Heritage Christian Fellowship
Sunday, December 21, 2025 Christmas Service
  • O Come, All Ye Faithful
  • Offering/Joy to the World

      • Isaiah 7:14ESV

      • Isaiah 9:6–7ESV

      • Jeremiah 23:5–6ESV

      • Micah 5:2ESV

  • O Come, O Come Emmanuel

      • Luke 1:26–38NASB95

  • Hark the Herald Angels Sing

      • Matthew 1:18–25NASB95

      • Luke 2:1–7NASB95

      • Luke 2:8–14NASB95

  • Angels We Have Heard on High

      • Luke 2:15–20NASB95

      • Matthew 2:1–6NASB95

  • O Little Town of Bethlehem

      • Matthew 2:7–11NASB95

  • Introduction

    Good morning. My name is Ben, and I am a pastor at Heritage.
    It is my privilege to share God’s Word with you this morning.
    The title of my sermon today is Heaven's Christmas Message.
    Please stand with me as I read our text from Luke Chapter 2 (repeat), beginning in verse 8,
    Luke 2:8–14 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!”
    Let us Pray,

    The Missed Meaning of the Christmas Season

    During the Christmas Season of 1940, the British government faced a difficult dilemma regarding ringing church bells on Christmas morning.
    Just months earlier, the German bombing campaign, known as the Blitz of London, had begun.
    Starting on September 7, 1940, the German Luftwaffe bombed London for 57 consecutive nights.
    When news of German planes reached the city, air raid sirens sounded throughout London, warning people to take cover.
    These sirens were often accompanied… by the ringing of church bells…
    For four months, the bells had signaled that a German invasion was underway.
    Winston Churchill and the British Parliament faced what they called a “vexing question.” Would they allow the church bells to ring on Christmas?
    After careful discussion, Churchill and the House of Commons all agreed to stop the bells from ringing that Christmas morning.
    Under the enemy's attack, the Christmas carol of those church bells had lost their true meaning and significance…
    In modern times and in modern society, Christmas has likewise lost its true meaning…
    The significance of Christ's birth is overshadowed by sentimentality and commercialism.
    Instead of focusing on the profound impact of the incarnation,
    the season is now defined by festivities, decorations, shopping, gifts, Santa Claus, Christmas Movie nights, and the obnoxiously overplayed song “All I Want for Christmas is You…”
    This is why our text in Luke chapter 2 is so important.
    In verses 8-14, we find the meaning of Christmas as…God defines it...
    In verses 8-9, we will see the heavenly appearance of angels before the humble audience of shepherds.
    Then, in verses 10-14, we will hear the Heavenly Announcement of the true significance and meaning of the Birth of Christ.
    And The Heavenly Gospel Message of Christmas is this…
    the humble babe of Bethlehem is the Divine King and Savior of the World… (repeat)…

    1. The Holy Appearance to a Humble Audience Luke 2:8-9

    A Humble Audience (vs. 8)

    To set the scene for Heaven’s Christmas Message, let’s begin in verses 8-9,
    where we will see the Holy Appearance to a Humble Audience. Read with me again in verse 8,
    Luke 2:8 ESV
    8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
    In Luke’s gospel, the first thing we see about this heavenly birth announcement
    is that it was made to shepherds.
    We would not expect this from the Divine King's birth announcement.
    We expect the royal birth to be announced in the capital city of Jerusalem to the nobles, the high priests, the influential people in the courtroom.
    But Luke records that the birth of the Son of God was announced to shepherds outside Bethlehem
    These were not the cutesy little felt shepherds our kids hang on their advent calendars.
    No, as many commentators note, these Shepherds were society's outcasts...
    They lived every day and night out in the field
    They slept on the ground and weren’t the cleanest gentlemen around.
    In fact, according to ancient sources, they weren’t gentlemen at all.
    They were mainly viewed as one of society's most scorned and shameful people…
    According to the rabinnic commentary on the Law, the Talmud,
    mentions shepherds' skill at robbery.
    They were men of ill repute and seen as so dishonest
    that they were barred from being counted as worthy witnesses in the court of law.
    They were uncouth,
    uneducated,
    unrefined,
    unreliable,
    unskilled,
    unsophisticated,
    unsavory,
    and most significantly…
    ceremonially unclean…
    Which begs the question: why would you announce the birth of the Divine King to those people?
    Why Shepherds?
    Well, there are two main reasons.
    I will give you the primary reason this morning and save the other reason for Christmas Eve.
    God's primary reason for choosing the Shepherds
    is that they highlight that Christ came to save the lost…
    When the Pharisees grumbled and complained to the disciples
    that Jesus was eating with the tax collectors and sinners,
    what did He say to them?
    Luke 5:31–32 (ESV)
    31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
    As He told that wee little man Zacchaeus,
    Luke 19:10 (ESV)
    10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
    Christ’s coming fulfilled the prophecy made to Isaiah, which He quoted at his first public teaching in Luke 4,
    Isaiah 61:1 (LSB)
    1 The Spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me
    Because Yahweh has anointed me
    To bring good news to the afflicted;
    He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    To proclaim release to captives
    And freedom to prisoners,
    Christ’s ministry was not to the self-righteous or the self-sufficient…
    He came to save the lowly…the sick…and the needy…
    The shepherds' lowly nature accents Christ's lowly birth,
    which sets up His ministry of preaching salvation to the lowly in society—
    to the outcasts and the unclean…

