GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY!

Pre Intro(welcome, worship comments, ect)

Good News of Great Joy

Luke 2:8–12 CSB

In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:8–12 CNVT

在伯利恆的郊外，有一些牧人在夜間看守羊群。主的一位使者站在他們旁邊，主的榮光四面照著他們，他們就非常害怕。天使說：「不要怕！看哪！我報給你們大喜的信息，是關於萬民的：今天在大衛的城裡，為你們生了救主，就是主基督。你們要找到一個嬰孩，包著布，臥在馬槽裡，那就是記號了。」

INTRO

When I was younger I worked on a farm. I’m from the state of Oklahoma and during the winter, around this time of year, it gets really cold, with frequent ice storms and snow storms. However, when you work on a farm, it doesn’t matter if it’s snowing, raining, or whatever, the cows still need to be fed. So one morning in December, close to Christmas, I remember going out to the farm, and the farm, huge farm, was covered in snow, a huge blanket of white. I got out my car, and walked over to the farm truck. I loaded the farm truck with all the feed and started driving through the farm to feed the cows. Now, there was one part of the farm that had a small, but steep hill. As I drove down the hill, the truck turned sideways and got stuck. I couldn’t move. I pushed the gas, tried as hard as I could, but it didn’t move! So instead of calling my boss for help, I had a great idea. I’ll go back to the barn and get in the tractor, and then I’ll get a chain, hook the truck up to the tractor and pull the truck out. So I got this huge tractor drove to the truck, slowly backed down the hill, put the chain on the truck, and do you know what happened? The tractor was completely stuck too! So there I was freezing, with both of these expensive and huge vehicles stuck in the snow. There was no way I could push them out, as hard I could try, or pull them out, they were completely stuck, and I needed help. The bible says that you and I, without Christ, without Christmas, are in the same place as I was in that field. We are stuck, there is brokenness, and there is now way that we can fix that ourselves. We see this brokenness all around us. This is all from our broken relationship with God. But I want to show you to day that Christ’s birth good new of great joy, because, in the birth of Christ, God is doing for us what all of us need but none of us can do.

Sub Intro:

Last week we saw as Scott preached about our greatest need & God’s great desire, but this week we will see how both of those things come together in the birth of Christ, ect)

Leading up to our passage this afternoon, we saw that God moved Caesar, the ruler at that time, to do a census, just so Christ could be born in Bethlehem the City of David to fulfill scripture(God is moving the kingdoms of the earth) and now Luke shows us that God moves heaven.

Why is Christ’s birth good new of great joy?because God is doing for us , what all of us need but none of us can do.

Heaven’s Message: Good News of Great Joy

1.First subsection: Good News Because there is Bad News

•”They were terrified” Fear of shepherds (why are they afraid?): not just supernatural phenomenon, but Jewish people believed that if any man beheld supernatural appearances, he would be sure to die. Why? There was an understanding of a Holy Creator and sinful human beings. ]Even the sheep they were taking care of everyday, were most likely sheep that would be used as an offering and sacrifice in the Temple. Reminded of their sin and the justice of God. They were terrified.

Here’s the truth sin has separated us from relationship with God.

And so God’s wrath is coming upon all people.

Romans 1:18 CSB

For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

Romans 1:18 CNVT

神的震怒，從天上向所有不虔不義的人顯露出來，就是向那些以不義壓制真理的人顯露出來。

Peter had a similar response in Luke 5:8 when he said

Luke 5:8 CSB

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

Luke 5:8 CNVT

西門．彼得看見這種情景，就俯伏在耶穌膝前，說：「主啊，離開我，因為我是個罪人。」

This doesn’t sound very much like a nice Christmas sermon does it? But without the justice of God, without the bad news, there is no good news of great joy!

Illustrate: This was good news of great joy to these shepherds because they were aware of their need. Suppose you got COVID-19. It hit you really bad. The doctors said that you had only a couple of days to live and would die from this disease unless a cure or vaccine came out. Think about your family, your friends, your kids if you have any. Then imagine someone runs into the room just before you were going to pass away and declare to you that they’ve brought you the cure for this disease! Good News of Great Joy right?! You see the announcement of God sending Christ to us will only be GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY if we are aware of our need before Him. Friends, the bible says that we are in a great need of Christ. Are you aware of your standing before God without Christ? Do you believe that if God did not send us Christ, that we would be just like that person dying of a disease with no cure?

God is faithful to meet us where we are, outcast shepherds in a field, but He also brings us to our knees. This is what HE’s doing as HE is allowing all of catastrophe to take place. He’s going to meet us where we are, whoever we are, but He’s going to bring us to our knees.

In the same way that ALL PEOPLE are under the wrath of God, the angels say this good news of great joy is also available for ALL PEOPLE.

