Finally Some Good News

I. Sermon Introduction

Setting

I want to tell you about what is going on before our story begins today.

Before our story begins, Jesus has already been born.

Mary and Joseph were in the town of Bethlehem. It had been ordered by the government that they had to leave their hometown of Nazareth and travel there.

There was no room in their friends’ or families’ houses, so they had to stay in the place where the animals were kept.

Bethlehem is a town in the countryside, like Battambang. There is a little city, but also a lot of fields all around.

Not far from where Mary and Joseph were staying there were some shepherds out at night.

So let’s read the text and see what happened on that night in Bethlehem:

Read the Text

Luke 2:8–20 (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. 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.

II. Telling the Story

The Shepherds’ Normal Work

So our story begins by telling us about these shepherds who were out in the area of Bethlehem.

Working as a shepherd in those days was not an easy job. You had to keep very close watch on the sheep especially at night.

There could be wild animals to come and attack them, or they might wander off and get hurt.

At that time, many people did not respect shepherds because they were dirty and kind of strange.

But imagine if you lived out in the field with no one to talk to all night but the sheep. You might be a little strange too!

The Angel’s Appearance

So these shepherds are watching the sheep at night, just like every other night.

And all of a sudden two things appeared to them: (1) the Angel of the Lord and (2) the glory of the Lord

First the Angel of the Lord: what is the picture in your mind when I mention this word: Angel?

Do you think of a pretty creature that looks maybe like a young girl? Those are the pictures that came up when I searched for Khmer Angels.

And, as I understand it, Khmer Angels are always helping people.

But Angels in the Bible are not the same. Angels in the Bible are God’s warriors.

When an Angel shows up in the Bible, do you know what the first thing he says is?

“Do not be afraid”. Do you know why they say that? Because they are scary to us!

So this angel shows up in the middle of the night, but also the glory of the Lord was shining around them.

I know Pastor Sophin preached through Exodus a few years ago.

Do you remember that story of Moses, when he came down from meeting with the Lord on the mountain to talk to the people?

When the people saw him they were very afraid because the glory of the Lord was shining on Moses’ face.

Have you ever been inside in the dark and then you walk outside into the bright sun? What do you do?

It was like that, but much brighter and stronger.

So these shepherds were very scared.

In the Bible, when people see God’s glory it makes them realize they are not worthy to be in His presence.

It makes them realize that they cannot try to come near to God.

I wonder if you have ever felt this way.

Have you ever felt that you cannot do enough to please God?

Have you felt that your sin separates you from God?

Can I tell you something? That’s the first step to following Jesus!

You have to see that you cannot help yourself and you need Jesus to help you.

Back to our story: the angel and the glory of the Lord shine in front of the shepherds.

One of these things would have been very scary to them. But both together caused them to have great fear.

The Good (and Strange) News Announced

But the angel tells them not to fear.

The angel has not come to destroy but he has come to bring good news.

This good news is for all people. It is for people in Bethlehem and people from America. It is for people from Phnom Penh and from Battambang. The Angel of God said that this good news is for everyone!

And here is the good news: in Bethlehem, on that day over 2000 years ago, a baby was born.

But that baby was not any baby. He was a Savior. This means He would be the one to save us.

But what do we need to be saved from?

You remember the shepherds were afraid when they saw the angel and the glory of the Lord? They were afraid because they were separated from God by their sin.

Our Savior, Jesus, came to bring us back to God.

He is Christ.

This means that he is the expected King that was coming.

This is not a normal baby. He is royalty. He is the expected King who has come to rule over His people.

One more thing, the Angel said He is the Lord.

This word was used to show that Jesus is not simply a human baby. Jesus is actually God!

Now this is really good news!

Every religion in the world sees that the world is broken.

Even the Buddha said that suffering is universal.

Every religion is about us trying to make our way back to God.

It’s like the people at the Tower of Babel. They were trying to build a tower up to heaven. But it would never work.

When we try to make our way to God it does not work.