    B. A Holy Appearance (vs. 9)

    This contrast of Holy Heaven condescending down
    to the darkness of sinful earth is on full display in verse 9,
    Luke 2:9 (ESV)
    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.
    The first thing to note is that this angel is unnamed
    and instead identified by who he represents…
    He is the angel of the Lord…
    To further emphasize this, the angel is accompanied not by his own splendor…
    but by the very glory of the Lord…
    The very darkness of night being blotted out by the very glory of the Lord’s presence…
    The Glory of the Lord's presence first existed in the Garden of Eden,
    where Adam and Eve had daily, intimate fellowship with God
    before they sinned and were expelled from the Garden.
    Then, in the book of Exodus,
    the glory of the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, accompanied by loud trumpets,
    where He caused the mountain to shake, and the rocks to burn,
    and spoke to Moses through the thunder as He cut His covenant with Israel.
    The Glory of the Lord dwelled with Israel in the Tabernacle,
    in the Holy of Holies, behind the veil,
    as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years
    then it filled the Holy of Holies in the Temple Solomon built in Jerusalem.
    On the day that the ark of the covenant was brought by the priests and placed in the Holy of Holies
    The whole temple was filled the great cloud of the Lord’s glory
    Yet sadly, the last mention of the glory of the Lord physically present with man
    is of its departure from the Temple in the book of Ezekiel,
    just before Israel was sent into exile…
    That is, until this moment,
    when the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds.
    This is a monumental moment of the return of the presence of the Lord
    as He accompanies the proclamation of the birth of His Son…
    who was to be called Emmanuel – God with us –
    God with the unclean,
    with the outcast,
    with the lowly,
    with the lost.

    ‌2. The Heavenly Announcement – Luke 2:10-14

    In verses 8-9, we saw the humble audience of the lowly shepherds,
    who are visited by the Holy Appearance of the angel of the Lord
    and the Light of the Glory of the Most High God.
    This excellent contrast sets the stage for my second point this morning—
    the angels’ Heavenly Announcement in verses 10-14…

    A. The Person of the Good News (vs. 10-12)

    i. Fear Not

    Just as God’s presence at Sinai filled Israel with fear,
    His presence terrified the shepherds...
    But what did the angel say to them? Verse 10,
    Luke 2:10 (ESV)
    10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, (Why Not?)… for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
    Fear not because heaven has come to earth
    both in the presence of the Father before the shepherds the, and in the birth of the Son
    so that the message of good news can be proclaimed to the world…