2.Second subsection: For All People (MEGA JOY)God delights in saving His people.

1. All the People. DON’T BE AFRAID! Last week when Scott was sharing, he showed us a picture of fireworks and said that Christ’s birth, and all that God was doing was like a huge firework show. When you consider the angel, and the angels later in the story, it’s hard not to miss that HEAVEN IS REJOICING at what God is doing in Christ. God delights to SAVE!

This past week was my birthday, and on the day of my birthday, my youngest son Isaac walks downstairs, and he begins to dance and begins to say with these huge eyes “dad the day is here, it’s your birthday!” He was more excited than I was! He was so excited because he had made this card and wanted to give it to me. Well that’s the picture we have here of heaven. That God, that all of heaven, is rejoicing, at the gift that God is giving YOU AND I in Jesus Christ.

God delights in saving His people.

God’s people. This greek word means, it’s a specific group of people. That for God’s people, those who trust in Christ, this is good news of great joy.

Well how do we become a part of God’s people? Culture? Geography? No, through faith. Faith.

John 1:12–13 CSB

But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

You can become a part of God’s people through FAITH! And this news of God’s grace is being made available to ALL PEOPLE. That means that the message of Christmas isn’t just good news for Americans, for Jewish people, but Christmas, is good news for all PEOPLE, every culture, everywhere!

Not just the elite, not just the wealthy, not just men, not just women, but for ALL people.

Illustration

In 2016, LeBron James and his team became pro basketballs champs. After the championship game, which Lebron’s team won, people asked Lebron, how did this happen?! LeBron James proclaimed, "Great things happen to great people."

I wonder how many of us believe this? Well if I just do the right things, if I try to do good things, good things will come my way. If I’m experiencing suffering or trials well I must have done something wrong.

While in sports, that statement might be true, but the gospel of Jesus offers a very different message. The gospel is not “Great things happen for GREAT PEOPLE” but "Great things happen to bad people, unworthy people, little people, poor people, and unrighteous people." It’s not Good News for Good People, Good News of Great Joy FOR ALL PEOPLE.

God is doing for us what all of us need but none of us can do.

Now that we have seen Heaven’s MESSAGE, we are going to look at OUR MESSIAH, the One heaven is rejoicing about.

Our Messiah: Born For You!

1. Today(Timing of God): If you look at when the angels showed up: at night: this would have been the most vulnerable time for the shepherds(enemies, predators)God often has a way of showing up in our darkest moments, in our moments of greatest need. As we consider 2020 and the trials and the experiences we all have had, hear what God is telling the church, “Don’t be afraid” I have good NEWS OF GREAT JOY! God is never late, His timing is perfect, and the angels proclaim to the shepherds the one you’ve waited for, TODAY is that moment.

TODAY HE HAS BEEN BORN.

Not only COME TO YOU, but has been born FOR you

1.Born For You(Object of God’s Love)

3 x’s in these verses the angels tell the shepherds that God is moving heaven and earth, appearing supernatural FOR YOU!

While we heard before because of our sin we are the object of God’s judgment, now in Christ we are the object of God’s love.

Look, in the Christmas story we have shepherds, we have wise men, we have kings, we have prophets, all different types of people, so what’s point? Christ came for every single person. To people who have rejected Him. To people who don’t even care about Him. This is the amazing GRACE OF GOD that in Christmas, in the coming of Christ we see how

God cares about people who don’t care about Him. God cares about people who don’t care about Him.

Born for YOU.

“But I am poor, I’m not important” so were the shepherds He was born for You.

you might say “I’ve shamed my family” HE was born for you

“I’ve done crimes” He came for you

“I’ve hurt my family” He was born for YOU!

I have served sin my whole life: He was born for you.

-for the legalist born for you

-for the self righteous: for you

-for the addict-born for you

-for the person who can’t stop going back to the same sin over and over and over: FOR YOU

-for the skeptic: born for you!

You could have walked right into this room and done the worst thing of your life, and JESUS WAS STILL BORN, HE CAME FOR YOU!

This is AMAZING GRACE.

God is gifting His Precious Son for you.He was born for YOU! And what will this Son do?

2.Savior: rescuer, preserver. God didn’t send the king that the people wanted but the king, the savior that all the people needed. He didn’t send a military king that set them free from the oppression of Rome, but He sends us a Savior that sets us free from the oppression of our own sin. Jesus may not be the Savior we always want, but He is the savior we always need. He is the One God’s people have been waiting for, and I want to put before you, that HE is also the One You have been waiting for.

