Paradigms and Shepherds

Assertion- Christmas is a paradigm shift because Christmas says you matter to God. Jesus doesn’t simply tell us we matter to him. He doesn’t simply use his words to communicate that. He communicates it with his life.

Move 1: A reason you should care about Jesus’ birth is because is because you matter to God.

Move 2: We don’t just learn about Jesus’ love, Christmas teaches us how to receive and give that love.

Move 3: If you don’t learn from Jesus you will learn from someone else. Someone who will let you down.

Move 4- Grief and Sabbath give us room to experience this love.

God loves the Island of Misfit toys.

Opening Sentence- We hear the word Paradigm a lot. I recognize that it gets overused. The McRib.

What does it risk if they fail to hear from me?

1. If we don’t believe we matter to God we will rely on our own strength and resources to cope with pressures and disappointments

2. There are many reasons we may feel we don’t matter, to God. Shame. But God loves shameful people. God loves the island of misfit toys.

Shepherds

Ezekiel 34:1–4 LEB

1 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and you must say to them, to the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 The fat you eat, and you clothe yourself with the wool; the well-nourished animals you slaughter, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and with respect to the hurt you have not bound them up, and you have not brought back the scattered, and you have not sought the lost, but rather you ruled over them with force and with ruthlessness.

Isaiah 61:1 LEB

1 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and liberation to those who are bound,

Angels were bad news

Psalm 78:48–51 LEB

48 He also handed their cattle over to the hail and their livestock to the lightning bolts. 49 He sent against them his fierce anger, rage and indignation and trouble, a band of destroying angels. 50 He cleared a path for his anger. He did not spare them from death but handed their life over to the plague. 51 And he struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their virility in the tents of Ham.

What am I asking them to do?

Receive Grief as a Gift this Year

Grief is our body telling us not all is well.

Ex Susan David- It’s not OK. But it will be.

When a person depends on his own strength to cope with present pressures and past hurts, the result is conflict and frustration. WE ARE NOT ALONE.

Christmas says God has started to set the world right, seeing that it’s still wrong should drive us toward him.

Practice Sabath this Holiday Season

Can you imagine if you were these Shepherd's parents and you came to bring them a late night snack.

Hey Dad, sorry I’m leaving the priests sheep, I think God’s here.

Being with God is more important than anything else this Christmas.

Stop

Let your soul catch up with your body

Celebrate

Instead of looking at your friends Christmas Tree on Instagram, why not look at your own?

What would it look like if you believed the angels when they said they bring good news of great joy.

Worship

Go on a walk and thank God for his creation. Breathe in cold air

Sing (Caroling)

Why Won’t they do it?

We want easy fixes to hard problems. The more difficult the problem the more simple the solution please.

Dead Dog Story- Christmas Truce of 1914

What are the next steps?

Last sentence- presence is one of the greatest acts of love