Outcast s, Shepherd s & Ordinary Folks Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.... Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." Luke 2:8-10
The Arrival of the New Baby If you are a parent, then you can remember the first people you called after you became one. You gave them the weight and length of the baby and the actual time when he or she was born. You shared the news with those who were closest to you.
Extra Extra Read All About It! When God announced the birth of His Son, whom did He tell first? It seems likely that He would have started with Caesar Augustus. He could have sent the angel Gabriel to appear in Caesar's court and announce, "Check this out, buddy.youare not God! The Savior of the world has arrived!"
Nazarene Journal Or He might have had Gabriel appear to the religious leaders and say, "Wake up! The Messiah has been born! The One you talk about, the One you pray for He is here!"
A Shepherd s Exclusive But that didn't happen. Instead, God first announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds. We tend to romanticize the shepherds along with everyone else in the Christmas story, but we don't understand who they were. In this culture, shepherds lived at the bottom of the social ladder.
The Bottom of the Food Chain
The Shepherd s Were Outcast s Shepherds were so despised that their testimonies were not even allowed in a court of law. Shepherds did the work that no one else wanted to do. They worked hard, but they were perceived as unclean because they could not observe the ceremonial hand washings. They were the outcasts, the nobodies.
I Got Friend s in Low Places The only people less- regarded than shepherds were those who were suffering from leprosy.
Leprosy Today is Called Hansen s Disease
Shepherd s Were the First to Know Yet God decided to announce His news to some shepherds in the fields as they kept watch over their flocks at night.
Modus Operandi This was themodus operandiof Jesus, from birth to death. He always appealed to the outcast, to the common person, to the ordinary folks. And that should give hope to ordinary people like us.
Do You Really Know Jesus? Some of you here with us tonight may not be Christians. You maybe an atheist, or agnostic. You maybe wondering why we make such a Big Deal out of an event that happened over 2,000 years ago.
The World is a Dark Place All you have to do to verify that this world is full of pain is to read the newspaper, or turn on the news, it s full of terrorist attacks, tsunamis, rape, child abduction, home foreclosures, people crying out to God. People praying that the pain will go away, and in every one of these stories is an individual that s hurting, a family, or even a whole community.
The BIG GOD Questions? People always ask when they suffer, if God is so loving, why is He hurting me? If God is so powerful why doesn t he end the pain? If God created everything certainly He must be the blame for all the evil in the world!
But, Before You Question God Before you question God about your suffering, before you question God about why you are hurting, you need to ask God why Jesus suffered. Jesus never did anything wrong.
Jesus Was Betrayed & Suffered The Bible says He was betrayed by one of His disciples. He was also denied by another disciple, they gave false testimony to lie about him, they arrested him, he had four false trials, they beat him, they spit on him, they stuck 2 inch thorns in his head.
Even More Suffering They whipped his back 39 times with 9 leather straps, and ripped his muscle and skin off the bone, and then He carried His own cross up a hill, where they nailed Him to a cross, He hung there for 6 hours with nails through His hands and His feet, then His heart exploded in His chest, He actually died of a broken heart. Then they put Him in the tomb and all of this was for a man who never did anything wrong.
Why Did He Do It? So let me tell you why He did it, the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That means you and I are sinners, because sin is a spiritual offense, it has a spiritual penalty which is Hell. The bible says the penalty of sin is death, physical and spiritual death. Jesus died to pay the price for your sin and my sin.
Romans 5:8 The Bible says in Romans Chapter 5:8, that while we were sinners, Jesus Christ suffered and died in our place, and the bible says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord; believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead that we will be saved, forgiven.
That is Why We Celebrate Christmas! If you would like to receive His forgiveness I invite you to pray this prayer with me now in the privacy of your heart, but as you pray you must believe that you are a sinner, you must believe that Jesus loves you, and that He died so that you don t have to die. Amen!
Prayer & Holy Communion Please pray with me, and then let s ALL share in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
Prayer Let s Pray:Pray, Dear God, I know that I am a sinner, and I know that Jesus loves me. That He died and rose from the dead for my sin. Jesus, please forgive me of my sin. Come live in my heart, and be my savior. I surrender my life to your Lord, and it s in Jesus name we pray. Amen