    ii. A Royal Incarnation

    This is good news of great joy.
    But why?
    What is joyful about it? Verses 11 and 12,
    Luke 2:11–12 (ESV)
    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.”
    ‌The reason for joy is the incarnation of the Son of God—
    the second person of the trinity was been born a babe in bethlehem..…
    I want us to ponder three aspects of the incarnation this morning…
    First, I want us to see that this is a royal incarnation.
    Luke says that Jesus was born in the city of David,
    which is the third time David is mentioned in Luke 2.
    Christ’s birth in Bethlehem was due to Caesar Augustus's census,
    which demanded that each man be registered in his “own city.”
    For Joseph, that meant returning to Bethlehem.
    But neither Joseph, Jesus's adopted father, nor Mary, his mother, were ordinary Bethlehemites…
    They were of the house and family of David, the covenant king of Israel…
    This genealogical connection between the babe in the manger
    and Israel’s most excellent King forms the basis
    for why the angel calls Jesus the Christ.
    He is the Messiah,
    the Anointed One,
    the long-expected King,
    the Promised Prince
    who would restore the Davidic Dynasty,
    bring an end to the exile,
    and usher in a global Kingdom with Israel and Jerusalem at its heart.
    But the angel of the Lord also calls Jesus, “Lord,”…
    Lord is - kurios - in Greek,
    It is a term of authority, translated elsewhere as Master.
    It implies submission and subservience.
    But this is no mere human title.
    To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that Jesus is God…
    Calling Him Lord is equivalent to calling Him by the Old Testament covenant name for God - YHWH….
    The One who is the Author and Sustainer of all things,
    the One in whom all things hold together,
    the One who was in the beginning with God,
    the One who is co-equal,
    co-eternal,
    and co-essential with the Godhead,
    was born a baby.
    That Baby in the manger...was more than a baby in a manger…
    When the shepherds went to find the Christ proclaimed to them by the angels,
    they looked down at him in the manger—
    and at that moment, earth looked down into heaven…
    The babe of Bethlehem is the Divine… King of the world

    iii. Incantation into Humility

    But the astonishing thing is that
    this was not just a royal incarnation.
    It was an incarnation into humility…
    We must not overlook the shocking reality that the Son of God,
    the King of Kings and Prince of Peace,
    was not wrapped in royal robes and placed in a gilded crib.
    No…
    He was swaddled and placed in a feeding trough…
    Luke calls this shocking reality a sign
    the fact that Jesus was placed in the manger is repeated three times in this chapter.
    Why? We must not forget that the Savior of the World was not just born a baby but placed in a manger…
    It is a sign for us that magnifies the lowliness and humility of the birth of the Divine King…
    God became flesh, and dwelled among us.
    He humbled himself, as Paul says in Philippians,
    taking on the form — not just of any man, but that of a slave…
    19th century Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard sought to capture this reality
    with a story about a wealthy, mighty king,
    One day when travelling with his royal host along the roadside,
    he sees a beautiful peasant girl working for her father in the field,
    and he is immediately smitten with love.
    He wants to marry this girl, to make her his royal bride,
    but finds himself in a dilemma because He desires her complete love and affection
    but he is prevented from naturally wooing her because of her low estate and his high office.
    He could send his soldiers and force her to come,
    but he doesn’t do that because he knows he cannot command true love.
    He could force her to be present in the palace, but he could not force love to be present in her heart…
    He could also lavish on her every fine thing she could ever desire,
    dress her in royal garb, and place a crown upon her brow.
    But he doesn’t do that because he knows he cannot buy her true love.
    So, instead, what does he do?
    He takes off his royal robes and puts on peasant garb.
    He then goes down to the field and works beside her.
    There, he strikes up a conversation.
    The conversation becomes friendship,
    and friendship blossoms into a love so deep and true
    that she will give her very life to be with him forever
    and does not care that he is a popper or a prince
    He loves her and she loves him
    This is a small and flawed analogy of the glimpse of what God in Christ did for us.
    His sacrifice on our behalf and His humbling of Himself for us is much greater and more profound than any human story could capture.
    But the beautiful truth the philosopher was trying to capture is this:
    Christ took off His glorious robe,
    put on the rags of flesh,
    took the form of a servant,
    and dwelled with us
    in the muck and mire of our weakness,
    our pains,
    our suffering,
    our struggle,
    and our loss.
    He is a Savior sympathetic to sufferers…
    So many of us are here suffering through sickness, pain, and the loss of miscarriage, parents, brothers, sisters, friends, spouses
    Find in Jesus ultimate comfort dear friend.
    He came to taste the bitterness of our pain
    so that when we cast our cares upon Him,
    we can know that He truly, deeply knows us and cares for us
    He humble came as a babe in bethlehem, lying in a manger,
    to dwell among us and demonstrate His love for us.
    We love Him… why? Because He first loved us.

