Unto YOU is Born a Savior

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St.

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Luke, chapter 2, verses 1 through 20. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

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And this taxing was first made when Quirinius was the governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.

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And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David, which is called

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Bethlehem, because he was of the house and the lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.

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And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

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And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

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And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

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And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were sore afraid.

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And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is

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Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

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And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying,

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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said unto one another,

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Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us.

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And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

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And all that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

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But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising

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God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them.

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In the name of Jesus, give me a second to compose myself.

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That particular hymn always has a tendency to wreck me a little bit. Our text this evening, the traditional

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Christmas text taken from Luke chapter 2, it proves that we're nothing like God.

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Our God broke into His creation to save His fallen and sinful creatures, and precious few were even aware of God's presence.

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This past Sunday we read the text where Elizabeth, pregnant with John the

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Baptist, hears the voice of Mary and the baby inside of her, leaps for joy. She knew.

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Joseph knew. Not many other people did.

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How can we be so blind? How can our race, the race of mankind, which was originally created in the awesome image of the

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Almighty God, but in our striving to be like God, through the temptation of the devil, we have been so twisted and corrupted and plunged into great darkness, and so great is that darkness that we can't even see the light even if it were pointed out to us, even when the light is tabernacling among us in human flesh.

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The mystery of what's happening in the Incarnation is solved and revealed in Philippians 2, verses 5 -8, which reads,

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Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. Who, though He was in the very nature of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

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Notice here, Christ's actions are the exact opposite actions of our first parents,

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Adam and Eve. Who, when they were tempted by the devil in the garden, the devil basically said, take and eat of that fruit and you will be like God.

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And Eve pondered inside of her heart and saw that the fruit was good and that it would make one wise and be like God.

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And so, even though she was a creature, she reached out her hand and strove to be like God.

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And now God Himself is among us, and it says, He did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.

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Instead, He emptied Himself. And truly He did. Taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form,

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God humbled Himself. Wow.

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And became obedient. God obeying?

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Yeah. Became obedient. Even to the point of death. Even a death on something as despicable as a cross.

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Humbled Himself is exactly what the Lord did. Now, although it is true that Luke, by informing us of the historical context in which

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Christ was born, he informs us that Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to register for a

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Roman tax. This is not throwaway historical data. Instead, this is theologically rich information.

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Note the fact that even though Mary was carrying the King of Kings inside of her womb, there was no earthly privilege that was granted to her because of it.

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And rather than receive a military escort and a golden carriage and the greatest comforts that the

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Roman Empire could supply her, she instead made the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem probably on foot while she was, as this text says, great with child.

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Swollen feet, braxed in hicks, and sore back and all. I remember when my wife was pregnant with our kids.

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And every time we would see a pregnant woman after that, we'd think, oh, that poor thing. Right?

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And when she arrives in Bethlehem, there is no royal red carpet. There isn't a presidential suite at the

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Bethlehem Hilton. Or even the basic necessities for a woman who has now gone into full labor.

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Her water has broken. And with no midwife to assist her, Mary and Joseph are going to have to figure all of this out on their own in a town bursting with travelers.

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And to make matters worse, rather than a clean hospital room, she's going to have to finish her pregnancy in an animal pen.

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It doesn't get any meaner than that. You can almost see them.

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Mary doubled over with a strong contraction. Joseph laying down his cloak on the straw so that she can have a place to get off of her feet.

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The smell of animal urine and cow patties, but with no time to take it all in or even to complain.

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And then another contraction hits. And this one's stronger than the one before. Mary's mom is not there to help her.

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Or even to guide her. Tell her what to do next. This is her first kid.

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And she's probably, what, 14? 15? This is scary for a 20 year old.

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A 30 year old. But can you imagine a teenage girl? Joseph holds her hand.

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She clenches her teeth. She lets out a cry. How many hours was

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Mary in labor? The text doesn't say. It doesn't say. But finally with the work of labor finished, the

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Scripture says she brought forth her firstborn son. She finally heard his first cry.

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Jesus had to be cleaned up, as all infants do. And there he was.

