Encounter God's Transforming Love (Christmas Eve)

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus means “God saves.”

Saves from what? Well… sin.

Sin is what entered the human race when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

Their choice to be independent of God led to the corruption of all of mankind and of the earth.

The only way to undo it was for God to come as a man and to become that sacrifice for sin.

Sin naturally leads to death, but by dying on the cross in our place, Jesus made a way for a new humanity.

The key is to respond to what Jesus has done for us.

Respond

Maybe you have heard all of this before; but what have you done about it?

The message of Jesus coming to earth and dying for us requires a response.

The first ones to whom the message of Christmas was declared were shepherds.

They were ordinary working-class people.

They spend most of their time out in the hills watching over animals.

Luke 2:8–16 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

When the shepherds heard the message, they immediately did something.

They went to see for themselves what the angels had told them about.

They responded to the message …immediately!

If you saw angels with a message from God what would you do?

Turn over and go to sleep, figuring it must be a dream?

Check in with your therapist? Get your head examined?

Would you be skeptical …research angel encounters to see if you can find collaborating evidence?

Today, they would probably take a picture with their phone and put it all over social media … hey look what we just saw!

What they did was exactly what the angel to told them to do.

They went and they saw.

That was what they were supposed to do - they were witnesses to the event.

Do you know that shepherds also had a symbolic meaning?

Jacob (aka Israel) and his sons were also shepherds when they went into Egypt.

The prophets referred to the leaders of Israel as shepherds.

God was announcing His plan metaphorically to all of Israel and especially to the leaders.

But the real leaders would never have believed it, so he reveled it to the literal shepherds and they obeyed.

What is the message that you have heard from God?

I’m sure that you have a lot of questions and that there are things that you don’t know, but what DO you know?

You will be held responsible for as much as you know.

How have you responded to what you know?

Are you obedient to what you know or are you waiting for more information?

God will give you more information when you respond to what He has already given you.

So what is the purpose of the message? What is God doing?

God’s plan is to restore.

Restore

God created the world and it was good.

Sin messed it all up.

God wants to restore creation.

He wants to bring us back into fellowship with God which was His plan from the beginning.

When we begin to obey, God begins to restore.

Where do we see restore in the Christmas story?

We see it when we remember that Jesus come for a purpose which was to die for our sin.

That was part of the angel’s message to Joseph.

It also shows up in the prophecy by Zechariah, the father of john the Baptist.

Luke 1:67–79 NLT

67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: 68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. 69 He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, 70 just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. 71 Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. 72 He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant— 73 the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. 74 We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live. 76 “And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. 77 You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. 78 Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

Jesus would save Israel from their enemies, but first he would save them from their sins.

When we think of restoration we usually think of our problems and wanting them to go away.

I wish that I could get a better job.

I wish that I could get out of debt.

I wish that my family would get along better.

I wish that there wasn’t so much bad news.

I wish the pandemic would just go away.

I wish I could trust our leaders.

I wish that I could feel safe and secure in this crazy world.

I believe that God has a plan to restore all of that.

But part of God’s plan is that we each look inside first.

We always think the problem is “out there somewhere.’

Other people are always the problem, never me.

Sin affects all of us.

We are in no condition to help anyone else until we have confessed our own sin and repented of it.

That is where restoration starts.

That is where the light begins to dawn.

That is where God reveals Himself and His purpose.

Shame keeps us looking everywhere but inside.

But God loves you - even the decision to change is a result of His kindness and mercy.

God has done all that is necessary; we just need to respond and be restored.

But that’s not all.

God wants to release us into the world to tell others.

Release

If the good news were only respond and restore we would be in a constant loop of introspection.

Sure, we will be changed, but God wants to change the world around us!

If the good news was only to save you from your sin, it would still be good news; but the truly great news is that you have become part of God’s restoration plan.

Encounter God’s transforming love is first of all a message to you as an individual, but it also becomes your message and my message to the world around us.

Remember the shepherds? It was their job to bear witness to the event of Christ’s birth.

But having become a witness to this event, it became their job to bear witness in terms of telling what they had heard and seen.

Luke 2:15–20 ESV

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

We know that when the wise men later came to visit Jesus they brought gifts, but the shepherds brought a gift too.

They brought the gift of their story.

Mary and Joseph had both been visited by angels.

But when the shepherds brought the account of their encounter, it was again confirmation of God’s hand at work.

That must have been a very welcome gift when Mary and Joseph are being forced to give birth in a stable.

At a time when they must have been wondering if God has forgotten them; they get visitors who tell them that angels told them just where to find them.

Their message from God became a message of encouragement to others.

What has God done in your life that might me an encouragement to others?

Has God saved you?

Has He changed your life?

Has He answered prayer?

Had He healed you, deliver you and set you free?

We are going to give time on Sunday for testimonies.

Do you know that by sharing what God has done for you; you might just be the encouragement that someone else needs to hear to help them through their struggle?

God’s goodness fills our hearts with joy and we need to release it.

Jesus has also filled us with His Holy Spirit and that too must be released.

Each of us are called by God and empowered to minister to others.

We just need to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us.

You may not think that you have the right words to say, but the Spirit can give you the words.

You might not think that there is anything that you can do, but the Spirit shows us how to pray.

You may not think that your touch will mean anything, but the Spirit is touching people through you.

So we respond to God’s revelation, we are restored into His image and we release His Holy Spirit - and all of this must be done in love.

Encounter God’s transforming love.

Relate

God came to be one of us so that we could know Him and relate to Him.

God wants us to be part of His family.

His relationship with mankind before the fall shows us what God really wants for us.

So restoration is not just making us OK, it restoring us to relationship with God and with each other.

I’m here to tell you that God loves you - He always has and always will.

Jesus came to show us the extent of God’s love.

That he would leave heaven and come to earth.

That he would come a a baby, grow up, live and die to share the whole human experience with us.

That’s right- God became like us so that we could become like Him.

And God is love.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

You can know the love of God this Christmas.

All you have to do is respond to the message that you are hearing.

Recognize that you have been damaged by sin but that’s why Jesus came.

When you come to Jesus, He transforms you.

It’s a divine exchange; your life for His.

Your burden for his.

Your sin, for his righteousness.

Zechariah prophesied that light was coming into the world to dispel the darkness.

When Jesus christ come into your life, he turns your darkness to light.

Sin and salvation are as opposite as darkness and light.

His Spirit in us is light.

But then are we release that light to the world around us, it ignites the light in others as well.

We are going to demonstrate this by lighting a candle and allowing it to spread around the room.

As we sing about Jesus’ birth - the one light that came into the world - we are going to pass the light around and watch it spread.

When lighting you candle, keep the lit candle upright so that the wax doesn’t drip and allow the unlit candle to tilt into it.

I pray that as we celebrate the spreading of light at Christmas that you will encounter God’s transforming love.

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