The angels proclaim that this Savior will bring Peace(not to punish you for your sin but to save you from your sin)

This announcement of peace on earth is not just the ending of warfare between countries. This peace is an eternal peace which brings an end to the conflict between men and God. This is an eternal peace that goes beyond the grave! To those who hear and receive the message of the coming of the Messiah, the war is over. This peace doesn’t just lead to relief from war, but a reconciliation back to God.(The result of God’s work, not yours)

John 3:17 CSB

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Charles Spurgeon said that there is one place in the New Testament where Jesus describes His own heart. One place where Jesus pulls back the curtains and we see Him describe His own heart. It’s found in

Matthew 11:29 CSB

Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

2. Who is this Savior? God Himself(FULLY GOD FULLY MAN)

The Lord. This word is a word used for God. Lord is regularly used for God’s covenant name.

So this savior who was born FOR you, to SAVE YOU, is God Himself.

Linen cloths and manger

The cloths would indicate (at least to some of Luke’s readers) that it was a royal child.

What is Luke drawing our attention to in His birth account? That at Christmas, you have heaven and angels, you have shepherds and mangers. You have the City of David, the city of a King, yet born in a barn in that city. You have the glory of heaven surrounding lowly shepherds in a field. What Luke wants you to see is that

The place where heaven and earth meet, the place where God and man come together, and most importantly the place where God and man are reconciled, is ONLY in the Person of Jesus Christ.

There is a story a very well respected pastor, and the day after Christmas several years ago he visited the worst prisons in his country. It was the first time in ninety years that a pastor had gone to this prison, and in greeting the prisoners, this pastor said, "You could not come to me, so I have come to you."

Most religions ask you to go and reach God, climb the mountain until you meet him, but in Christmas, in the Gospel, the good news of great joy is that GOD HIMSELF HAS COME TO US! God doesn’t just take the first step in healing our brokenness and our sin, He doesn’t just take the second step in our reconciliation process, He comes all the way to US in the person of Jesus.

God has come to do FOR YOU, what YOU NEED THE MOST can NOT DO FOR YOURSELF!

So what does this mean for you?

You and I are not this Savior who is fully God and fully man, so you and I have no way of fixing what is broken. The more we try the more we look like me out in the field two vehicles stuck and making a huge mess. Cleaning a shirt with muddy hands: keeps getting dirty doesn’t it? Jesus steps in as the only one who can do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

That should move us to:

YOUR RESPONSE我們的回應

Witness: The shepherds immediately go and share what the angels told them. They “reported to them the message”. The shepherds response to Christmas was to go a faithfully witness and share about this good news of Great Joy! The shepherds had been “evangelized-good news” and now they go and share with others. The bible says that God is now making His appeal for reconciliation through you, His church.

What God has done IN you HE now wants to do THROUGH you.What God has done IN YOU, given you new life, He now wants to do THROUGH you, witness and share.

Who can you go and share this good news of great joy with? Notice they simply go and share the good news that had been shared with them. They didn’t have a tool, a formula, they simply shared what had been shared with them. Everyday this is possible as you interact with your neighbors and friends.

Worship: praising God and worship. Giving glory to God. Giving glory to God is not to give Him something HE lacks but to proclaim something He eternally possesses. Look at this scene: the angels are worshipping, the shepherds are praising God, even Mary is meditating, thinking deeply about what God has done for her. This is a picture of worship!

There are two types of magnifying tools: a microscope, and a telescope. A microscope makes small things look bigger. But a telescope makes the big thing begin to look as big as it really is. Can you remember the first time you looked at the moon through the telescope? Wow it’s huge! It’s beautiful! Church in our worship we are not microscopes: making God seem bigger than He really is. No we are telescopes MAGNIFYING HIM FOR HOW BIG HOW GOOD, HOW AWESOME HE REALLY IS!

1 Peter 2:9 CSB

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9 CNVT

然而你們是蒙揀選的族類，是君尊的祭司，是聖潔的國民，是屬　神的子民，為要叫你們宣揚那召你們出黑暗入奇妙光明者的美德。

How can you worship and wonder this Christmas at what God has done for you?

Lastly, one christian once said: “If Jesus were born one thousand times in Bethlehem and not in me(born again), then I would still be lost.” Corrie Ten Boom

如果耶穌在伯利恆出生了一千次，但是我沒有相信他為我的罪而死且戰勝死亡復活，祂的誕生對我沒有任何意義

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS: What this means is that this message is only GOOD NEWS of great Joy if you receive Christ Jesus as your savior. You may have gone to church your whole life, you might be in ministry, or maybe you’ve never heard the Gospel, but this means you need to stop turning to idols and yourself, your spouse, your kids, as your hope for peace and salvation, and turn to the One who has come to do for you, WHAT YOU NEED THE MOST, but have no way of doing!

Let’s stand and pray.

CANDLE LIGHTING

(Name) Christ was born for you.