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The son of David. The king of kings. The lord of lords. Crying as his lungs took in air for the first time.

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And then his parents counted. Ten tiny little fingers. Ten tiny little toes.

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Just to make sure everything was alright. Make sure the baby was healthy. They didn't have

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Apgar tests back then. Yes, I grew up in a medical family. So Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes.

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She laid him in a manger. An animal trough.

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But she probably didn't do that before she tried to nurse him for the first time. Maybe even tried to sing a

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Judean lullaby to him. Mary and Joseph had a lot ahead of them.

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Nighttime feedings. Poopy diapers. Potty training. Learning how to speak.

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To walk. To read. To work. All the things that we face as parents. As we care for the children that God has sent to us.

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They faced that too. As they raised God incarnate.

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Who has come to save us. And that's kind of the thing.

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If you were to see this family back then. They looked just like any family of the time.

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They weren't rich. They didn't wear good clothes. They were poor. Mean. If we'd seen them walking down the street.

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Would there have been anything to point out that that baby of hers was the

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God who spoke the universe into existence? How could we miss it? How could we not know?

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Mary and Joseph would have to begin this task of parenting while on the run.

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Being fugitives. Hiding from Herod in Egypt. Making it even tougher.

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I mean you think it's tough. You know. Moving to a new town where you don't know anybody.

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Why don't you try a different country? And when they finally were able to return to Israel.

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They would return to one of the poorest of the poor villages in all of Israel. They would end up having to work hard by the sweat of their brow.

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To put food on the table. Clothes on their backs. Without the help of a welfare state.

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But with the added burden of having to pay Roman taxes. On top of all that they had to do. And if the angels and the written word of God had not revealed the amazing good news of what

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God was doing for us. We. Just like the people of Bethlehem that first Christmas night.

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Would be completely oblivious to what was going on. And we know it.

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But you see the good news. The gospel was preached that first Christmas night.

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And there were in the same country. The text says shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night.

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And lo the angel of the Lord came upon them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them.

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And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them.

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Fear not. You see when

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Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. God posted angels around the tree of life.

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With flaming swords. What terrible duty that had to have been for them.

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Absolutely awful. Humanity made in the image of God now barred from the tree of life to protect themselves from themselves lest they live forever as the walking dead.

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And now they have good news to announce. Fear not.

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For behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.

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And do you hear that? That's you. That's me. When the angels gave this report to the shepherds.

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The shepherds job was to get this report out. To let everybody know.

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Everywhere. All people. Including the people here in this church. This night.

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Two thousand years later. Good news of great joy for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David.

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A Savior. Which is Christ the Lord. A Savior. The fact that we didn't even know

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God was among us. Shows we need a Savior. How can we be so blind.

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So bent in on ourselves. So upside down. So evil. So twisted. That God Himself is born and yet none of us.

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No one knew. The shepherds wouldn't have known if the angels hadn't said so. And so they show up.

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And here, this will be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

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What kind of sign is that? Head into Bethlehem. Find the poorest child you can find.

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A newborn babe. In a place you would never expect to see it. In an animal feeding trough.

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This is the sign for you. Lying in a manger. And then suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising

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God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.

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And see that's what the prophecy about Christ was. Prince of Peace.

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He hasn't come to swing his sword. He hasn't come to cast us all into hell as we deserve.

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He's come instead to bleed and to die for us. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven.

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The shepherds said to one another let us go even now unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass which the

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Lord, they knew this was a message from the Lord, that the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste and found

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Mary and Joseph in the bay lying in a manger. And when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told to them concerning this child.

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And the report reaches us this night. Good news. Great joy.

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Unto you is born a Savior. And Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

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And then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all of the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them.

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See God chose to reveal what he was doing not to kings, not to governors, not to the wealthy, not to the celebrities, not to the beautiful people.

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The announcement was made well it wasn't made in the palace or in the senate or even in a building made by human hands.

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The announcement was made to poor, hard working shepherds whom the world considers insignificant.