    iii. Incarnation for our Salvation

    But the incarnation was not just to prove His love for us…
    It was to save us from our sins.
    The incarnation was a royal incarnation…into humility…for our salvation…
    And we desperately need a savior because we are totally depraved sinners…
    We sin daily, in words, deeds, and thoughts, against the holy God of the universe
    who, because of His perfect holiness and perfect justice,
    must punish every sin.
    And yet, we could never pay the price of that punishment on our own
    because we are imperfect.
    But as John records in his first epistle,
    1 John 4:9–10 (ESV)
    9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
    We live through Him because He is the righteous propitiation for our sins.
    He was born to be the propitiation –
    to be our satisfaction and appeasement of the demands of God’s justice.
    He had to be born a man to live the perfect and righteous life according to the Law,
    the life we could never live.
    He had to be born a man so that He could die in our place,
    taking on our sins and receiving the wrath of God reserved for us.
    He died so we might live through him, receiving His perfect righteousness.
    For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior…

    Gospel Call

    Dear friend, are you here and yet still have not found life through him?
    Are you lost?
    Are you in bondage, as Pastor Dave preached on a few weeks ago?
    Are you broken by the trials and tribulations of loss or the consequences of your bad decisions
    Are you filled with the shame and the uncleaness of your sin…?
    Christ was born that night in Bethlehem to save the lost
    to free the captives,
    to bind up the broken
    and forgive your sin
    Believe in Him this moment
    and the righteousness of His perfect life will be credited to you...
    Come to Him this day, and He will save you…
    His perfect sacrifice will pay the penalty for your sins…
    Hope and trust in Him alone,
    and you will rise from the dead and have eternal life…
    He will lead you with His Light
    break your chains,
    He will bind up your wounds
    He will take away your shame and your sin and banish it as far as the east is from the west
    and He will give you a joy that is inexpressible and full of glory as you receive the outcome of your faith: the salvation of your soul…
    Come to Him in faith. He will not turn you away.

    B. The Praise of the Good News (vs. 13-14)

    i. The Angelic Army Appears

    Now this leads us to verse 13, where we see that the holy army of angels accompany the coming of the Divine King and Savior of the World,
    Luke 2:13 ESV
    13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
    Typically, the heavenly host is in heaven praising God.
    Never before or since has the heavenly host descended to earth to proclaim their song of praise.
    It’s almost as if, at that moment,
    the shepherds got a glimpse of a vision
    into the heavenly throne room,
    where they see the angelic army glorifying their God
    for the culmination of His plan of redemption…
    After Adam sinned in the Garden,
    God promised that a seed of the woman would come and crush the head of the serpent, Satan,
    thus defeating him and redeeming mankind and all creation from sin and death.
    God then preserved the line of that promised seed from Adam to Noah,
    to Abraham,
    to Judah,
    to Boaz,
    to David and his sons,
    through the exile,
    through the return to Israel from Babylon,
    ‌hrough 400 years of silence from God speaking to his people...
    In Luke 1, that silence was broken by Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah,
    the father of John the Baptist,
    and here that silence is broken once more to these shepherds
    to announce the culmination of that line of the promised seed,
    to announce the birth of the Son of God by the virgin Mary…
    For thousands of years, the heavenly host has awaited this moment
    when the Second Person of the Trinity would descend
    from His rightful place of ineffable glory in the heavenly places…
    take on flesh… and be born as a baby boy in a manger…
    And the content of the angel’s praise reflects the ultimate result,
    the future culmination,
    the glorious end game of the Son’s incarnation, vs. 14,
    Luke 2:14 (ESV)
    14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

