For Unto You a Child is Born

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 Rowe. The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, chapter 2, verses 1 through 20.

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In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

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This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria. All went to be registered, each to his own town.

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Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea to 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 registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

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And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

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

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And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

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And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.

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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you.

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You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And 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 among those with whom he is pleased.

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When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,

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Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.

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And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child.

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And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

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And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told to them.

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In the name of Jesus, sample our books, our movies, our tales, legends, and they are all brimming with the themes of darkness and light, tyranny and freedom.

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And we all know that fighting for freedom is the cause that is not only worthy of our efforts, but even worthy of risking death itself.

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One of the early slogans of our American Republic and now the motto of the state of New Hampshire is live free or die, live free or die.

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You see, tyranny is the thing that we fear the most, at least politically. And true patriots in the

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American Republic understand that this is where the real dividing line is. Will we live in freedom, freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or will we be shackled and forced to be silent in the face of evil, forced to act contrary to our conscience, and forced to renounce

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Christ and not speak the truth to our neighbors? It is this deep foundational struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, tyranny and freedom that we all know so well that is actually at the very heart of Christmas itself.

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John, in his gospel, in chapter 3, verse 19, writes, this is the judgment.

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Light has come into the world, and the people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

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Let us make no mistake here, brothers and sisters, that we are the congregation of the forgiven ungodly.

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Let us never forget that we were born in captivity and slavery under the tyranny of the devil, and that even as we walk out our

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Christian faith, our sinful flesh still wants to do the bidding of the devil, wants to seek our own glory, does not obey

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God as it should, engages in false worship and idolatry, covets neighbor, despises father and mother, steals from one another, bears false witness against the other.

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So bad is our condition by nature. I would remind you of how the apostle

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Paul describes himself when he was giving testimony of his conversion to Christianity because Jesus himself appeared to him.

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In Acts, chapter 26, starting at verse 9, Paul, giving the account of his conversion, says this,

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I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus Christ, which kind of begs the question, how does one get so upside down that they feel that they need to oppose the name of Jesus Christ?

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Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, that in our sinful condition, we think that good is evil, and we think that evil is good.

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And this is the apostle Paul, in the name of God, listen to how he describes his actions. And so I did so in Jerusalem, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priest, but when they were put to death,

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I cast my vote against them. I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury, raging fury, that doesn't sound like one of the gifts of the spirit to me, and in raging fury against them,

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I persecuted them even to foreign cities. And he did all of this in the name of the very

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God that Jesus is. But then he says this, in this connection,

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I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and the commission of the chief priest. At midday,

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O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

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It's interesting, the first thing that Paul, well, Saul sees, is the light, and this is not an accident.

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So when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Shaul, Shaul, that's how his name is pronounced in Hebrew.

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Why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads, and I said, who are you,

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Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise and stand upon your feet for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which

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I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom

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I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

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So Jesus sends Shaul, and his name is changed to Paul, commissioned by Christ so that people would turn from darkness to light and be released from the power of Satan himself.

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The Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 1, starting at verse 13, picks up on this very theme that he heard from Jesus, where he says that God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved

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Son in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. Let us never forget, brothers and sisters, that the world that we live in is ruled terribly by one who is a usurper, the ultimate tyrant, the devil himself.

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And we were all born under his dominion. Imagine him as Hitler squared, cubed.

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I don't know math, but it sounds really bad when you start talking in terms like this. That's the being that we were all, well, enslaved under.

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And so the Christmas message comes to us almost as a message of rebellion.

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But let me remind you, brothers and sisters, we understand rebellion here in the United States. This is a country founded on rebellion against tyranny.

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But in the cosmic battle between good and evil, light and darkness, tyranny and slavery,

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Christ is no rebel. I recently saw the new Star Wars movie, must say

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I enjoyed it immensely. And I find it fascinating, yet this theme of the evil empire taking control of the entire universe and those who are fighting against this oppressive, tyrannical system.

