLED!!

UNDERSTAND - IT IS NOT EDUCATION, VOCATION , ECONOMIC STATUS OR EVEN GREAT "NATURAL" ABILITY, THAT GOD IS LOOKING FOR... LISTEN - GOD DOESN’T USE SUPERSTARS (AND I’M GLAD BECAUSE MOST OF US AREN’T) -- GOD USES PEOPLE WITH A HEART OF A SERVANT (BECAUSE SUPERSTARS, ARE TOO BUSY SHINING FOR THEMSELVES, TO SHINE FOR GOD)..

GOD IS IN CONTROL....

Listen - All timing is God’s timing --- nothing in this World, in History or in our lives - has yet happened or will ever happen without God’s knowledge and approval (nothing) ...

"The Lord Almighty says, `surely as I have planned, so it will be and as I have purposed, so it will stand’’ Isaiah 14:24

He will forgive our sins

He will build His church

He will defeat our enemies

He will give us His peace and power

we will be victories,

all things will work out for the good,

and Christ will return and we will live with Him in heaven....

BUT REMEMBER IT WILL BE GOD’S TIMING AND NOT OURS...

That Jesus Christ Is What Give Us Significance

Listen - no place is insignificant as long as Jesus is there

HERE THIS! NO PLACE -- NO CHURCH - NO HOME - NO INDIVIDUAL, IS INSIGNIFICANT IN THE EYES OF ALMIGHTY GOD IF JESUS CHRIST IS RULING THERE!!! JESUS CHRIST, GIVES SIGNIFICANCE TO LIFE!

CONCLUSION

DO YOU FEEL ORDINARY -- GOOD BECAUSE GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE

QUESTION - AS YOU RAN THIS YEAR HERE AND THERE - BUYING GIFTS; MAKING YOUR LIST AND CHECKING IT TWICE TO MAKE SURE YOU GOT EVERYONE COVERED... LET ME ASK YOU WAS GOD ON YOUR GIFT LIST?

AFTER ALL IN THE FIRST CHRISTMAS - THE MAGI CAME AFTER JESUS WAS BORN BRINGING GIFTS TO HIM...

QUESTION - WHAT ARE YOU GIVING GOD THIS CHRISTMAS? DON’T YOU THINK YOU SHOULD GIVE HIM SOMETHING?

HOW ABOUT YOU?

HOW ABOUT GIVING YOURSELF TO GOD THIS YEAR?

I CAN GUARANTEE THAT IT IS SOMETHING HE REALLY WANTS...

AND I AM TALKING TO EVERYONE HEAR....

TO THE CHRISTIAN.....

TO THE NON CHRISTIAN....