    ii. Glory in the Highest

    Let’s slowly walk through this proclamation.
    They begin with a doxology: “Glory to God in the highest.”
    The angels glorify God at the birth of Christ. Why?
    They ascribe glory to God because the Son brings the Father ultimate glory.
    The incarnation is the greatest revelation of God’s glory.
    As the author of Hebrews puts it in Hebrews 1,
    Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)
    3 “He (that is Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…”
    And as John wrote in the introduction to his gospel,
    John 1:14 (ESV)
    14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
    God is glorified in His Son because His Son is born.
    And God is glorified because of the work His Son will accomplish
    As I said earlier, this heavenly Christmas hymn is sung
    in light of the culmination and completion of God’s redemptive plan.
    I draw this conclusion from the fact that this heavenly host
    is seen accompanying God in two other prominent visions.
    In Daniel 7, they surround the Ancient of Days
    as the Son of Man…as Jesus… is presented with the title deed to His Kingdom.
    Interestingly, the same scene is witnessed by the Apostle John in Revelation 5,
    where he witnesses the multitude of angels
    singing their song of praise
    once the Lion of the Tribe of Judah,
    the Root of David,
    the Lamb Standing as if Slain,
    takes the scroll
    which is the title deed to His Kingdom.
    Listen to their song,
    Revelation 5:11–13 (ESV)
    11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
    “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
    and honor and glory and blessing!”
    13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
    “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
    The work of Christ’s salvation,
    His life,
    death,
    resurrection,
    ascension
    and return to rule and reign over His creation
    brings ultimate glory to the most high God…
    He was born in Bethlehem,
    a direct descendant of Israel’s greatest king
    so that He might be the Lion of Judah and the Root of David…
    He was innocent and unblemished in His life,
    perfectly obeying the Law and Will of His Father
    so that He might be the Passover Lamb
    who was slain to take away the sins of the world…
    And He rose from the dead on the third day,
    demonstrating His divinity and the acceptable nature of His sacrifice
    so that He might receive all the power,
    all the riches,
    all the wisdom,
    all the strength,
    all the honor,
    all the glory,
    and all the praise as the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace.
    Again I will quote from Paul teaching to the the Philippian church,
    Philippians 2:8–11 (ESV)
    8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
    9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
    10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
    11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
    Fundamentally we see from this that our salvation isn’t about us.
    Our redemption is wrought by the Son so that God’s glory,
    the weight and bright shining light of the substance of all of who He is,
    of all of His attributes and characteristics,
    of all of His divine essence,
    is most displayed throughout all the earth…
    In the end, He receives all the glory and all the praise. As the prophet Habakkuk writes,
    Habakkuk 2:14 (LSB)
    14 “For the earth will be filled
    With the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh,
    As the waters cover the sea.
    Where is there no water in the ocean?
    Where is the sea not wet?
    When Christ completes His work of salvation…
    when He saves a people from every tribe,
    tongue,
    and nation…
    when He returns to rule and reign over all the earth…
    there will not be a shadow in this world that His glory will not expose…
    There will not be a crevice to hide in which His glory will not shine…
    Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess
    that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
    All nations will rejoice, be glad, and sing joyfully
    as He rules over His global kingdom with equity and justice.
    The humble babe of Bethlehem is the Divine King of the World…
    When He returns to rule,
    Heaven and Earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord
    as the waters fill the sea.
    For this reason,
    seeing this culmination,
    the multitude of angels glorifies the Most High God
    that night before the shepherds.

    iii. On Earth Peace

    But how is that possible?
    How can God’s glory fill the earth when no one can behold the full glory of the Lord and live…?
    In Genesis 3, when Adam sinned against God,
    He could no longer stand unashamed in the presence of God, and so he hid.
    In Exodus 33, when Moses asks to see the glory of the Lord,
    he is placed in a cave, shielded by God Himself, and only allowed to catch a glimpse
    of the back of God’s glory passing before him.
    In Isaiah 6, when the prophet receives a vision of the Lord,
    when he is confronted with the full weight of God’s glory
    filling the heavenly throne room,
    he does not say, “Now I feel at peace.”
    No, he is so guilty and aware of his sinfulness that he cries out,
    ‌“Woe is me, I am ruined.” He is undone...
    How, then, can the whole earth exist and while being filled with the presence of God’s glory?
    The saving gospel of Christ.
    Again the Angels and the gospel writer Luke can’t help but draw conclusions based on the whole gospel narrative,
    based on Christ's completed work as Savior of the World…
    Christ reconciles His glory and our peace. As Paul says in Romans 5,
    Romans 5:1 (ESV)
    1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
    How do we have peace through Jesus? Paul continues,
    Romans 5:6–11 (ESV)
    6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
    7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
    8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
    9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
    10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
    11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
    The cozy and comfortable Christmas story
    always ends with the baby in the manger.
    But We must see that the angels sing their Christmas Carol with the cross in mind…