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They are the ones called the rebels, but we are not rebels, brothers and sisters. The devil is the rebel.

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And so the message that comes to us at Christmas is a message of hope.

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And it is not a message of rebellion. It is a message of liberation. Think of it this way.

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You and I are born in Nazi occupied Europe. And we are hearing over the radio, the king is born, the one who will set us free and liberate us and make it so that we can live in peace again.

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And so our Old Testament text today has these words, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

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Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shown.

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You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.

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And here's the reason why. For the yoke of his burden, the staff on his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

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In other words, the yoke of slavery that was placed on every one of us at our birth, placed there by the devil,

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Christ hasn't removed it. He's broken it in two so that it can never be put on you again.

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Every boot of the tramping warrior in battle, tumult, every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

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And here's the reason why. Greatest words of defiance ever written. For unto us, a child is born.

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Unto us, a child is born. To us, a son is given.

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Given by whom? By God himself, who sees us languishing under the misery of this tyranny, sees us languishing under the slavery of sin, sees us toiling in darkness.

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He has shed light on us, the light of his son, and given us the very thing that we need.

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To us is born a child. To us, a son is given, and the government shall be on his shoulder.

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His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

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Can't wait for that government to show up. Peace, what a word, what a concept.

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I don't know if you've noticed, there seems to be a supreme lack of peace in our world.

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2016 was not the year of peace in this country, and the lack of peace continues on.

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We don't have peace in our personal lives, our political lives. Don't even get me started about social media.

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But to us, a child is born, a son is given. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.

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On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the

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Lord of Hosts will do this. You see, the Christmas message is the ultimate message of defiance.

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You can kind of say it this way. I will not submit to the yoke of the devil.

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I have been set free because unto me a child has been born, a son has been given, he has broken the yoke of the devil, and I will not bend my knee again under that tyranny.

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And that's the message. Our gospel text says, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered, taxed is a better way of putting it.

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This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all that went to be registered, each to his own town.

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Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called

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Bethlehem, because he was of the house and the lineage of David.

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And so the story picks up. We talked about this recently, how the house of David, the royal house, the throne on which

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Christ will sit forever, has come down to nothing except for the family name.

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He's in Nazareth. He travels to the city of David, and it's appropriate that the

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Messiah would be born in the city of David. So he was there to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child, and while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

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She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

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Amazing story. The king of kings, born to obscure, poverty stricken parents, wrapped in swaddling cloths, you can almost say that hints at Jesus's grave clothes, because they do, and laid in a manger, a feeding trough of animals.

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It's beautiful. And so the message of defiance against the tyranny of the devil comes to us in the humble birth of our

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Savior and our King. You see, the devil is the one who exalts himself. I will ascend to the highest heights.

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Everyone will bow down and call me God. Jesus says, I am

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God and I'm going to make myself nothing. And I'm going to come and I'm going to serve.

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What an amazing story. My ultimate favorite Christmas hymn is

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What Child Is This? In the Lutheran service book, verse two reads this way.

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Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding? Good Christian fear for sinners here, the silent word is pleading.

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Nails spear shall pierce him through the cross be born for me, for you.

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Hail, hail the word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary. You see, the manger and this lowly estate, this humbling of himself, the great

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God who is by nature, God himself has come not to punish us as we deserve, but to liberate us.

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And in order to do that, he must go from the manger to the cross. And so when we celebrate the birth of our

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Savior, we must see the wood of the manger as becoming the very planks on which

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Jesus is nailed to in order to secure our salvation. This is the message of defiance, and this is the very action of God that frees us, that redeems us, that sets us free so that we can be the people of God and no longer the children of the devil.

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It's so great and so magnificent that we in darkness don't even realize that the light has been born.

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I like to imagine that the angels are up in heaven going, do they not understand what is going on here?