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Shepherds in the medieval period worked so hard, this is such a difficult task, that when they would die they would have a tuft of sheep skin put into their hand to be buried with it so that when they stood before God and said how come you weren't able to go to church, all they would have to do was show this and say

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I was a shepherd. That's how hard their job was. Sheep are dumb animals.

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Very difficult to work with. Prone to wander off. They have just about every natural enemy that you can possibly imagine and are completely oblivious to it.

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We're a lot like them. See the announcement wasn't made in a palace. It was made to these hard working shepherds whom the world considers insignificant.

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You'll notice shepherds don't dwell in palaces, but out in the open field, subject to all the elements.

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When it's hot, they're hot. When it's raining, they're wet. When it's cold, they're shivering.

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Just be glad they didn't have to do it in North Dakota. It is these whom the gospel comes to.

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It is these, humble and lowly, these are the ones who are ready to hear the good news of the

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Savior. Those who've languished under the curse. Those who are proud and worship fame, money, fortune, power.

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They're far too self -reliant and too self -focused to even imagine that they would need a

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Savior. And so it is, nothing has changed even today. The powerful, the purpose -driven, and those seeking to win and live their lives victoriously so that they can be affluent, influential, powerful, and wealthy, prosperous, and perpetually healthy, they have no need of a baby born in a barn, born in mean poverty, born to be mercilessly slaughtered on a

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Roman cross. But we do.

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We do. And the sad thing is that even the wealthy need this.

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But they're far too busy, far too bent on themselves to pay attention to such a sign as a baby lying in a manger.

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The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Luther, commenting on this text, says this, the right and gracious faith which

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God's Word and work demands is that you firmly believe that Christ is born for you and that this birth is yours and occurred for your benefit.

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The sign that the shepherds saw and now shared through this text is a sign given for you.

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It's humble. It's mean. There's nothing striking or glitzy about it. You'll notice the complete absence of twinkling lights, of carolers.

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Even the angels were not on the scene. They got to announce it and then disappeared.

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Mary and Joseph didn't see the angels and didn't even hear the song. And they wouldn't have had much time to enjoy it anyway.

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Herod would soon be on their trail trying to kill the baby. So all of this has happened to benefit you.

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The Gospel teaches that Christ was born because of us and that He died and suffered.

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He did all of this. Everything because of us, as the angels said, for I proclaim to you great joy that will be for all people.

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For unto you is born this day in the city of David the Savior who is Christ the Lord. In these words, you clearly see

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He is born for us. So again, we hear the words of the sermon hymn we just sang.

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What child is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping?

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Whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping.

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This, this is Christ the King whom shepherds guard and angels sing haste, haste to bring

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Him laud, the Babe, the Son of Mary. Why lies

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He in such mean estate where oxen, donkeys are feeding? Good Christians fear for sinners here.

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The silent Word is pleading. And here's the important part. Nails, spears shall pierce

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Him through the cross He bore for me, for you. Hail, hail the

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Word made flesh, the Babe, the Son of Mary. See that's why

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He's here. The manger will give way to the cross. The shepherds will give way to the

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Roman soldiers who will eventually take this young baby who's grown into a man and they will spit on Him.

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They will beat Him. They will scourge Him and in the process take out of His back all kinds of flesh and blood.

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And then they will nail Him to a cross. Because if there was any one human being who was truly born with a purpose, it was

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Christ. He came to seek and to save the lost. To redeem those whom the devil had forced into bondage, sin and slavery and death.

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To free us and to redeem us and to set us free. He became obedient and took all of this so that we can go free.

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So the sign is there for you today, this evening. The Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in the manger.

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Hail, the Word made flesh, the Babe, the

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Son of Mary. So bring Him incense, gold, myrrh. Offer yourselves as living sacrifices in light of this good news.

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Come, peasant king, to own Him, the King of kings. Salvation brings. Let loving hearts enthrone

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Him. Raise, raise a song on high. The Virgin sings her lullaby. Joy, joy for Christ is born.

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The Babe, the Son of Mary. In the name of Jesus. Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744 And again that address is

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Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744. We thank you for your support.

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