But this is the best news that we have ever had: God is not waiting for you to climb up to Him.

He is not waiting until you can do enough good things and make enough sacrifices.

The God of the Bible did not wait for you, but he came to you.

When Jesus was born, God became a person.

And the angel told the Shepherds one more thing. He gave them a way to know for sure that what they are saying is true.

The angel told them that they would find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

Now, if I told you that a great king was born today in Cambodia, where would you expect him to be born?

Probably in Phnom Penh, not in little Battambang. And probably he would be put in little clothes with gold and jewels, not just wrapped in a baby blanket.

And he would be placed in a gold crib in the royal palace, or at least in a hammock like a normal baby, but not in a manger.

So the things this angel was saying to the shepherds sounded very strange to them I think.

The Multitude Praising

All of a sudden, even more angels appeared.

An entire army of angels are there now and they are praising God and singing.

They sing about Heaven and about earth.

In heaven they sing glory to God. This means that they are singing about how great and unique our God is.

And on earth they sing about peace.

This is not peace between two countries that are in a war.

This is not peace between two people who are arguing.

This is peace between us and God.

You see, because of our sin, God needs to punish us. But he does not have to anymore because Jesus came!

The Shepherds’ Trip

So the shepherds go to see what the angel had told them about.

They went and they were amazed because everything was exactly how the angel had told them.

Because they saw that it was like they were told, they told all the people there about what they had seen and heard from the angel.

III. Responses

Now I want to spend the rest of our time today talking about the responses of the people in the story.

As we do this, I want you to think about yourself.

When you hear me tell this story about Jesus’s birth, what is your response to it?

The People’s Response

First, in verse 18, we learn about the response of the people who hear the shepherds. It says that they wondered at what the shepherds said.

This word is sometimes used in a good way in the Bible and sometimes in a bad way. When you hear a really amazing story and you think, “is this really true?” These people are all deciding whether they will believe the shepherds or not.

Maybe that is you today. You hear Pastor Sophin and the other members of the church talking about how Jesus is working in their lives.

And you wonder about it. Can it really be true? Is Jesus the way the Christians say He is?

Is Jesus really the one true God? Did God really send His Son all the way to earth to die for me?

If you are wondering, that’s okay. But do not wonder forever.

Mary’s Response

Next, in verse 19 we see Mary’s response. She treasured all these things in her heart.

She thought about this thing that God was doing. She thought about how great it is.

Mary is an example for all of us today of what we should do on Christmas.

Christians have celebrated Christmas for hundreds of years. It is a time that we have each year to do what Mary did.

We think about this part of the story.

Jesus came from heaven to earth so that he could save us from our sin.

God is not far from us anymore. He has come near to us.

Please take some time today to praise God for sending His Son.

The Shepherds’ Response

We also have one more response in verse 20. It is the response of the Shepherds.

God has used them to announce the birth of Jesus.

When they left that place, it says that they were glorifying and praising God.

They did not walk back and say to each other, “wow! We just did a really good job announcing to everyone about the baby Jesus!”

Neither did they walk back and scratch their heads and say “oh, I don’t think I did the best job I could have.”

They were not thinking about themselves. Instead, they were thinking about how good God is.

They were thinking about how God is full of power and has control over even the smallest things on earth.

And God uses all that power to do what? He uses all that power to keep his promises to His people.

So if you are a Christian and you are involved in ministry, let the shepherds be a reminder to you of how you should serve God.

When you are finished serving the Lord, let your mind focus on Him and not on yourself.

There is a time to prepare and grow and get better, but don’t forget to praise God for what is doing in the church and in your ministry.

IV. Conclusion

So today, think about how you are responding to the news of Jesus being born.

Are you praising God because He is using you to spread the message?

Are you treasuring Jesus today?

Or are you still wondering about it?

If you are wondering, you can talk to one of your Christian friends or to one of the teachers or pastors here today.

If you think you need to speak to someone, make sure you tell them today.