    iv. With Whom He is Pleased

    This is also how we make sense
    of the final line that the angels sing, “peace among those with whom He is pleased.”
    No one pleases God on their merit.
    Another translation reads peace on whom His favor rests.
    Left to ourselves, God’s favor would rest on none of us.
    This is not a broad, universal term.
    The reception of this peace
    depends ultimately upon God’s grace and His sovereign pleasure.
    This is made clear by the reality
    that the sign of the baby in the manger and
    the message of the heavenly hymn are often received
    with the rejection of a scoffing and unbelieving heart.
    Again, I’ll quote from the beginning of the Gospel of John,
    John 1:10–11 (ESV)
    10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
    And then, later in John 3, Christ says this,
    John 3:19 (ESV)
    19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
    That statement, “peace among those with whom He is pleased,”
    is simultaneously an affirmation of the doctrine of election
    and a warning to all who would reject the Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
    Oh, may it not be that you are here,
    hearing the glorious realities of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
    seeing His glorious light, listening to His call to come to Him,
    and you stop up your ears and reject him
    because you love the darkness of your sin rather than the Light.
    If you think you can please God apart from Christ,
    If you think you can earn the favor and pleasure of God
    if you think that you can come into His marvelous light while still clinging to the darkness of your sin
    you will have no peace with Him.
    In order to have peace,
    in order to be reconciled with God,
    in order to receive His favor,
    you must first believe in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
    and in Him alone. As the author of Hebrews writes,
    Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)
    ‌6 without faith it is impossible to please him…
    Come you sinner,
    poor and needy,
    weak and wounded,
    sick and sore;
    Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love, and power.
    Do not tarry until your better. Come to Him…

    Conclusion

    As we conclude, I want to leave you, brothers and sisters in Christ
    with one final application.
    For this, I want to look at Luke one last time to see the shepherd’s example.
    After leaving their fields to go and see Jesus,
    they came to what was most likely a cave
    to see the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
    Listen as I read starting in verse 16,
    Luke 2:16–17 (ESV)
    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.
    We all have been called to make known the gospel of Christ.
    As Mark records Jesus words before ascending into Heaven,
    Mark 16:15 ESV
    15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
    However, two of the most common excuses
    for not wanting to proclaim the gospel
    are not feeling qualified and not knowing what to say.
    Suppose you do not feel qualified to testify to the gospel of Christ.
    Remember, the Shepherds weren’t even qualified to testify in a court of law,
    but God chose them to be the first heralds of His heavenly announcement.
    Hasn’t He also chosen you…?
    If you feel unsure of what to say, look to the shepherds.
    Luke says that all they did
    was make known the saying that had been told to them.
    They were Word-based witnesses preaching Heaven’s Christmas message.
    Simply be word-based witnesses.
    This Christmas Eve, in England, at 3 PM,
    one choir boy will begin a Christmas concert witnessed by hundreds of millions worldwide.
    At King's College in Cambridge, a choir that has been assembled since the early 1900s
    conducts a concert of Christmas carols.
    This ceremony always begins in the same way:
    one boy in the choir sings the first verse of the first of nine carols, “Once in Royal David’s City.”
    But what is unique about this moment broadcast by the BBC and the internet worldwide
    is that none of the choir boys knows who will be chosen to sing first that year.
    All of them know the verse, and all are prepared to sing.
    But it’s in the quaint and quiet moment,
    as the candlelight is flickering around the chapel,
    and all the world is waiting with listening ears,
    that the conductor points very clearly and specifically at one boy to sing
    Dear saints, do you know heaven’s gospel message of Christmas:
    that the babe of Bethlehem is the Divine King and Savior of the World?
    When the Divine Choir Master called on the heavenly host
    and the lowly Shepherds, they stepped forward to sing.
    Will you?
    Let’s Pray

    Benediction

    1 Peter 2:9–10 ESV
    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
    Beloved, this Christmas, do not miss it’s meaning.
    Do not loose sight of its significance.
    Do not forget Heaven’s Christmas Gospel.
    The humble babe of Bethlehem is the Divine King and Savior of the World…
    Believe in Him.
    Proclaim His Praise.
    Sing His Song
    when He calls on You.
    As Pastor Dave says, you are sent.
    God bless you.

      • Luke 2:25–26ESV

      • Luke 2:27–30ESV

      • Luke 2:31–32ESV

      • Luke 2:33–35ESV

  • Communion/What Child is This?
  • The First Noel (Born is the King)
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