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Now this next part of the sermon, not found in the Bible, let me explain it. I like to picture

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Gabriel and Michael, those are about the only two angels I know names for given in scripture. Them sitting there going, he's just been born.

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And then looking at the father going, we've got to let somebody know, please let us go and announce what is going on.

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And the father saying, I'm glad you feel that way, I feel the same way too. But don't go to the king,

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David was a shepherd. Go find his people, the lowest of the low.

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So in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

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And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. Notice the light again, shining in the darkness.

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And they were filled with great fear. Oh, so tragic. How is this possible?

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This shows just how wicked we are. The glory of God is shining. And our first reaction is, ah!

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So the angel said, important words, fear not. I get it, you're sinful, you're wicked.

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Fear not, and here's why. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

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And here it is again, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a

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Savior who is Christ the Lord. And that's what we need.

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This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And 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 heaven on earth.

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Peace. That word again. Peace among those with whom he is pleased.

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Now lest you think for a second that this good news is not for you. What Christ has done for you on the cross is delivered to you in the waters of baptism.

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It's delivered to you here at this altar when you partake of the very body and blood of Christ broken and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.

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You heard today the words of the absolution. I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the

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Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. So what Jesus has accomplished has been stuck in your ears, put in your mouth, washed over your body.

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You have been made pleasing to God by his great acts of mercy and grace to you.

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So this is good news for us. Peace begins with peace with God.

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And now that we have that peace, that peace then begins to flow out in our relationships with each other.

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So when the angels went away, they left them and went into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the

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Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste, and they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.

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And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

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You see, the reason why we know what the angels said to the shepherds is because they told

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Mary. And Mary told Luke, and Luke told you. So all who heard wondered at what the shepherds told them.

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And Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And you would be wise to do that too.

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Take these words. Treasure them in your heart. Return to them often.

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Ponder them. You have been set free. Unto you a

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Savior has been born. So the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told to them.

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And with this in mind, this good news that unto us a child has been born, a son has been given, the government will be on his shoulder, and of peace there will be no end.

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Let us then see how this impacts our life in the words of our epistle reading from Titus 2.

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For the grace of God has appeared. Ten little fingers and ten little toes.

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And when he wakes up, he needs to have his diapers changed.

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Isn't it wonderful? The grace of God has appeared. And he has brought salvation for all people.

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And this trains us. This grace of God trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.

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And the reason for it is simple. Ungodliness and worldly passions is tyranny.

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It's slavery. It's not freedom. These are the things for which we are ashamed and rightfully so.

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And so this grace of God, this forgiveness and mercy trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and say,

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I will no longer be your slave, devil. The Lord rebuke you.

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And if you haven't read the book, I've read the end of it. He's going to take your dragon scales and throw you along with them into the lake of fire.

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And we're never going to have to deal with you again. And we're going to party forever. There will be nothing but peace.

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Stand with me this Christmas in defiance of the devil. Because unto us has been born a child, a

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Savior, a Redeemer who is Christ the Lord. And this is great news. Live in freedom now in this age.

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In the face of the breath of the dragon. And know this.

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That this same baby who was born, grew, died, was crucified, buried, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven.

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And he's coming back. And he himself is going to do away with that old dragon.

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So renounce ungodliness. Worldly passions. Instead, live self -controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for our blessed hope.

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The appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. That same glory that the shepherds saw on the plains of Bethlehem.

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We're going to see it too. We won't have to ever wonder again what it looks like.

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It will always be there for us to see. Because Jesus gave himself for us.

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To redeem us from all lawlessness. And to purify for himself a people for his own possession.

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Who are zealous for good works. So this

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Christmas, I announce to you. That unto you a child is born.

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A son is given. And the whole government in the world is on his shoulders.

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Look to the skies. Stand in defiance of the devil in this present wicked age.

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For his glory is soon to appear. And when he appears.

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It will be joy and peace. Everlasting. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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And again that address is... We thank you for your support.

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